Appendix 7000-1: Licensing Criteria for Granting Variances for Level 1 Child Placing Staff Qualifications
CPS 2001-05
Qualified Level 1 child-placing staff are expected to meet and comply with minimum standards. Child-placing staff, however, may be allowed a variance from these standards under certain conditions.
The following are guidelines Licensing uses for granting variances to the Level 1 Child-placing staff qualifications:
Guidelines
Anyone lacking either the required degree or child-placing experience will not be not considered for a variance.
The child-placing agency's compliance history and stability are critical for variance approval, as well as whether the agency has other qualified Level 1 staff and whether variances are in effect for other key agency personnel. A variance is unlikely to be granted to a requestor if the facility is unstable or in poor standing or lacks other qualified Level 1 staff.
Variances may be granted if the requestor has at least one of the combinations of child-placing experience and education listed below:
1. A master's degree (or higher) in social work and one year of supervisory or child-placing experience
2. A master's degree (or higher) in a human-services field and two years of supervisory or child-placing experience
3. A bachelor's degree in social work and three years of supervisory or child-placing experience
4. A bachelor's degree in a related human-services field and four years of supervisory or child-placing experience
5. A bachelor's degree in any field and either:
· six years of supervisory or child-placing experience,
· for four years of supervisory or child-placing experience and certification as a CPS supervisor,
Notes:
· Educational credentials must be from an accredited college or university.
· Only supervision of child-placing activities qualifies as supervisory experience.
· The human-services field is defined as a field of study designed to prepare a student for service in programs and activities that enhance people's development and well being. (See the Minimum Standards for Child-Placing Agencies, Section 5000-3.
· Child-placing experience is defined as performing any of the following duties in a child-placing agency:
1. Completing the admission of a child into the child-placing program
2. Completing the intake study
3. Making decisions about the facility, adoptive home, or foster home for the child's initial (and any subsequent) placement(s)
4. Completing studies on foster families and adoptive homes
5. Supervising less qualified experienced staff, if any, including planning of staff development and corrective action in regard to child-placing decisions
Licensing will grant an initial variance for Level 1 child-placing staff for only one year in order to evaluate the requestor's effort to comply with minimum standards. A qualified Level 1 child-placing staff member with at least three years of child-placing experience must provide the requestor with face-to-face supervision at the requestor's worksite. The agency must submit an acceptable plan describing this supervisory arrangement.
Although supervision by a person qualified as Level 1 staff must include routine face-to-face interactions, the supervisor and the requestor need not work in the same office or facility. Facilities also have the option of contracting with a person qualified to supervise Level 1 child-placing activities.
Following successful completion of one year of Level 1 child-placing service, the requestor may reapply for the variance. The variance may at this stage be granted for two years provided that an acceptable plan is submitted by the agency ensuring that the requestor receives routine, face-to-face supervision from a Level 1 child-placing staff member.
When the requestor has demonstrated three consecutive years of consistent compliance with minimum standards as a Level 1 child-placing staff member, he or she may reapply for another variance. At this stage, the variance may be granted for a maximum of three years without the requirement of supervision.
Cycle |
Term of Variance |
Routine Face-to-Face Supervision by Qualified Level 1 Child-Placing Staff |
Considerations in Granting a Variance |
|---|---|---|---|
1 |
One year |
Yes |
1. Education; 2. Experience; 3. Compliance history of the child-placing agency; 4. Status of the child-placing agency's license (such as provisional, on evaluation, on probation, or in good standing); 5. Supervision plan for the person requesting the variance; 6. Number of Level 1 child-placing staff operating under a variance; and 7. Other waivers/variances in effect. |
2 |
Two Years |
Yes |
Progress in meeting the conditions of the variance; Compliance history of the child-placing agency; The status of the child-placing agency's license (such as provisional, on evaluation, on probation, or in good standing); Supervision plan for the person requesting the variance; The number of Level 1 child-placing staff operating under a variance; and Other waivers/variances in effect. |
3 |
Three Years |
No |
1. Progress in meeting the conditions of the variance; 2. Compliance history of the child-placing agency; 3. The status of the child-placing agency's license (such as provisional, on evaluation, on probation, or in good standing); 4. The number of level 1 child-placing staff operating under a variance; and 5. Other waivers/variances in effect. |
Persons operating under a variance gained prior to the implementation of this policy must reapply for a new variance following these guidelines. In these circumstances, all Level 1 child-placing experience will be considered in determining where the person falls in the one-, two-, or three-year cycle. This also applies to a person who must reapply for a variance due to changing work positions.
Source: The Minimum Standards for Child-Placing Agencies, Section 5000-3