Rule 5101:2-5-25 | Changing the certification of a foster caregiver from one type of foster home to another.
(A) No child placed in a family foster home on or before March 31, 2005 shall be moved to another placement solely because of the failure of the foster caregiver to meet the requirements for treatment or medically fragile foster homes found in this chapter or in Chapter 5101:2-7 of the Administrative Code.
(B) An agency shall recommend a foster caregiver be certified to operate only one type of foster home at a time. A foster home may accept a foster child that is assessed as needing care at or below the level of care for which the home is certified.
(C) Whenever a foster caregiver who is certified to operate a foster home wishes to seek to change the foster home's certification to another type of certification, the foster caregiver shall submit a written request to the recommending agency.
(D) If a foster caregiver seeks to change the foster home's certification to a treatment foster home or a medically fragile foster home, the agency shall determine if the foster caregiver meets the qualifying experience requirements contained in paragraph (A) of rule 5101:2-7-16 or 5101:2-7-17 of the Administrative Code.
(1) If the foster caregiver meets those requirements, the agency shall proceed as in paragraph (E) of this rule.
(2) If the foster caregiver does not meet those requirements, the agency shall not proceed with the foster caregiver's request.
(3) Failure of a foster caregiver to prove to the recommending agency's satisfaction that the foster caregiver meets the qualifying experience requirements of paragraph (A) of rule 5101:2-7-16 or 5101:2-7-17 of the Administrative Code does not constitute denial of certification and is not subject to appeal pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.
(E) Changing from one type of foster home to another.
(1) The agency shall ensure that all the preplacement training requirements of a foster caregiver contained in rule 5101:2-5-33 of the Administrative Code have been completed prior to recommending the home to the Ohio department of job and family services (ODJFS) for another type of certification.
(2) Training that may be considered as meeting either a requirement for preplacement training for a specialized foster caregiver or a requirement for continuing training for a family foster caregiver, may be counted as meeting either requirement, even though the caregiver may be certified to operate only one type of foster home at a time.
(3) At the discretion of the recommending agency, for a currently certified foster caregiver who is seeking to change the type of foster home for which the caregiver is certified, preplacement or continuing training courses successfully completed within the most recent three year period from the date of the caregiver's written request to the agency to be certified as a different type of foster home, may be counted towards meeting the preplacement requirements for the new type of foster home.
(4) When the change in type of foster home certification takes place during a foster caregiver's certification period, if the foster home's certification designation is changing from a certification designation that has more stringent requirements to a certification designation that has less stringent requirements, the new certification period for the foster home shall be until the end of the caregiver's current certification period.
(5) If the foster home's certification designation is recommended to change from a certification category that has less stringent requirements to a certification category that has more stringent requirements, the new certification period will be for two years, effective from the date ODJFS receives the recommendation for the change of a certification category in the statewide automated child welfare database (SACWIS).
(6) When the agency recommends that a foster caregiver's certification be changed to another type of foster home, the recommendation shall be submitted as a change to ODJFS in SACWIS. The ODJFS SACWIS resource identification number shall remain the same as the previous identification number.
Supplemental Information