Vol. 2, No. 1 • Fall 1997

Foster Parents Ask DSS
Responses by Rebecca Brigham, North Carolina Division of Social Services

Question: When a child is placed in our home, would he first be screened for dangerous, communicable diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis, or TB? Will we be informed of the test results? Also, will we be informed of the child's allergies?

Thank you for this very important question. Every North Carolina County DSS is required by Federal law and by State policy to provide you with information about the health status of every child placed with you. They do this on a form called the "Child Health Status Component." North Carolina standards say the Health Component of the Case Plan "shall be completed within seven days of the initial placement and be provided within seven days of the initial placement and be provided to the placement provider." Also, the form must be reviewed and updated at least every six months.

It is important to remember, however, that for many of the children who come into DSS custody, the social worker may not know the medical background of the child. For this reason it is VERY IMPORTANT that you practice universal precautions (see "Recommended Hygiene Practices/Universal Precautions"). These simple precautions will help prevent the spread of any known or unknown communicable disease in your home. Children are only screened for infectious diseases like HIV, Hepatitis B, and TB if they or members of their families are known to have been exposed to these illnesses.

If a North Carolina county DSS knows, however, that a child does have a communicable disease, then foster parents have what is called "need-to-know status." The foster family needs to know this information so they can prevent the spread of the disease in their home and provide appropriate medical care to the child.

There is one North Carolina Confidentiality Law about HIV that says that only parents and guardians have permission to release information about a child's HIV status. Because DSS's are not parents or guardians, they have to get special permission from the parent or a judge to tell you that the child is HIV+. However, because foster parents have a "need to know" status, it is crucial that DSS gets this permission.

I hope that this answers your questions. I would encourage you to talk with your local DSS about how they implement these policies. This also might be a good topic for an in-service training for the foster parents in your county.

Question: Our (North Carolina) county is now requiring foster homes to submit a TRW credit report when relicensing. I am very offended by this invasion of our privacy. After all, we're not buying anything from DSS. What can we do?

I understand your concern about being asked to provide information to DSS which feels private. Currently, the State of North Carolina does not require a credit report for foster families who are being relicensed, though counties can place additional requirements on families being relicensed.

The State of North Carolina does have rules that all foster families have to follow. One of those is, "the foster family shall have a stable income sufficient for their needs without dependency up on board payments. The supervising agency shall discuss the family's income and expenditures and shall document on each licensing application/reapplication that this standard is met."

Since I do not know the reason that the county made this new policy, I can only guess that it is because they may have been having problems with some families not being forthcoming with information about their income and expenses.

I would suggest that you meet with your foster care supervision and/or the director of your county. Some questions you might want to ask are: What is the purpose of the new policy? Is the policy something that needs to be implemented with all families, or just with those they may be having this problems with? What criteria are going to be used to determine if the TRW report meets an acceptable standard? How will the information be kept confidential? What if the TRW report does not meet an acceptable standard? Will I have an opportunity to improve my situation? Will the children be removed who are living with me? Is there some other way to document for the county that foster parents are adhering to the rule?

Hopefully your meeting will help you resolve your concern in a way that will maintain a successful partnership between you and the department of social services.

If you have questions for "Ask DSS" please send them to Fostering Perspective, c/o John McMahon, Jordan Institute for Families, UNC School of Social Work, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3550 or e-mail: [email protected].

Copyright � 2000 Jordan Institute for Families