(a) As used in this section, (1) “approval” or “approved” means that a person has been approved to adopt or provide foster care by a child-placing agency licensed pursuant to section 17a-149, (2) “licensed” means a person holds a license to provide foster care issued by the Department of Children and Families, (3) “fictive kin caregiver” means a person who is twenty-one years of age or older and who is unrelated to a child by birth, adoption or marriage but who has an emotionally significant relationship with such child or such child's family amounting to a familial relationship, and (4) “regular unsupervised access” means periodic interaction with a child in the home for purposes of unsupervised child care, medical or other services to the child.
(b) (1) No child in the custody of the Commissioner of Children and Families shall be placed in foster care with any person, unless (A) (i) such person is licensed for that purpose by the department or the Department of Developmental Services pursuant to the provisions of section 17a-227, or (ii) such person's home is approved by a child placing agency licensed by the commissioner pursuant to section 17a-149, or (iii) such person has received approval as provided in this section, and (B) on and after January 1, 2017, for a child twelve years of age or older, such child has received a foster family profile in accordance with the provisions of section 17a-114e. Any person licensed by the department may be a prospective adoptive parent. The commissioner shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to establish the licensing procedures and standards.
(2) The commissioner shall require each applicant for licensure or approval pursuant to this section and any person sixteen years of age or older living in the household of such applicant to submit to state and national criminal history records checks prior to issuing a license or approval to such applicant to accept placement of a child for purposes of foster care or adoption. Such criminal history records checks shall be conducted in accordance with section 29-17a. The commissioner shall check the (A) state child abuse and neglect registry established pursuant to section 17a-101k for the name of such applicant and for the name of any person sixteen years of age or older living in the household of such applicant, and (B) child abuse and neglect registry in any state in which such applicant or person resided in the preceding five years for the name of such applicant or person.
(3) The commissioner shall require each individual licensed or approved pursuant to this section and any person sixteen years of age or older living in the household of such individual to submit to state and national criminal history records checks prior to renewing a license or approval for any individual providing foster care or adopting. Such criminal history records checks shall be conducted in accordance with section 29-17a. Prior to such renewal, the commissioner shall check the (A) state child abuse and neglect registry established pursuant to section 17a-101k for the name of such applicant and for the name of any person sixteen years of age or older living in the household of such applicant, and (B) child abuse and neglect registry in any state in which such applicant or person resided in the preceding five years for the name of such applicant or person.
(4) The commissioner shall comply with any request to check the child abuse and neglect registry established pursuant to section 17a-101k made by the child welfare agency of another state.
(c) Notwithstanding the requirements of subsection (b) of this section, the commissioner may place a child with a relative or fictive kin caregiver who has not been issued a license or approval, when such placement is in the best interests of the child, provided a satisfactory home visit is conducted, a basic assessment of the family is completed and such relative or fictive kin caregiver attests that such relative or fictive kin caregiver and any adult living within the household has not been convicted of a crime or arrested for a felony against a person, for injury or risk of injury to or impairing the morals of a child, or for the possession, use or sale of a controlled substance. Any such relative or fictive kin caregiver who accepts placement of a child shall be subject to licensure by the commissioner, pursuant to regulations adopted by the commissioner in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 to implement the provisions of this section or approval by a child-placing agency licensed pursuant to section 17a-149. The commissioner may grant a waiver from such regulations, including any standard regarding separate bedrooms or room-sharing arrangements, for a child placed with a relative or fictive kin caregiver, on a case-by-case basis, if such placement is otherwise in the best interests of such child, provided no procedure or standard that is safety-related may be so waived. The commissioner shall document, in writing, the reason for granting any waiver from such regulations.
(d) Any individual who has been licensed or approved to adopt or provide foster care and any relative or fictive kin caregiver shall apply a reasonable and prudent parent standard, as defined in subsection (a) of section 17a-114d, on behalf of the child.
(P.A. 88-332, S. 1, 4; P.A. 93-91, S. 1, 2; P.A. 94-216, S. 2, 4; P.A. 99-166, S. 5; P.A. 01-70, S. 1, 2; 01-142, S. 11; 01-159, S. 4; P.A. 03-243, S. 7; P.A. 04-88, S. 1; P.A. 05-207, S. 6; 05-246, S. 12; P.A. 07-8, S. 1; 07-73, S. 2(a); P.A. 11-116, S. 2; 11-166, S. 1; Dec. Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-1, S. 24; P.A. 15-199, S. 5; P.A. 16-123, S. 2; 16-124, S. 1; P.A. 18-67, S. 9; 18-111, S. 6; P.A. 19-117, S. 158; 19-120, S. 4.)
History: Sec. 17-43c transferred to Sec. 17a-114 in 1991; P.A. 93-91 substituted commissioner and department of children and families for commissioner and department of children and youth services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 94-216 required a relative to be licensed by the commissioner of children and families before having a child placed in his custody, required placements beyond such 45-day period to be subject to certification by the commissioner, and required the commissioner to adopt regulations to establish certification procedures for a caretaker who is a relative of such child, effective June 7, 1994; P.A. 99-166 amended Subsec. (a) by adding provision that any person licensed by department to accept placement of child is deemed to be licensed to accept placement as foster family or prospective adoptive family and provision re criminal records check by commissioner to be criminal records check requested from state police and FBI; P.A. 01-70 amended Subsec. (b) to allow commissioner to place a child with an unlicensed relative for a period of up to 90 days, in lieu of 45 days, when such placement is in the best interests of the child, to delete requirement that placements with a relative beyond the 45-day period be subject to certification by commissioner, to require licensure for any such relative who accepts placement of a child in excess of the 90-day period with an exception, and to authorize commissioner to grant a waiver, for a child placed with a relative, from a procedure or standard other than a safety standard based on relative's home and needs and best interests of the child, requiring that reason for any waiver granted be documented, effective July 1, 2001; P.A. 01-142 reinstated former Subsec. (b) re placements that was deleted by P.A. 01-159, including changes made by P.A. 01-70, and redesignated Subsec. (b) added by P.A. 01-159 as Subsec. (c); P.A. 01-159 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting provision re criminal records check, deleted existing Subsec. (b) re placements and added new Subsec. (b) re criminal history records checks; P.A. 03-243 amended Subsec. (a) by designating existing provisions as Subdiv. (1) and adding Subdiv. (2) re criminal history records checks and child abuse registry checks for applicants and persons 16 or older living in household of applicants and deleted former Subsec. (c) re fingerprinting of applicants and criminal history records and child abuse registry checks; P.A. 04-88 added new Subsec. (a) defining “licensed” and “special study foster parent” for purposes of section, allowed commissioner to place children 14 years of age or older with special study foster parents, required reasons for waivers to be in writing and redesignated existing Subsecs. (a) and (b) as new Subsecs. (b) and (c), respectively; P.A. 05-207 amended Subsec. (b)(2) to delete requirement that commissioner check state child abuse registry for perpetrator information; P.A. 05-246 amended Subsec. (b)(1) to require that persons be licensed by Department of Mental Retardation pursuant to Sec. 17a-227 or that person's home is approved by child placing agency licensed pursuant to Sec. 17a-149, effective July 8, 2005; P.A. 07-8 amended Subsec. (c) to lower the age of children placed with special study foster parents from 14 to 10 years of age and to permit placement of a child with an unlicensed nonrelative for a period of 90 days if the child's sibling who is related to the caregiver is also placed with such caregiver; pursuant to P.A. 07-73 “Department of Mental Retardation” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Department of Developmental Services”, effective October 1, 2007; P.A. 11-116 amended Subsec. (c) by specifying that commissioner may waive a separate bedroom or room-sharing standard but not a safety-related standard; P.A. 11-166 amended Subsec. (c) by deleting “if the child is ten years of age or older” re placement with a special study foster parent, effective July 1, 2011; Dec. Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-1 amended Subsec. (c) to delete provisions re 90-day placement period, replace exception re relative certified prior to July 1, 2001, with provision re licensure pursuant to regulations, replace “procedure or standard” with “regulations” re waiver, and replace provisions re reason for waiver pursuant to section to be documented in writing and re adoption of regulations establishing certification procedures and standards with provision re reason for waiver from regulations to be documented in writing, effective December 21, 2012; P.A. 15-199 amended Subsec. (a) by adding definitions of “approval” and “regular unsupervised access” and replacing “special study foster parent” with “fictive kin caregiver”, amended Subsec. (b) by adding provisions re placement of child in foster care with person who has received approval as provided in section in Subdivs. (1) and (2) and added Subdivs. (3) to (5) re criminal history record checks, amended Subsec. (c) to delete references to nonrelative, replace references to special study foster parent with references to fictive kin caregiver and delete provision re sibling, added Subsec. (d) re application of reasonable and prudent parent standard, and made technical and conforming changes, effective July 1, 2015; P.A. 16-123 amended Subsec. (b)(1) by redesignating existing Subparas. (A) to (C) as clauses (i) to (iii) in Subpara. (A) and adding new Subpara. (B) re child 12 years of age or older to receive foster family profile; P.A. 16-124 amended Subsec. (a)(3) by deleting provision re fictive kin caregiver who is not approved or licensed to provide foster care by the department, amended Subsec. (c) by adding provision re relative or fictive kin caregiver who accepts placement of child subject to approval by child-placing agency, and made technical changes; P.A. 18-67 amended Subsec. (a)(3) by redefining “fictive kin caregiver”, effective July 1, 2018; P.A. 18-111 amended Subsec. (b) by deleting former Subdiv. (3) re criminal history records checks and check of state child abuse registry, redesignating existing Subdiv. (4) as Subdiv. (3), and amending same to add provision re conducting criminal history records checks and check of state child abuse registry, and deleting Subdiv. (5) re commissioner's authority to require certain persons with regular unsupervised access to child to submit to criminal history records checks, effective June 7, 2018; P.A. 19-117 amended Subsec. (a)(1) by redefining “approval” or “approved”, amended Subsec. (b)(2) by designating existing provisions re commissioner to check state child abuse registry for name of applicant and name of person age 16 or older living in household of applicant as Subpara. (A) and amending same by adding “and neglect”, adding Subpara. (B) re commissioner to check state child abuse and neglect registry in any state in which applicant or person resided in preceding 5 years, and making a technical change, amended Subsec. (b)(3) by adding “or adopting”, adding “Prior to such renewal,”, designating existing provisions re commissioner to check state child abuse registry for name of applicant and name of any person age 16 or older living in household of applicant as Subpara. (A) and amending same by adding “and neglect”, deleting “prior to such renewal”, and adding Subpara. (B) re commissioner to check child abuse and neglect registry in any state in which applicant or person resided in preceding 5 years, further amended Subsec. (b) by adding Subdiv. (4) re commissioner to comply with request to check child abuse and neglect registry made by child welfare agency of another state, and making technical changes, and amended Subsec. (d) by adding “adopt or”, effective July 1, 2019; P.A. 19-120 made identical changes as P.A. 19-117, effective July 1, 2019.