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| Division: 65C | |
| Family Safety and Preservation Program |
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| Department of Children and Family Services | ||
| 65C : Family Safety and Preservation Program | ||
65C-15.021 Placement Services to Families and Children in Foster Care and Residential Care.
(1) This section does not apply to parents whose rights have been terminated by the courts or to parents who have signed voluntary surrenders for purposes of adoption or the children cared for in foster care while awaiting placement for adoption.
(3) Selection of Care.
(a) The agency shall select the most appropriate service for the child, consistent with the child’s and family’s need.
(b) If foster care or residential care are the plan of choice, the agency shall arrange or assist in the arrangement for any specialized services the child or his family may need in order to remedy the problems which brought them to the agency.
(c) The agency shall make a reasonable effort to select a placement for the child that is as home-like as possible and which is as close as possible to the home of the child’s parent so that visitation between the child and his parents is possible.
(d) An agency, when selecting care, shall take into consideration a child’s racial, cultural, ethnic, religious heritage and sibling relationships and shall preserve them to the extent possible without jeopardizing the child’s right to care or to a permanent family.
65C-16.010 Adoption Placement - Post-Placement Services.
(2) Some placements are, by nature, complex and will require additional services during the post-placement period. Examples of these placements include:
(a) Sibling placements. Incorporating a large sibling group into an adoptive family is complex due to the number of new relationships this entails. Another difficult situation occurs when one child in a sibling group experiences difficulty in establishing a relationship with the adoptive family and the other child or children appear to be adjusting well. The case manager or adoption counselor must decide whether to separate the siblings. Before making a decision to separate siblings, the adoption unit must staff the case as a team. The positives and negatives of keeping the children together must be thoroughly explored and the team must decide what is in the best interest of the children. If it is determined that the removal of only one child is best, arrangements must be made for continuing contact among the children. Refer to Rule 65C-16.002, F.A.C., for criteria to assist in decision making for sibling placements. The decision and the reasons for the decision must be documented in the case file. The file must also include documentation of a plan to ensure the two or more families will maintain on-going contact among separated siblings.
65C-16.002 Adoptive Family Selection.
(3) It is the policy of the state and of the department that adoption placements must be made consistent with the best interest of the child. The role of good judgment in assessing the best interest of the child cannot be replaced by rote policy decrees. The exercise of that judgment must be shaped by the following considerations:
(4) Siblings.
(a) When considering adoption placement of a sibling group, consideration must include the fact that a sibling relationship is the longest lasting relationship for a child and placing siblings together, whenever possible, preserves the family unit.
(b) In situations where consideration is being given to separating siblings, the adoption unit must staff the case as a team. The team must consider the emotional ties existing between and among the siblings and the degree of harm which each child is likely to experience as a result of separation. The positives and negatives of keeping the children together must be thoroughly explored, and at least one member of the team must be assigned the role of defending the position of placing the children together. In particularly difficult cases, professionals who have expertise in this area can be consulted.
(c) The decision to separate siblings must be approved in writing and documented in the statewide automated system by the community based care or sub-contractor staff charged with this responsibility. The community based care or sub-contractor staff will prepare a memorandum directed to a designated community based care or sub-contractor staff describing efforts made to keep the siblings together and an assessment of the short term and long range effects of separation on the children. The memorandum must also include a description of the plan for future contact between the children if separation is approved. The plan must be one to which each adoptive parent and caretaker can commit.
(d) If after placement as a sibling group, one child does not adjust to the family, a decision must be made regarding what is best for all of the children. The adoption staff must review this situation as a team, and choose the plan that will be least detrimental to the children. The decision must be documented in the children’s records, including the statewide automated system. This documentation must also include the plan for future contact if the decision is to pursue separate placements.
(e) Sometimes the department may take into custody a child who is a sibling to previously adopted children. The department or community based care or sub-contractor staff shall advise the adoptive parents of this occurrence. If this child becomes available for adoption, the adoptive parents of the previously placed sibling shall be given an opportunity to apply to adopt this child. The application of these adoptive parents will be given the same consideration as an application for adoption by a relative, as described above.
Specific Authority 39.012, 39.0121, 39.0137, 63.233, 409.166(8) FS. Law Implemented 63.039(1), 63.042, 63.0425, 63.085, 409.145 FS. History–New 2-14-84, Formerly 10M-8.02, Amended 5-20-91, 4-28-92, 4-19-94, 8-17-94, 1-8-95, Formerly 10M-8.002, Amended 12-4-97, 12-23-97, 8-19-03, 11-30-08.
