441—113.2(237) Definitions.
“Age- or developmentally appropriate activities” means activities or items that are generally accepted as suitable for children of the same chronological age or level of maturity or that are determined to be developmentally appropriate for a child, based on the development of cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral capacities that are typical for an age or age group; and in the case of a specific child, activities or items that are suitable for the child based on the developmental stages attained by the child with respect to the cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral capacities of the child.
“Child or children” means the child or children who are in foster care for the purpose of this chapter only.
“Corporal punishment” means the intentional physical punishment of the child(ren).
“Department” means the Iowa department of human services and includes the local offices of the department.
“Fictive kin” means an adult person who is not a relative of a child but who has an emotionally significant positive relationship with a child or the child’s family.
“Foster family home” means a home in which an individual person or persons or a married couple who wishes to provide or is providing, for a period exceeding 24 consecutive hours, board, room, and care for the child(ren) in a single family living unit.
“Health care provider” means a licensed medical doctor, doctor of osteopathy, physician assistant or advanced registered nurse practitioner who completes a health report.
“Kinship care” means the care of a child by a relative or fictive kin providing full-time nurturing and protection.
“Kinship caregiver” means a relative or fictive kin providing care for a child.
“Public water supply system (PWS)” means a system for the provision to the public of water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances, if such system has at least 15 service connections or regularly serves an average of at least 25 individuals daily at least 60 days out of the year.
“Reasonable and prudent parent standard” means the standard characterized by careful and sensible parental decisions that maintain the health, safety, and best interests of the child(ren) while at the same time encourage the emotional and developmental growth of the child(ren), that a caregiver shall use when determining whether to allow the child(ren) in foster care under the responsibility of the state to participate in extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and social activities. For the purposes of this definition, “caregiver” means a foster parent with whom the child(ren) in foster care have been placed or a designated official for a child care institution (including group homes, residential treatment, shelters, or other congregate care settings) in which the child(ren) in foster care have been placed.
“Reasonable force” means that force, and no more, which a reasonable person in like circumstances would judge to be necessary to prevent an injury or loss.
“Recruitment and retention contractor” means the entity that contracts with the department statewide to recruit foster and adoptive parents, complete home studies, and perform activities to support and encourage retention of foster and adoptive parents, or any of its subcontractors.
“Relative” means an individual related to the child within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity, by marriage, or through adoption. “Relative” includes the parent of a sibling of the child if the sibling’s parent’s parental rights were not previously terminated in relation to the child.
“Service area manager” means the department employee responsible for managing department offices and personnel within the service area and for implementing policies and procedures of the department.
“Social work administrator” means the department employee responsible for supervising the social work staff within a department service area and for implementing service policies and procedures of the department.
“Variance” means meeting a licensing standard through alternative means.
“Waiver” means waiving the licensing standard entirely. A waiver may only be granted for non-safety licensing standards for a kinship caregiver.
This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code chapter 237.
[ARC 8010B, IAB 7/29/09, effective 10/1/09; ARC 2069C, IAB 8/5/15, effective 10/1/15; ARC 2743C, IAB 10/12/16, effective 12/1/16; ARC 3185C, IAB 7/5/17, effective 9/1/17; ARC 6961C, IAB 4/5/23, effective 6/1/23]