(a) Each specialized community home (SCH) contractor serves a specially defined target population of four children in Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) custody.
(b) The SCH contractor must comply with:
(c) The SCH applicant must meet the requirements for OKDHS foster homes, per OAC 340:75-7.
(d) The SCH contractor must meet the requirements described in (1) through (4).
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(1) Education and experience. The SCH contractor meets one of the education and experience qualifications listed in (A) through (D).
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(A) A Master or Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work degree or other related area of study and one year direct experience working with children with comparable treatment needs to those requiring treatment in the SCH.
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(B) A Bachelor in Social Work degree or other related area of study and two years direct experience working with children with comparable treatment needs to those requiring treatment in the SCH.
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(C) An Associate degree in a social service field and four years direct experience working with children with comparable treatment needs to those requiring treatment in the SCH; or
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(D) A high school diploma or General Educational Development (GED) and six years of direct experience working with children with comparable treatment needs to those requiring treatment in the SCH plus training hours pertinent to residential child care.
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(2) Outside employment. The SCH contractor is not allowed other employment outside of the operation of the SCH contract and is not eligible for paid day care.
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(3) Respite care provider. During the mutual family assessment process, the SCH contractor identifies a Child Welfare approved respite care provider to provide alternative care when the SCH provider takes leave from his or her SCH contract responsibilities.
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(A) The SCH contractor identifies the respite care provider at the time of the initial assessment. The respite care provider:
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(i) must be at least 21 years of age; and
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(ii) is not an OKDHS foster parent, a Children and Family Services Division (CFSD), Child Welfare (CW), or Office of Juvenile Affairs employee, as the respite care provider must be available on short notice when the contractor takes leave.
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(B) When the SCH contractor takes leave, he or she selects one of the three options listed in (i) through (iii).
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(i) The approved respite care provider utilizes the SCH to provide alternate care. Prior to approving the respite care provider, the CW worker in the county where the SCH home is located:
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(I) makes personal contact with the respite care provider and conducts a personal assessment of the provider to determine his or her ability and willingness to provide alternate care;
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(III) contacts two references for and completes the background investigation of the respite care provider, including Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) name search, OSBI records search, and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records search and fingerprinting per
OAC 340:75-7-15; and
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(IV) files the personal assessment of the respite care provider in the SCH resource record.
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(ii) The children go to the home of the approved respite care provider for alternate care. •
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(iii) The children go to their own homes or relative homes on planned leave approved by the CW county of jurisdiction workers.
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(C) The SCH contractor is:
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(i) encouraged to take two weeks planned time away from the home each year;
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(ii) responsible for reimbursing the respite care provider from his or her salary; and
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(iii) responsible for training the respite care provider.
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(4) Mandatory training for SCH contractors. All SCH contractors must:
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(A) prior to placement of children in the home, complete all training requirements for OKDHS foster parents, per
OAC 340:75-7-14;
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(B) be certified in a behavior management system directed at managing aggressive and non-aggressive acting out behavior described in
OAC 340:75‑11‑237. Spouses or significant others must also be certified;
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(C) obtain 21 hours of training each calendar year geared toward working with the children served in the SCH contract;
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(D) attend the annual mandatory meetings for SCH contractors scheduled by CFSD that provide training hours; and
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(E) participate in other training curricula required of OKDHS foster parents.
(e) CFSD does not enter into SCH contracts with any person related, either directly or through marriage, to: