(1) The purpose of family reconciliation services (FRS) is to achieve reconciliation between the parent and child, to reunify the family, and to maintain and strengthen the family unit to avoid the necessity of out-of-home placement of children.

(2) The department provides these services, within available funds, to:

(a) Alleviate personal or family situations that present a serious and imminent threat to the health or stability of the child or family and that do not meet the definition of child abuse or neglect; and

(b) Maintain families intact whenever possible.

(1) DCYF provides FRS to adolescents twelve through seventeen years old and their families, in instances where adolescents have runaway or are otherwise in conflict with their families. These populations are defined as follows:

"Families in conflict" means families in which personal or family situations present a serious and imminent threat to the health or stability of the child, which may include an at-risk youth, or family.

"Runaways" means youths who are absent from home for a period of time without parental permission. Services are to actual runaways and not to threatened runaways, unless the threatened runaways meet the definition of families in conflict.

(2) FRS is not provided for any of the following situations, unless the family is seeking an at-risk youth (ARY) or a child-in-need-of-services (CHINS) family assessment:

(a) Chronic or long-term multiproblem situations requiring long-term interventions;

(b) Custody and marital disputes unless the dispute creates a conflict between the child and parent with physical custody;

(c) Families currently receiving counseling services related to the parent-child conflict/relationship from other agencies;

(d) Child abuse and neglect cases, unless those cases meet the definition of family in conflict; or

(e) Youth receiving foster care or group care services or follow up to those services.

The assigned caseworker provides family reconciliation services (FRS) to develop skills and supports within families to resolve family conflicts, achieve a reconciliation between parent and child, and to avoid out-of-home placement. The services may include, but are not limited to, referral to services for suicide prevention, psychiatric or other medical care, or psychological, financial, legal, educational, or other social services, as appropriate to the needs of the child and family. Typically FRS is completed within a thirty-day period. The department provides intake and assessment services (IAS).

(1) Youth and their families who call or self-present at a DCYF central intake or local office requesting FRS must be provided assistance in contacting the appropriate DCYF intake services to make a formal request for FRS.

(2) The FRS caseworker must contact the family within twenty-four hours of assignment to the case to schedule an appointment to begin the family interview and assessment.

(3) FRS is intended to defuse the immediate potential for violence, assess problems, and explore options leading to problem resolution.

(4) Families who require more intensive interventions than those provided by the FRS caseworker may be referred to a contracted provider for services. The family must make a commitment to participate in the contracted services.