Foster Parent Agreement — Context & Governance
What this is. A staff/compliance context hub for the Refuge House Foster/Adoptive Parent Agreement. It identifies the operative form, the standards that govern it, the related policies and procedures, the rate reference, key dates, and the open items from its compliance review. It is not itself the agreement and is not signed; the signable instrument is the form linked below.
1. The operative form
| Agreement | Foster/Adoptive Parent Agreement — Master (Pulse-signable) |
| File | forms/foster-parent-agreements/Foster Parent Agreement (Master - Pulse-signable).html |
| Form version | Master v1.0 — durable; not tied to a credential milestone |
| Model | One durable Master Agreement + per-package T3C Service Package Addendum (Appendix V). A home's authorized packages live on its DFPS verification certificate and any signed Addendum — adding a package does not require re-executing the Master Agreement. |
| Effective | On execution — signed on or before the home's first T3C credentialing, and in all cases at the time the home is verified (26 TAC §749.2487(a)); amended or re-executed only for material changes. |
| Authority | The Master Agreement is authoritative for the Refuge House ↔ foster/adoptive home relationship unless overridden in writing by a separate agreement/addendum or an approved variance (26 TAC Ch. 745, Subch. J); where Minimum Standards, an applicable Service Package, and a Contracting Entity's contract differ and no written override applies, the strictest applicable requirement controls. |
| "Contracting Entity" | DFPS or the SSCC under whose contract a child is placed — interchangeable except where a requirement is contract-specific. |
| Signing | Electronic, via Pulse (tokenized signing link delivered to the caregiver's device); SMS is a primary channel for both routine communication and delivery of documents for e-signature (see the SMS Communication Agreement). The HTML carries [[TYPE:id]] Pulse field tokens and a field manifest; Cursor finalizes HTML → PDF. |
Companion forms (caregiver-facing, same folder)
- Foster Parent SMS Communication Agreement —
forms/foster-parent-agreements/Foster Parent SMS Communication Agreement - Refuge House.pdf(consent, message terms, carrier charges, opt-out) - Privacy Policy & Terms of Service Agreement —
forms/foster-parent-agreements/Privacy Policy & Terms of Service Agreement - Refuge House.pdf - DFPS Form 3001 — Statement of Foster Parents' and CPA's Rights and Responsibilities (signed separately at verification, 26 TAC §749.2488)
Source/history artifacts (not operative)
- 2025 baseline agreement (Rev. Q1 2025) —
forms/foster-parent-agreements/Foster Parent Agreement (2025 baseline - source).pdf - 2026 T3C "changes highlighted" draft (source upload) —
forms/foster-parent-agreements/Foster Parent Agreement (2026 T3C draft - changes highlighted - source).docx
The earlier
v2026.1/v2026.2markdown drafts were non-authoritative working drafts and have been removed. The Master (Pulse-signable) HTML is the only real 2026 version.
2. Governing standards (and where the agreement satisfies them)
| Standard | What it requires | Where satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| 26 TAC §749.2487 | Written CPA↔foster-home agreement signed at verification; nine required elements | Entire agreement; §13 signatures; §749.2487 crosswalk appendix |
| 26 TAC §749.2488 | Separate rights-and-responsibilities statement (DFPS Form 3001), signed at verification; provide §749.121 policies | §9 Rights (summary) + Form 3001 separately; §6.4 (§749.121 policies at verification) |
| §749.2551 / §749.2557 | Capacity (max six; 7–8 only by approved exception); not exceeding verified capacity | §5.1, §5.3 |
| §749.2655 / §749.2803 / §749.2805 | Notify changes affecting verification "before the change / immediately upon discovery"; service-type change ⇒ verification addendum | §8 notification clause; Appendix V addendum model |
| §749.2523 | Temporary verification on a residence move ≤ 6 months, non-renewable | §8 (residence-move clause) |
| §749.503(a) | Serious-incident reporting timeframes | §7.3 + Appendix III |
| §749.863 / §749.863(c) | Caregiver pre-service training; TFFC +20 hrs | §6.2 + Appendix VI |
| RCC Contract §1115 | 24-hour awake supervision (agency handles awake-check self-reporting) | §5.2 |
| T3C Blueprint | Credentialing-before-placement; Treatment-Model + Human-Trafficking training; add-on dual-credential rule; STASS not add-on-eligible; rates | Scope-of-care §6.5; Appendix I (rates), II, VI |
| SSCC manuals | Per-SSCC placement-change approval, proximity, ethical transfer, crisis contact, etc. | Absorbed by the Contracting-Entity / strictest-controls framework + the related P&P (not transcribed into the agreement) |
3. Related policies & procedures
| Code | Title | Relevance to the agreement |
|---|---|---|
| FC-17 / FC-17.1 | Foster Home Studies & T3C Credentialing (Policy / Procedure) | Verification + package credentialing; the agreement is signed at verification; package-add via addendum |
| FC-RR-01.1 | Recruitment & Retention of Foster Families (Procedure) | Reviews the agreement during the home study; names the Service Package Addendum |
| FC-16 / FC-16.1 | Staff & Caregiver Training (Policy / Procedure) | Core + package-specific training (MBH/IDD = 4 hrs; remainder embedded in standard curriculum) |
| OPS-BILL-01.1 | Billing System & Foster Parent Pass-Through (Procedure) | Authoritative rate/pass-through methodology |
| FC-SIR-01 | Serious Incident Reporting (Policy / Procedure) | Caregiver reporting duties; Appendix III timeframes |
| FC-OC-01 / FC-OC-01.1 | On-Call (Policy / Procedure) | 24-hour awake supervision / §1115 self-reporting (agency duty) |
| FC6-01 / FC6-01.1 | Admission Matching & Criteria for Child Placement | Placement consent/authority; proximity & sibling-together (agency matching) |
| FC-BC-01 | Background Check (Procedure) | Caregiver/household background checks |
| ADM-DERPP | Disaster & Emergency Response Preparedness Plan | Individualized caregiver disaster plan (agreement §8) |
Rate reference (authoritative current schedule): cookbook/forms/foster-parent-daily-reimbursement-rates.html — if any rate in the agreement differs, the rate reference controls.
4. Key dates
- Agreement effective: on execution (signed at verification); durable across credential changes.
- Underlying P&P adoption: blanket board adoption recorded April 22, 2026; touched P&P carry Last Updated 5/15/2026 / Last Approved 5/22/2026.
- Rate schedule: aligned with the April 2026 T3C Blueprint quarterly update (subject to quarterly HHSC update).
- This context doc: reconciled / last reviewed 2026-06-23; next review due 2027-06-23.
5. Compliance review history & open items
The agreement was reviewed in four progressive layers (June 2026): Minimum Standards → RCC contract → T3C Blueprint → SSCC manuals. Corrections were applied at each layer; the live P&P fixes (change-notification timeframe §749.2655; MBH/SU/STASS rates; 4-hour MBH/IDD training with MHFA folded into standard) were pushed and verified.
Open items / deferred recommendations (not yet actioned):
- Over-binding items set aside (Minimum Standards pass) — grievance SLAs, exact reimbursement-timing, childcare "21+" vs §749.2599 16+ (agency §749.127 policy), removal-notice periods, "agrees to provide" medical consent. Decide whether to soften; if changed, sync the matching policy.
- RCC §1115 "more-than-6" awake-supervision trigger is unverified against the source PDF — confirm whether the trigger is headcount or service-level.
- Contract citation style — corpus mixes "§1xxx" and "Term N" with no crosswalk; standardize on §-form.
- Credential-phase durations (120 days / 12 months / 4-year) trace to internal plans, not converted Blueprint text — re-verify when Blueprint Overview/Appendices (pp. 1–49, 399–488) are converted.
- YFT — described as a system tool (not an SSCC); SSCC-specific level-of-care usage was removed per direction (all SSCCs to align with Blueprint going forward; legacy/non-T3C service levels persist until conversion or end of contract).
- Source-currency caveats — SFCS manual on file is publicly-sourced July 2020; 4Kids Provider Manual not in repo.
- Optional Handbook content — a plain-language transfer-rights summary (Ethical Family Transfer is an agency-conduct duty, intentionally not in the caregiver agreement).
6. How a package is added to a home (no re-paper of the Master)
- Refuge House obtains the package credential (Active Interim or Full) and the home completes package-specific training/verification (FC-17.1).
- The home is re-verified for the new service (a §749.2803(a)(5) change) via a home-study verification addendum (§749.2453).
- The family signs the one-page T3C Service Package Addendum (Appendix V of the Master).
- The Master Agreement remains in force unchanged.