OAR 413-040-0010: Requirements for the Case Plan

(1) The caseworker must analyze the information gathered during the protective capacity assessment to develop a case plan. The case plan must include all of the following information: (a) Family composition, which includes the information identifying each child, each young adult, and each parent or guardian. (b) Original impending danger safety threats identified in the CPS assessment as described in OAR 413-015-0425. (c) The ongoing safety plan including any additional impending danger safety threats identified since the CPS assessment, as described in OAR 413-015-0450 and recorded in the Department's information system. (d) The findings of the protective capacity assessment. (e) Expected outcomes and actions that each parent or guardian is taking to achieve them. (f) Services (if applicable) to the child or young adult that include: (A) The identified needs of and services provided to any child or young adult placed in substitute care, including the results of the CANS screening, the personal care services provided to an eligible child or young adult under OAR 413-090-0100 to 413-090-0210, and other current assessments or evaluations of the child or young adult, and the reasons the substitute care placement is the least restrictive placement to meet the child or young adult's identified needs; (B) The health information of the child or young adult, which documents the child's routine and specialized medical, dental, and mental health services; (C) The education services of the child or young adult, the school or educational placement history of the child or young adult, high school credits earned for a child over 14 years of age or a young adult, and any special educational needs; and (D) Services to transition the child or young adult to successful adulthood in all cases when the child is 14 years of age or older. (g) Services the Department will provide including: (A) Case oversight and routine contact with the parents or guardians and the child or young adult; (B) Appropriate and timely referrals to services and service providers suitable to address identified impending danger safety threats or strengthen parental protective capacity; (C) Appropriate and timely referrals to services and service providers suitable to address the needs of the child or young adult as identified through the CANS screening and other current assessments or evaluations of the child or young adult; and (D) Timely preparation of reports to the court or other service providers. (h) The date that the progress of the parents or guardians in achieving expected outcomes will be reviewed. The case plan must be reviewed with the parents or guardians every 90 days; however, the caseworker and parents or guardians may agree on a review date at any time within the 90-day period. (i) When the child or young adult is in substitute care, the case plan must also include: (A) Current placement information including: (i) The location of the child or young adult and the substitute caregiver of the child or young adult, except when doing so would jeopardize the safety of the child, young adult, or the substitute caregiver, or the substitute caregiver will not authorize release of the address; and (ii) Documentation that shows that the child or young adult is receiving safe and appropriate care in the least restrictive environment able to provide safety and well-being for the child or young adult. (B) The child or young adult's record of visits with his or her parents and siblings. (C) The permanency plan. (D) The conditions for return. (E) The concurrent permanent plan and the progress the Department has made in implementing the concurrent permanent plan. (j) The case plan for any child or young adult in foster care who has attained 14 years of age must include: (A) A document that describes: (i) The rights of the child or young adult with respect to education, health, visitation, and court participation; (ii) The right to be provided with a copy of the young adult’s birth certificate, social security card, health insurance information, medical records, and a driver’s license or equivalent state-issued identification card when the child leaves foster care having attained age 18 or greater; and (iii) The right to stay safe and avoid exploitation. (B) A signed acknowledgment by the child or young adult that the child or young adult has been provided with a copy of the document and that the rights contained in the document have been explained to the child in an age-appropriate way. (k) If the child or young adult is placed in a qualified residential treatment program ( QRTP ), the case plan must include documentation of the following: (A) In accordance with the best interests of the child or young adult , the reasonable and good faith efforts of the Department to identify and include all of the individuals required to be on the family and permanency team of the child or young adult , including: (i) Appropriate biological family members, relatives and fictive kin of the child or young adult ; (ii) Appropriate professionals who are a resource to the family of the child or young adult , including teachers, medical or mental health providers who have treated the child or young adult, or clergy; and, (iii) If the child or young adult has attained the age of 14 years, individuals selected by the child or young adult, as described in OAR 413-040-0010 (3)(c). (B) Contact information for members of the family and permanency team of the child or young adult as described in (1) (k) (A) (i) to (iii) of this rule, as well as contact information for the other family members and fictive kin of the child or young adult who are not part of the family and permanency team; (C) Evidence that meetings of the family and permanency team, including meetings related to the QRTP assessment , are held at a time and place convenient for the family of the child or young adult ; (D) If reunification is the permanency plan, evidence demonstrating that the parent from whom the child or young adult was removed provided input regarding who should be members of the family and permanency team; (E) Evidence that the QRTP assessment is determined in conjunction with the family and permanency team; (F) The placement preferences of the family and permanency team, including the team’s placement preferences regarding the placement of the child or young adult together with siblings unless there is a finding by the court that such placement is contrary to their best interests. (G) If the setting recommended by the qualified individual conducting the QRTP assessment is different than the placement preferences of the family and permanency team and of the child or young adult , the reasons why the preferences of the team and of the child or young adult were not recommended. (H) The written recommendations by the qualified individual regarding the appropriateness of the QRTP placement and the court approval or disapproval of the QRTP placement. (2) As applicable, the caseworker must also include in the case plan: (a) The goals and activities required for an Indian child under OAR 413-115-0030 to 413-115-0130 or for a refugee child under OAR 413-070-0300 to 413-070-0380. (b) Recommendations of expert evaluations requested by the Department whenever the recommendations may impact parental protective capacities or treatment services for the child or young adult. If the recommendations are not included in the case plan, the rationale must be documented in the Department's information system. (c) Diligent efforts to place the child or young adult with relatives and with siblings who are also in substitute care, sibling connections, and the Department's efforts to keep siblings together. (d) Orders of the court. (3) The persons involved with the Department in the development of the case plan include: (a) The parents or guardians, unless their participation threatens or places other participants at risk; (b) The child who has obtained 14 years of age or the young adult; and (c) At the option of the child or young adult, up to two members of the case planning team chosen by the child or young adult who are not: (A) A foster parent; (B) A caseworker for the child or young adult; or (C) An individual the Department has good cause to believe would not act in the best interests of the child or young adult. (d) One of the individuals in subsection (c) of this section may be designated to be the advisor of the child or young adult, and as needed, advocate for the child or young adult with respect to the application of the reasonable and prudent parent standard to the child or young adult. (4) Additional persons involved with the Department in the development of the case plan may include the child regardless of age or young adult, adoptive parents, an Indian custodian when applicable, other relatives, persons with significant attachments to the child or young adult, the substitute caregiver, and other professionals when appropriate. (5) The case plan must include the signature of the caseworker and each parent or guardian, unless subsections (7)(a) or (7)(b) of this rule apply. (6) Approval and distribution of the case plan. (a) The Child Welfare supervisor must approve and sign the case plan. (b) The caseworker must give a copy of the case plan to the parents or guardians of the child or young adult, and the Indian child's tribe when applicable, as soon as possible but no later than seven working days after the case plan is approved by the supervisor, except when doing so would provide information that places another person at risk. (7) Exceptions and exemptions to the required case plan. (a) A court may authorize an exception to the involvement of the parents or guardians when it determines that reasonable efforts to return the child home are not required, as described in OAR 413-070-0515. (b) When the Department has custody of a child or young adult in substitute care and is unable to obtain the signature of a parent or guardian, the caseworker must prepare and send a letter of expectations and a copy of the case plan to the parent or guardian within seven working days after the supervisor has approved and signed the case plan. A letter of expectations means an individualized written statement for the family of the child or young adult that identifies family behaviors, conditions, or circumstances that resulted in an unsafe child; the expected outcomes; and what the Department expects each parent or guardian will do to achieve safety, permanency, and well-being of the child or young adult in the parental home. (c) A case plan as described in sections (1) to (5) of this rule is not required if a family, child, or young adult is eligible for Family Support Services as described in OAR 413-030-0000 to 413-030-0030. (8) Timeline for case plan development. The caseworker must develop the case plan within 60 days of a child's removal from home or within 60 days of the completion of the CPS assessment, in cases where the child remains in the home of a parent or guardian.