5251 Qualified Residential Treatment Programs

1. Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTP) provide out-of-home placements for children in DCF custody and have a trauma-informed treatment model is designed to address the needs, including clinical needs as appropriate, of children with serious emotional or behavioral disorders or disturbances. QRTPs shall:

1. facilitate participation of family members in the child’s treatment program to the extent appropriate and in accordance with the child’s best interest;

2. facilitate outreach to the family members of the child, including siblings, and documents how the outreach is made, and maintain contact information for any known biological family and fictive kin of the child; 

3. documents how family members are integrated into the treatment process for the child, including post-discharge and how sibling connections are maintained;

4. provide discharge planning and family-based aftercare support for at least 6 months post-discharge in collaboration with the Child Welfare Case Management Provider (CWCMP); and

5. have access—24 hours a day and 7 days a week—to registered or licensed nursing staff and other licensed clinical staff who provide care and services

2. CWCMP shall immediately notify the court when a child is placed in a QRTP.  A copy of the assessment, once completed, shall be provided to the court.

3. When a child is placed in a QRTP, an assessment shall be completed within 30 days to determine the appropriateness of the placement.  The CWCMP shall use the PPS 5115 Referral for QRTP Assessment For Child in DCF Custody to make this request for assessment. This assessment shall be done by the DCF identified independently contracted qualified individual (QI) who is a licensed clinician and not an employee of the QRTP or the CWCMP and is not connected to, or affiliated with, any placement setting in which children are placed by the CWCMP. The QI shall:

1. assess the strengths and needs of the child using an age-appropriate, evidence-based, validated, functional assessment tool approved by the Secretary;

2. determine whether the needs of the child can be met with family members or through placement in a foster family home or, if not, which placement setting would provide the most effective and appropriate level of care for the child in the least restrictive environment and be consistent with the short- and long-term goals for the child, as specified in the permanency plan for the child;

3. develop a list of child-specific short- and long-term mental and behavioral health goals; and

4. work in conjunction with the child’s family and permanency team while conducting and making the required 30-day assessment.

If placement is recommended, the QI shall state the reasons why the child’s needs can’t be met by the family or in a foster family home and why the recommended placement in a QRTP will provide the child with the most effective and appropriate level of care in the least restrictive environment. The QI will also explain how the QRTP placement is consistent with the short- and long-term goals for the child, as specified in the permanency plan for the child.

4. Within 60 days of the start of placement in a QRTP, the court shall:

1. consider the required 30-day assessment of the appropriateness of the QRTP, and documentation made by the QI conducting the assessment;

2. determine whether the needs of the child can be met through placement in a foster family home or, if not, whether placement of the child in a QRTP provides the most effective and appropriate level of care for the child in the least restrictive environment; and whether that placement is consistent with the short- and long-term goals for the child, as specified in the permanency plan for the child; and

3. approve or disapprove the placement. Such approval or disapproval must be documented in the case plan.

If the court does not approve the placement, the child shall be moved within 30 days.

5. While the child remains placed in a QRTP, the CWCMP shall provide specific QRTP placement information to the court at each review and permanency hearing. This reporting shall include indication the QRTP placement continues to be appropriate based on ongoing assessments, documentation of the treatment and services provided, and information regarding the efforts made toward permanency. If the court, at the review or permanency hearing, determines the continued placement is not approved, the child shall be moved within 30 days.

6. If a child is placed in a QRTP for more than 12 consecutive months, or 18 nonconsecutive months, or, in the case of a child who has not attained age 13, for more than six consecutive or nonconsecutive months, the CWCMP shall submit to DCF the evidence and documentation submitted to the court for the most recent status review or permanency hearing.

7. The CWCMP shall ensure all QRTP data and documentation regarding eligibility milestone occurrences are captured and provided to DCF upon request.  These milestones include but may not be limited to an independent assessment completed within 30 days of placement; court review within 60 days of placement; and decision to discharge.