Header:
KANSAS ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS
AGENCY 28 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT
ARTICLE 4. MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH
Date:
08/31/2009
Document:
28-4-819. Health care.
(a) Infectious or contagious disease. Each individual residing in the family foster home shall be free from any infectious or contagious disease specified in K.A.R. 28-1-6.
(b) Health of caregivers.
(1) Each caregiver shall be in a state of physical, mental, and emotional health, as necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the children in foster care.
(2) No caregiver shall be in a state of impaired ability due to the use of alcohol or other chemicals, including prescription and nonprescription drugs.
(3) Each individual regularly caring for a child in foster care in the family foster home shall have a health assessment conducted by a physician with a current license to practice in Kansas or by a nurse with a current license to practice in Kansas who is approved to perform health assessments. Each health assessment shall be conducted no earlier than one year before the date of the initial application for a license, employment, or volunteering and no later than 30 days after the date of the initial application, employment, or volunteering. The results of each assessment shall be recorded on a form provided by the department.
(4) If a caregiver experiences a significant change in the caregiver's physical, mental, or emotional health, including indications of substance abuse, an assessment of the caregiver's current health status may be requested by the secretary or by the sponsoring child-placing agency.
(A) The assessment or evaluation shall be performed at the expense of the licensee or other caregiver and by a practitioner who is licensed or certified in Kansas to diagnose and treat the specific condition that is the basis for the assessment or evaluation.
(B) Each licensee shall ensure that at least one potential practitioner has been approved by the requesting department or the sponsoring child-placing agency in order to have the assessment or evaluation accepted by the requesting department or child-placing agency.
(C) Each licensee shall provide the requesting department or sponsoring child-placing agency with an executed release of medical information to enable the department or the child-placing agency to obtain information directly from the practitioner.
(c) Health of the foster family members.
(1) Each individual living in the family foster home, other than the child in foster care, shall have a health assessment conducted by a physician with a current license to practice in Kansas or by a nurse with a current license to practice in Kansas who is approved to perform health assessments. Each assessment shall be conducted within one year before the date of application or the individual residing in the home and no later than 30 days after the date of the licensee's initial application or the individual becoming a resident of the home. The results of the health assessment shall be recorded on forms provided by the department.
(2) Each child born to or adopted by the licensee who is less than 16 years of age and is living in the home shall have current immunizations. An exemption from this requirement shall be permitted only with one of the following:
(A) A written certification from a physician with a current license to practice in Kansas stating that the physical condition of the child is such that the immunization would endanger the child's life or health; or
(B) a written statement from the child's parent or legal guardian that the child is an adherent of a religious denomination whose teachings are opposed to immunizations.
(d) Medical and dental health of each child in foster care.
(1) Each licensee shall ensure that emergency and ongoing medical and dental care is obtained for each child in foster care by providing timely access to basic, emergency, and specialized medical, mental health, and dental care and treatment services provided by qualified practitioners.
(2) Each licensee shall ensure that, at the time of the initial placement, each child in foster care has had a health assessment conducted within the past year by a physician with a current license to practice in Kansas or by a nurse with a current license to practice in Kansas who is approved to conduct assessments.
(3) A health assessment shall be obtained annually for each child in foster care who is less than six years of age and every two years for each child in foster care who is six years of age and older.
(4) Each health assessment required in paragraphs (d)(2) and (3) shall be on file at the family foster home within 30 days after the child's placement in the home.
(5) The immunizations for each child in foster care less than 16 years of age shall be current or in process at the time the license is issued. An exemption from this requirement shall be permitted only with one of the following:
(A) A written certification from a physician with a license to practice in Kansas stating that the physical condition of the child is such that the immunization would endanger the child's life or health; or
(B) a written statement from the child's parent or legal guardian that the child is an adherent of a religious denomination whose teachings are opposed to immunizations.
(6) An annual dental examination shall be obtained for each child in foster care who is three years of age or older. Followup care shall be provided. The child's dental record shall be recorded on forms provided by the department and shall be kept current.
(7) The medical information record for each child in foster care shall be kept current and shall document each illness, the action taken by the licensee, and the date of the child's medical, psychological, or dental care. When the child leaves the family foster home, the licensee shall ensure that the record, including the health assessments, dental records, medication administration record, immunization record, medical and surgical consent forms, and emergency medical treatment authorization, is given to the child's child-placing agent.
(e) Tuberculin testing.
(1) Each individual 16 years of age and older living, working, or regularly volunteering in the family foster home and each child in foster care 16 years of age and older shall be required to have a record of a negative tuberculin test or X-ray obtained not more than two years before the employment or initial application for a license or shall obtain the required record no later than 30 days after the date of employment, initial application, or becoming a resident of or volunteer in the home.
(2) Additional tuberculin testing shall be required if significant exposure to an active case of tuberculosis occurs or if symptoms compatible with tuberculosis develop. Proper treatment or prophylaxis shall be instituted, and the results of the follow-up shall be recorded on the individual's health record. The department shall be informed of each occurrence described within this paragraph.
(3) The results of each tuberculin test shall be recorded on, or attached to, the health assessment form and kept on file at the family foster home. Each licensee shall report any positive tuberculin skin test to the department's TB control program by the next working day.
(4) A child in foster care less than 16 years of age shall not be required to have tuberculin tests unless the child has been recently exposed to tuberculosis or exhibits symptoms compatible with tuberculosis.
(f) Tobacco use limitations.
(1) To prevent exposure of a child in foster care to secondhand smoke, each licensee shall ensure that both of the following conditions are met:
(A) Smoking is prohibited inside the family foster home when a child in foster care is in placement, whether the child is physically present on the premises or not.
(B) Smoking by any member of the foster family is prohibited outside the family foster home within 10 feet of a child in foster care.
(2) Each licensee shall prohibit smoking and the use of any other tobacco product by a child in foster care less than 18 years of age.
(g) Handwashing.
(1) Each caregiver shall wash the caregiver's hands with soap and water before preparing food, before eating, after toileting, after petting animals, and after diapering or changing soiled clothing.
(2) Each caregiver shall encourage each child in the family foster home to wash the child's hands with soap and water before and after eating, after petting an animal, and after toileting.
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