Virginia Law

A. When the licensee has placed a child in the approved provider's home, the licensee's representative shall visit the home as often as necessary but at least every 90 days to monitor the performance of the provider. These visits may coincide with the monthly visits to the child.

B. When an approved provider's home does not have any children placed in the home the licensee shall:

1. Monitor the home at least one time every 90 days by:

a. Visiting the approved provider in the home; or

b. Making direct telephone contact with the approved provider; and

2. If more than six months have elapsed since the last home visit date and the licensee is considering placing a child in the home, the licensee shall prior to placement of a child in the home make at least one monitoring home visit to evaluate and verify that the home remains in compliance with the requirements of this chapter.

C. Prior to the end of each 36-month approval period, the licensee shall re-evaluate the provider and assess all evaluation elements required for the initial home approval.

D. The licensee shall conduct the re-evaluation in the home of the approved provider with all providers present for the re-evaluation.

E. The re-evaluation process for approving a home shall include:

1. Interviewing the provider in his home at least once;

2. Reviewing the information the licensee used to make the last approval decision;

3. Completing all required background checks in accordance with applicable federal and state laws and regulations;

4. Obtaining the results of a new tuberculosis screening and documenting the absence of tuberculosis in a communicable form for the applicant and other household members who come in contact with children as described in 22VAC40-131-290 K;

5. Obtaining new signed agreements from the provider covering elements required for maintaining confidentiality of information and prohibition of the use of corporal punishment, including the prohibition of allowing others to use corporal punishment;

6. Considering and reassessing all new information received since the last home approval decision, including assessing in-service training completed by the provider;

7. Deciding the approval status of the provider; and

8. Providing an addendum to the home study to include any other information that has changed since the prior approval and the decision related to whether the provider is re-approved. The addendum shall contain all elements required by this chapter, be documented by a combination of narrative and other data collection formats, and contain the dated signatures of the individual completing the addendum and the licensee's director or his designee.

F. The licensee shall document the following for each re-evaluation conducted:

1. For each child placed since the last evaluation, a brief description of the child's adjustment to the family and the home;

2. The results of an evaluation of the providers' performance to include his:

a. Ability to relate to children;

b. Ability to help children reach their goals;

c. Skills in working with particular types of problems;

d. Ability to establish and maintain a consistent and stable environment for each child and including in this evaluation, the identification and resolution of problems or significant changes that occurred in the family since the last evaluation; and

e. Ability to work with the licensee and birth parents in meeting the needs of the child;

3. A description of the relationship between the child and each family member, including the names of the family members and, if any foster child or youth has been removed from the home, a description of the reasons the child was removed; and

4. The licensee's recommendations regarding continued use of the home, further training needs of the home provider and the age, gender, and number of children that the home can successfully handle.

G. Any approval, disapproval, suspension, or revocation of the provider shall be made in consultation with the child-placing supervisor or in a staff meeting, and the date of the decision shall be recorded in the provider's record.

H. For approved homes, the licensee shall document (i) the age and gender of children who can be placed in the home and (ii) the basis for the approval recommendation, and issue an approval certificate containing all elements required by this chapter.

I. If the re-evaluation process or home-monitoring activities result in the licensee's decision to suspend approval of a provider, the licensee shall:

1. Immediately remove the children from the home;

2. Send written notification to the provider of such decision no later than one week following the date the decision was made;

3. Place no children in the home until such time that the provider:

a. Resolves all issues that led to suspension; and

b. Demonstrates compliance with all requirements of this chapter;

4. Document in an addendum to the provider's home study:

a. Circumstances and issues that led to the suspension;

b. Actions taken by the licensee as a result of becoming aware of the circumstances and issues;

c. Actions taken by the provider to address each circumstance and issue; and

d. The licensee's response and disposition of whether the home warranted removal from suspension; and

5. Reinstate, if warranted, and designate in writing the approval of the provider for the remainder of the original 36-month approval time frame.

J. If the re-evaluation process or home-monitoring activities result in the licensee's decision to revoke approval of a provider, the licensee shall:

1. Immediately remove placed children from the home and not place any children in the home;

2. Send written notification to the provider of such decision no later than one week following the date the decision was made; and

3. Document in the home provider's file:

a. The reasons for revoking the approval of the provider; and

b. Verification that actions required by 22VAC40-131-230 J 1, 2, and 3 were taken by the licensee.

K. The licensee shall maintain documentation in the provider's file of:

1. Each visit and contact made with the provider;

2. Each visit made to the home of the provider;

3. All activities, decisions made, and correspondence sent or received regarding re-evaluation process;

4. Home study addenda or updates;

5. The approval certificate issued to the approved provider; and

6. Documentation pertaining to suspension or revocation actions as required by this chapter.