1. As a condition for initial licensure, each individual licensee shall complete thirty hours of foster parent training offered or approved by the department. However, if the licensee has completed relevant training or has a combination of completed relevant training and experience, and the department deems such training or combination to be an acceptable equivalent to all or a portion of the initial licensure training requirement, or based upon the circumstances of the child and the licensee the department finds there is other good cause, the department may waive all or a portion of the training requirement. Prior to renewal of licensure, each individual licensee shall also annually complete six hours of foster parent training. The training shall include but is not limited to physical care, education, learning disabilities, referral to and receipt of necessary professional services, behavioral assessment and modification, self-assessment, self-living skills, and biological parent contact. An individual licensee may complete the training as part of an approved training program offered by a public or private agency with expertise in the provision of child foster care or in related subject areas. The department shall adopt rules to implement and enforce this training requirement.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 237.5A

  • Agency: means a person, as defined in section 4. See Iowa Code 237.1
  • Child: means child as defined in section 234. See Iowa Code 237.1
  • Child foster care: means the provision of parental nurturing, including but not limited to the furnishing of food, lodging, training, education, supervision, treatment, or other care, to a child on a full-time basis by a person, including a relative of the child if the relative is licensed under this chapter, but not including a guardian of the child. See Iowa Code 237.1
  • Department: means the department of human services. See Iowa Code 237.1
  • Individual: means an individual person or a married couple who provides child foster care in a single-family home environment and which does not meet the definition of an agency in subsection 2. See Iowa Code 237.1
  • Licensee: means an individual or an agency licensed by the administrator under this chapter. See Iowa Code 237.1
 2. A licensee who is unable to complete six hours of foster parent training annually prior to licensure renewal because the licensee is engaged in active duty in the military service shall be considered to be in compliance with the training requirement for licensure renewal.
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