Library: Policy

340:110-5-61. Children's rights

Revised 11-2-15

The foster home agency (agency) ensures the child in foster care is:

(1) not forced to participate in publicity or promotional activities;

(2) not publicly identified as a ward of the agency;

(3) provided an opportunity to participate in religious services;

(4) supplied with facilities and supplies for personal care, hygiene, and grooming;

(5) supplied with his or her own clothing and shoes appropriate to the season, age, activities, and individual needs and comparable to that of other children in the community;

(6) provided individual space in the foster home for the child's personal possessions and a reasonable degree of privacy.

(A) The child has the right to bring, possess, and acquire personal belongings subject only to reasonable household rules and the child's service plan.

(B) Personal belongings are sent with the child when the child leaves the home;

(7) expected to perform only household tasks that are within the child's abilities, reasonable for the child's age, and similar to those expected of other household members of comparable age and ability;

(8) given guidance in managing money.

(A) Money earned by the child or received as a gift or allowance is the child's personal property.

(B) The child is not required to use earned money to pay for room and board, unless it is a part of the service plan and approved by the parent or custodian and the agency;

(9) allowed privacy in writing, sending, or receiving correspondence, unless restricted by the service plan;

(10) not denied meals as punishment;

(11) not subjected to remarks that belittle or ridicule the child or the child's family;

(12) allowed to visit with the child's family per the service plan;

(13) not forced to acknowledge dependency on the agency or foster home or gratitude to them;

(14) given the opportunity, at the child's or agency's request, for private conversation with the agency's staff members responsible for the child's supervision;

(15) provided educational opportunities per the child's plan of care; and

(16) provided regular opportunities to engage in age appropriate or developmentally appropriate activities.