The following words and terms are for the purpose of this chapter and are important to understanding these requirements:
"Abuse or neglect" means the same as defined in RCW 26.44.020.
"Adult" means a person 18 years old or older, not in the care of the department.
"Agency" is defined in RCW 74.15.020.
"Asexual" means the lack of a sexual attraction or desire for other individuals.
"Assessment" means the appraisal or evaluation of a child's physical, mental, social or emotional condition.
"Bisexual" means individuals who have an emotional or physical attraction to individuals of the same and different genders.
"Business hours" means hours during the day in which business is commonly conducted. Typically, the hours between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays are considered to be standard business hours.
"Capacity" means the age range and maximum number of children on your current license.
"Care provider" means any person who is licensed or authorized to provide care for children and cleared to have unsupervised access to children under the authority of a license.
"Case manager" means the private agency employee who coordinates the planning efforts of all the individuals working on behalf of a child or youth.
"Case plan" means a written document followed by the child's or youth's parents, kinship caregivers, foster parents, and all other caregivers.
"Caseworker" means the primary agency worker assigned to children or youth through the department or another government agency including tribal governments.
"Certification" means:
(a) Kinship or foster homes supervised by a CPA that meet the licensing requirements; or
(b) Individuals approved by the department as certified respite providers.
"Chapter" means chapter 110-147 WAC.
"Child placing agency (CPA)" means agencies or tribes licensed to place children or youth for foster care, kinship care, or adoption and may be contracted by the department to provide professional therapeutic foster care (PTFC) services.
"Children" or "youth" means individuals who are one of the following:
(a) Younger than 18 years of age;
(b) Kindergarten to 18 years of age residing in a residential private school;
(c) Up to 21 years of age and enrolled in services through the department of social and health services, developmental disabilities administration (DDA) the day prior to their 18th birthday and pursuing either a:
(i) High school or equivalency course of study; or
(ii) Vocational program;
(d) Up to 21 years of age and participating in the extended foster care (EFC) program;
(e) Up to 21 years of age with intellectual and developmental disabilities; or
(f) Up to 25 years of age and in the custody of the juvenile rehabilitation division.
"Compliance agreement" means a written improvement plan to address the changes needed to meet licensing requirements.
"Developmental disabilities administration (DDA)" means the department of social and health services, developmental disabilities administration.
"Department" means the Washington state department of children, youth, and families.
"Developmental disability" is a disability as defined in RCW 71A.10.020.
"FBI" means the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"Foster home" or "foster parents" means individuals licensed through chapter 110-148 WAC to regularly provide 24-hour care in their home to children or youth.
"Gay" means a sexual orientation to describe individuals who are emotionally or physically attracted to someone of the same gender. Gay is sometimes an umbrella term for the LGBTQIA+ community.
"Gender" or "gender identity" means an individual's inner sense of being a female, male, a blend of both or neither, or another gender. This may or may not correspond with an individual's sex assigned at birth.
"Gender expression" means individuals' outward communication of their gender through behavior or appearance. This may or may not conform to their sex assigned at birth or socially defined behaviors and characteristics typically associated with being either masculine or feminine.
"Gender fluid" means individuals whose gender identities are flexible, not permanent.
"Guardians" means the same as legal guardian defined in RCW 26.33.020.
"Guns or weapons" means any device intended to shoot projectiles under pressure or that can be used to attack. These include, but are not limited to, BB guns, pellet guns, air rifles, stun guns, antique guns, handguns, rifles, shotguns and archery equipment.
"Health care staff" means anyone providing qualified medical consultation to your staff or medical care to the children in your care.
"Hearing" means the same as defined in WAC 110-03-0020.
"I," "my," "you," and "your" refer to an applicant for a license issued under this chapter, and to any party holding a license under this chapter.
"Infants" means a child from birth to one year old.
"Intellectual and developmental disability" means children with deficits in general mental abilities and impairment in everyday adaptive functioning.
"Intersex" is an umbrella term used to describe a wide range of natural bodily variations when the body is born with a combination of chromosomes, internal organs, or external genitalia that do not develop as expected.
"Kinship licenses" means child-specific licenses as defined in RCW 74.15.125.
"Lesbians" means females or women who have an emotional or physical attraction for other females or women.
"LGBTQIA+" means lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, and asexual. The "+" represents identities not specifically named in the LGBTQIA acronym, e.g., pansexual, gender nonbinary, and Two-Spirit.
"License" means a permit issued by the department when a foster parent or licensed kinship caregiver meets the licensing standards established in this chapter.
"Licensed health care provider" means a medical doctor, doctor of osteopathy, doctor of naturopathy, physician's assistant, or an advanced registered nurse practitioner.
"Licensed kinship care" or "licensed kinship caregivers" means the full-time care of children or youth by licensed relatives, suitable persons, or relatives defined by tribal code or custom.
"Licensing division (LD)" means the division within the department that licenses and monitors foster homes, licensed kinship homes, residential private schools, CPAs, and licensed group care facilities.
"Licensing provider portal" means the internet-connected provider application system used by the department and agencies to securely store digital employment and licensing documents and data.
"Licensor" means either:
(a) LD employees who recommend approvals for or monitor licenses or certifications for foster homes, licensed kinship homes, residential private schools, facilities, and agencies established under this chapter; or
(b) CPA employees who certify or monitor foster homes, kinship homes, that are supervised by the CPA.
"Maternity service" as defined in RCW 74.15.020. These are also referred to as pregnant and parenting youth programs.
"Medically fragile" means the condition of a child or youth who requires the availability of 24-hour skilled care from a health care professional or specially trained family or foster or kinship family member. If the technology, support, and services being received by the medically fragile children or youth are interrupted or denied, they may, without immediate health care intervention, experience death. These conditions may be present all the time or frequently occurring.
"Missing children" means any child or youth under the placement, care, and authority of the department whose whereabouts are unknown or who have left care without the permission of their caregiver or the department. This does not include children in dependency guardianship or youth in the EFC program.
"Nonambulatory" means not able to walk or exit to safety without the physical assistance of another individual.
"Nonbinary" is a term of self-identification for individuals who do not identify within the limited and binary terms that have described gender identity, e.g., female and male. Nonbinary is also an umbrella term for many identities such as gender expansive, gender fluid, and genderqueer.
"Out-of-home placement" means the same as defined in RCW 13.34.030.
"Parents" means the same as defined in RCW 26.26A.010.
"Probationary license" means the same as defined in RCW 74.15.020.
"Property or premises" means homes, buildings, and grounds, including those adjacent to the residential property, that are owned, rented, and managed by applicants or licensees.
"Queer" means LGBTQIA+ identities and orientations. The term is sometimes used as an umbrella term for all LGBTQIA+ individuals.
"Questioning" means individuals who are exploring their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression at any age.
"Relatives" means the same as defined in RCW 13.36.020(5), described in RCW 74.15.020(2) and 11.130.010(32), or caregivers of Indian children or youth who are defined by their tribal code or custom as relatives or extended family.
"Respite" means the same as defined in RCW 74.13.270 including, but not limited to, appropriate, temporary short-term care provided by an in-home or out-of-home provider paid by the department.
"Sexual orientation" means an individual's emotional or physical attraction to other individuals.
"Sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression (SOGIE)" means distinct identifiers everyone has. LGBTQIA+ is a subdistinction within SOGIE self-identifiers. SOGIE includes LGBTQIA+ as well as heterosexual, cisgender, and nonquestioning individuals.
"Transgender" is an umbrella term for individuals whose gender identity or expression is different from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Gender-affirming medical care is not a prerequisite to identify as transgender. Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation.
"Treatment plan" means individual plans that identify the service needs of the child or youth, including their parents or guardians, and the treatment goals and strategies for achieving those goals.
"Two-Spirit" means a modern umbrella term used by some Native Americans to describe Native American individuals in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender or other gender-variant, ceremonial, and social role in their cultures. Being Two-Spirit does not imply any specific sexual orientation.
"Volunteer" means a person who provides services without compensation, for your agency.
"Washington state patrol fire protection bureau (WSP/FPB)" means the state fire marshal.
"We," "our," and "us" refer to DCYF, including LD and child welfare staff.
"Young child" refers to a child age 12 months through eight years old.
[Statutory Authority: Chapters 13.34, 74.13, 74.15 RCW, and 45 C.F.R. ss 1355 and 1356. WSR 25-12-071, s 110-147-1305, filed 5/30/25, effective 6/30/25. Statutory Authority: RCW 34.05.020. WSR 24-19-056, s 110-147-1305, filed 9/13/24, effective 10/14/24. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.15.030. WSR 22-11-091, § 110-147-1305, filed 5/18/22, effective 6/18/22. WSR 18-14-078, recodified as § 110-147-1305, filed 6/29/18, effective 7/1/18. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.15.010, 74.15.030, 74.15.040, 74.15.090, 74.13.031, 74.39A.056, 43.43.832. WSR 18-11-138, § 388-147-1305, filed 5/23/18, effective 6/23/18. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.15.010, 74.15.030, 74.15.040, 74.15.090, 74.13.031, and P.L. 113-183. WSR 16-17-101, § 388-147-1305, filed 8/19/16, effective 9/19/16. Statutory Authority: Chapters 13.34 and 74.13 RCW, RCW 74.15.030(2), 74.15.311(2), 74.13.032, 13.04.011, 74.13.020, 13.34.030, 74.13.031, 13.34.145, 74.15.311, 74.15.030, and 2013 c 105. WSR 15-01-069, § 388-147-1305, filed 12/11/14, effective 1/11/15.]