OAR 413-200-0308: Personal Qualifications of Applicants and Resource Parents

(1) Applicants have the burden of proving they possess the required qualifications to be approved as a resource parent or as a potential adoptive resource. (2) Applicants must, as determined by the Department pursuant to OAR 413-200-0274 to OAR 413-200-0298: (a) Exercise sound judgment and demonstrate responsible, stable, emotionally mature behavior; (b) Manage the home and personal life; (c) Possess the ability to apply the reasonable and prudent parent standard when determining whether to allow a child in the care or custody of the Department to participate in extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and social activities; (d) Maintain conditions in the home that provide for the safety, health, and well-being for the child in the care or custody of the Department and be able to meet the safety, health, attachment, and well-being needs for that child; (e) Have supportive relationships with adults and children living in the household and with others in the community; (f) Have a lifestyle and personal habits free of criminal activity, and abuse or misuse of alcohol or drugs; (g) Have adequate financial resources to support the household; financial resources are not limited to income from employment. (h) Be willing to participate in the assessment process that includes a comprehensive inquiry into the personal and family history including family dynamics; (i) Have the physical and mental capacity to care for a child in the care or custody of the Department. Upon request, be willing to provide copies of medical reports from a health care professional, and be willing to participate in an expert evaluation and authorize the Department to obtain a report from the evaluator; (j) Demonstrate an ability to learn and apply effective childrearing and behavior intervention practices focused on helping a child in the care or custody of the Department grow, develop, and build positive personal relationships and self-esteem; and (k) Assure that all members of the household, excluding a child in the care or custody of the Department: (A) Exercise sound judgment and demonstrate responsible, stable, emotionally mature behavior, within the individual's developmental and cognitive abilities; (B) Do not pose a risk to the safety, health, and well-being needs of a child in the care or custody of the Department; (C) Have a lifestyle and personal habits free of criminal activity, and abuse or misuse of alcohol or drugs; and (D) Cooperate with the Department's assessment of the household. (3) To maintain certification, in addition to continuing to meet the personal qualifications listed in sections (2) of this rule, a resource parent must: (a) Incorporate into the resource parent's care-giving practices positive non-punitive discipline and ways of helping a child placed with the resource parent build positive personal relationships, self-control, and self-esteem; (b) Ensure the child placed with the resource parent is taught age-appropriate health and hygiene practices and is given the opportunity to practice good hygiene; (c) Ensure the child placed with the resource parent has regular, ongoing opportunities to engage in age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate activities, including extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and social activities; (d) Respect and support the Department's efforts to develop and maintain the relationships of the child placed with the resource parent with their family, their siblings, their relatives, and any other significant individual in the life of the child; (e) Work in partnership with the Department to identify the strengths and meet the needs of each child placed with the resource parent; (f) Follow Department direction and comply with prescribed services and activities in the case plan, including, but not limited to supervision plans, personal care services plans, visitation plans, transition plans, and restrictions for each child placed with the resource parent, as applicable to that child; (g) Follow through with any placement support plan; and (h) Use reasonable efforts to prevent anyone from influencing any child regarding allegations in a judicial or administrative proceeding in which the family or legal guardian of the child or another individual may be involved.