Procedure

Worker Contact and Monitoring Procedure

Refuge House, Inc.
Last updated: July 24, 2026 · Source: policies-procedures/Procedure/Worker Contact and Monitoring Procedure.md

REFUGE HOUSE, INC.

Procedure Information Details
PROCEDURE NAME Worker Contact and Monitoring Procedure
PROCEDURE NUMBER FC-WCM-01.1
RELATED POLICY FC-WCM-01 Worker Contact and Monitoring Policy
EFFECTIVE DATE 5/15/25
REVISION DATE 7/13/26 (pending ED approval)
LAST UPDATED 7/13/2026
LAST APPROVED 5/22/2026
APPLICABLE T3C PACKAGES: APPLICABLE T3C ADD-ON SERVICES:
☒ T3C Basic Foster Family Home ☒ Transition Support Services for Youth & Young Adults
☒ Substance Use Support Services ☒ Kinship Caregiver Support Services
☒ Short-Term Assessment ☒ Pregnant & Parenting Youth or Young Adult
☒ Mental & Behavioral Health
☒ Sexual Aggression/Sex Offender
☒ Complex Medical Needs or Medically Fragile
☒ Human Trafficking Victim/Survivor
☒ Intellectual or Developmental Disability (IDD)/Autism Spectrum Disorder
☒ T3C Treatment Foster Family Care

PURPOSE:

To operationalize the Worker Contact and Monitoring Policy (FC-WCM-01) by detailing required contact frequency, visit elements, documentation, and supervisory review. The strictest applicable timeframe always controls.

REQUIRED CONTACT FREQUENCY:

# Who Action Regulatory / Source
1 Case Manager Conduct two (2) face-to-face visits per month with each child, at least half (50%) in the foster home, generally every other week unless the supervisor approves otherwise; AND two phone visits per month on the alternating weeks (Wk 1 home / Wk 2 phone / Wk 3 home / Wk 4 phone). Maintain weekly contact with each foster family. Face-to-face contact also occurs at psychiatric visits (see FC-04 Crisis Management). RH enhancement (FC-WCM-01, Enhancement Authority). TAC floor: §749.1291(a), (c) — monthly face-to-face, ≥half in-home
— STRICTEST TAC BACKSTOP A child may never go longer than 60 days without a face-to-face visit; staff may miss no more than two visits per year. PMN child: twice monthly, no more than 20 days between visits, never longer than 30 days without a visit. TAC §749.1291(a)–(b)
2 Case Manager New placements: contact the child and caregiver within one (1) business day, not to exceed 72 hours; confirm safety, provide orientation, verify immediate needs (medical/dental, clothing, school enrollment, medications, psychiatric, CPS caseworker info, biological-family visits). OCOK §4; Saint Francis
3 Case Manager First parent–child visit: ensure it occurs within five (5) calendar days of removal; Refuge House provides transportation to the first visit. Belong; 2INgage
4 Case Manager Sibling contact: when siblings are placed separately within 100 miles, face-to-face sibling contact at least weekly; beyond 100 miles, at least weekly by phone/video/electronic means unless not in the child's best interest. Belong (strictest)
5 Child Placement Management Staff Post-hospitalization: meet with the child within 24 hours of arrival home following a mental-health crisis (suicide attempt, psychiatric hospitalization); review protocols, safety plan, and weekly suicide screenings for the first 30 days (see FC-04). TAC §749.137(f)

HOME VISIT — REQUIRED ELEMENTS:

# Who Action
6 Case Manager Meet with the foster parents (together if married and both present): review on-going family training, facility due dates, in-home training (if applicable), Minimum Standards Checklist/Test; collect ALL doctor/dentist and incident-report paperwork for each child; discuss therapist issues and ECI; review each child's Educational Portfolio; follow up on new-placement requirements.
7 Case Manager Discuss with the family: significant changes (deaths, births, graduations), residents/placement changes, basic living and social skills taught, sleeping arrangements, birthdays/special events, income/job changes, significant relationships, illnesses, travel plans; ask Quality-of-Care questions from the Quarterly Agency Home Evaluation at least quarterly.
8 Case Manager Meet with each foster child individually (at least 10–15 minutes per developmental tolerance and age — §749.4451(b)(3) requires a private opportunity of adequate length, or observation for a non-verbal child): assess comfort with placement; review report cards/school paperwork; discuss school & activities, goals & plans, behaviors & social, general feelings, bio-family visits, and anything the child wishes; monthly complete the clothing/possessions inventory (signed once monthly) and Quality-of-Care questions.
9 Case Manager Meet with all family members as a group (or specific groups) to address issues between child(ren) and foster parent(s) not covered in the individual or family portions.
10 Case Manager Conduct a walk-through verifying minimum-standards compliance using the Home Monitoring Checklist — Monthly Standard Review (at least once per calendar month; see steps 22–22d): medication storage and the current-month MAR — reviewed via the Pulse medication log at the visit (Refuge House maintains medication records digitally; the caregiver opens and displays the current month's MAR, satisfying 26 TAC §749.1543(a) — see FC-MED-01.1 §13) — capacity head-count, food and water, housekeeping, fire hazards/extinguishers/smoke detectors, health hazards, broken furniture, yard/grounds, sleeping arrangements, bedding/clothing/storage, bathroom supplies, water-access hazards, infant safe sleep, and the applicable T3C package items. Once per calendar quarter the Quarterly Deep Check items are presented automatically within the same form (step 22a) — one visit, one walkthrough.

PHONE VISIT — REQUIRED ELEMENTS:

# Who Action
11 Case Manager On each scheduled (standing) phone visit, speak with the foster parent and address each child individually across: behavioral/emotional, daily routine/basic living, social/recreational, educational, psychological, psychiatric appointments, biological-family visits, additional information; address any issues/incidents; follow up on due dates (using the Quarterly Agency Home Evaluation as a guide) and new-placement requirements. An inbound call from the foster parent does not replace the scheduled phone visit.

SUPERVISORY VISIT CADENCE (UNANNOUNCED, BOTH-PARENTS, ALL-HOUSEHOLD):

# Who Action
12 Case Manager Conduct at least two (2) unannounced supervisory visits per year with each foster home (TAC §749.2815(b)); management communicates timing.
13 Case Manager At least quarterly, conduct one home visit when ALL household members (biological children, adult residents, other children) are present (exceeds the annual TAC floor, §749.2815(a)(3)).
13b Case Manager At least every six (6) months, conduct a supervisory visit with both foster parents present, if a two-parent home (TAC §749.2815(a)(2)).
13c Case Manager / CPMS For kinship foster homes, ensure the annual full compliance evaluation is completed (TAC §749.4429(a)), coordinated with the Foster Home Studies/verification function.

CASELOAD CAPACITY:

# Who Action
13a Treatment Manager / CPMS Assign and monitor caseloads using the T3C caseload point system (Basic 6 · MBH/IDD/SU 8 · STASS 10 · TFFC 20 points per child; Aftercare 0.5 per active case), keeping each Case Manager at or below the 120-point maximum so required contact and monitoring frequency remains achievable; adjust assignments when point load threatens contact compliance. (T3C Reference Guide; FC-AF Aftercare Services; T3C Caseload Point System & Staffing Ratios.)

DOCUMENTATION OF ALL CONTACTS:

# Who Action
14 Case Manager Maintain current documentation of ALL contacts (foster parents, children, and other pertinent case contacts) in the Contact Log, Case Manager Weekly Log, Home Monitoring Checklist (Monthly Standard Review, incl. the inline Quarterly Deep Check when due), and Quarterly Agency Home Evaluation, as applicable.

Contact Log:

# Who Action
15 Case Manager No later than Monday of the following week, document ALL contacts regarding the child in the child's Contact Log in Radius (foster parents/caregivers, child, therapist, CPS worker, etc.), including date, type, who, and a brief description.

Case Manager Weekly Log:

# Who Action
16 Case Manager Weekly, complete the End-of-Week Case Manager Log as an accurate reflection of the child's week: pull current ISP goals and progress into the Behavioral/Emotional, Daily Routine, Social/Recreational, and Educational sections with a narrative each; Psychological/Psychiatric updates and med changes; efforts to prevent placement disruption (incident-report review); appointments and follow-up; therapy narrative; biological visits (child's reactions/feelings; note termination status); Additional Information (filled every week — how needs are met and whether placement is appropriate, child-specific); and monthly questions (including medication knowledge / teaching plan).
17 Case Manager No later than Monday, submit each prior-week log to the Treatment Manager for review.
18 Treatment Manager / CPMS Within two days, review; return for corrections or sign off.
19 Case Manager Within 24 hours, complete corrections and return.
20 Treatment Manager / CPMS Review the returned log; if complete, sign off.
21 TM / CPMS / Case Manager Each weekly log completed and approved no later than Friday of the following week.

Home Monitoring Checklist (Two-Tier):

The Home Monitoring Checklist consists of two instruments drawn from a single item registry (home-monitoring-items.json): the Monthly Standard Review (dynamic observation and practice items) and the Quarterly Deep Check (structural, document-audit, and training/credential items), which is served inline within the Monthly Standard Review — one form, one visit, one walkthrough, one signature set. Every applicable item is marked C / NC / NA — no blanks; every NC carries a follow-up note (finding, corrective action, due date). Printable renditions are published in the knowbase at forms/home-monitoring/, including the Quarterly Visit (Monthly + Deep Check, Unified) form — the single printable used for the one deep-including visit each calendar quarter (HTML · PDF).

# Who Action
22 Case Manager At least once per calendar month, during an in-home visit, complete the Monthly Standard Review in full (no blanks); must be signed by foster parent(s) and Case Manager at the visit; store in Radius.
22a Case Manager Complete the Quarterly Deep Check items: (1) at initial verification of the home — the home study/verification packet is not complete without it; and (2) at least once per calendar quarter thereafter — the Deep Check is due whenever the home has no signed deep-including form in the current calendar quarter, and Pulse presents the Deep Check items automatically inline within that month's Monthly Standard Review (no separate form, walkthrough, or signature set — the Monthly form's signatures cover the Deep Check items). Staff are not responsible for knowing which visit is due; the system serves it. Re-verification or a change of residence triggers a new initial Deep Check (structural items are address-specific). Stored in Radius/Pulse. On paper, this deep-including visit uses the Home Monitoring Checklist — Quarterly Visit (Monthly + Deep Check, Unified) printable (see FORMS/ATTACHMENTS); the other months of the quarter use the Monthly Standard Review printable.
22e Case Manager / designated staff Who may complete: either checklist instrument may be completed by trained Refuge House staff other than the child's assigned Case Manager (e.g., compliance or quality staff). However: (1) a visit counted toward the §749.2815 supervisory-visit requirements must be conducted by child placement staff (an employee qualified under §749.673 and designated for child placement activities — §§749.2815(a), (e); 749.663(a)(3)(C)), with documentation reviewed and approved by CPMS (§749.667(1)(B)); (2) the child's monthly face-to-face contact (§749.1291) must be made by child placement staff (or a nurse, for a PMN child) and is never satisfied virtually; and (3) when a checklist is completed by non-qualifying staff, a qualifying supervisory visit must still occur within the quarter.
22b Case Manager Expiration-bearing documents (fire/health inspections, extinguisher service, drills, pet vaccinations, vehicle registration/insurance, T3C credentials and trainings) are judged current/not-current (C/NC) only at the walkthrough — no dates are transcribed onto the checklist. Their expirations are tracked in Pulse from the source records themselves (document uploads, credential and training systems), so a document that lapses between Deep Checks raises its own alert when it lapses, not at the next check.
22c Treatment Manager / CPMS Track each home's monthly-review completion and confirm each calendar quarter contains one signed deep-including form; follow up in the final month of any quarter with no deep-including form and escalate any lapse. (Interim manual mechanism until the Pulse auto-serve is live.)
22d — Implementation guidance (being built into Pulse): a unified visit form — the Deep Check items are appended automatically whenever the home has no signed deep-including form in the current calendar quarter (due-detection on form create/open; no staff selection), with a single signature set covering both; per-home status chips (monthly + quarter deep status), supervisor escalation when a quarter approaches its end without a deep-including form, a verification-workflow gate requiring the initial Deep Check, auto-NA of non-applicable sections from the home profile and current placements, automatic validation of capacity and package-cap items against live placements, expiry alerts for the date-tracked documents in step 22b, and Pulse-signable completion with PDF renditions attached to the Quarterly Agency Home Evaluation. Until this is live, steps 22–22c are tracked manually per step 22c.

Quarterly Agency Home Evaluation:

# Who Action
23 Case Manager At the start of each quarter (or upon receiving a new family), open a Quarterly Agency Home Evaluation in Radius. Every active family has one, even with no placements.
24 Case Manager Complete each section, updated by the 10th of each month, per RCCL Minimum Standards, contract terms, and COA: General Information; Visits (quarterly all-household, monthly home visits, weekly phone, annual unannounced — consistent with case notes); Family Composition; Review period and dates; Significant Changes (monthly paragraph); Basic Living & Social Skills; Efforts and Attempts to Prevent Placement Disruption (trainings, behavior plans, added support, crisis interventions, mobile crisis — see FC-04); Home Environment (sleeping arrangements, walk-through observations, changes from home study); Review of License; Foster Parent Assessment; Non-Compliance Issues; Minimum Standards Review (attach the quarter's Monthly Standard Reviews (including the quarter's deep-including form) and quizzes with signatures); Quality of Care; Travel and Substitute Care (Plan for Breaks; babysitters); Facility Due Dates (monthly emergency drills; quarter Deep Check status).
25 Case Manager By the 8th of the month following quarter-end, submit to Treatment Manager/CPMS.
26 Treatment Manager / CPMS Within 5 days, review for approval; return for corrections or sign off and notify the Case Manager it is ready for family review.
27 Case Manager Within 24 hours, complete corrections and return.
28 Treatment Manager / CPMS Review the returned evaluation; if complete, sign off and notify the Case Manager.
29 Case Manager No later than the 15th of the month following quarter-end, review the approved evaluation with the foster family; obtain comments and family signature.
30 TM / CPMS / Case Manager All evaluations completed and approved no later than the 15th of the month following quarter-end, including the completed evaluation, foster-parent response, and all required signatures (Case Manager, Treatment Manager, CPMS if the TM does not qualify as CPMS, and Foster Parent).

PURPOSE OF CONTACT — SAFETY AND WELL-BEING:

# Who Action
31 Case Manager All contacts ensure (TAC §749.1291(d)): the child is safe; the child's needs are being met; the placement continues to be appropriate — with a private opportunity for the child to express feelings about how the placement is working out.

THIRD-PARTY ACCESS, COURT PARTICIPATION & TESTIMONY:

Operationalizes FC-WCM-01 §Third-Party Access, Court Participation & Testimony (RCC FY26 §§3100, 3200, 3310, 3400–3410).

# Who Action
32 Case Manager / Foster Parents Permit access to each child at all times for: DFPS and HHSC employees and designees; the DFPS third-party contractor for the Texas Service Level System; the Foster Care Ombudsman; properly identified court-appointed individuals (CASA, guardians ad litem, attorneys ad litem — identity per court order/assignment documentation); TJJD or county JPD staff; and individuals on the child's contact list. Ensure each visit is private, without any caregivers or staff present, and not monitored by an open intercom, video, or other monitoring system (foster parents provide a private space and step away). Coordinate scheduling with the visiting party to minimize disruption of the child's care, but never require advance notice — DFPS staff may make unannounced visits to agency facilities and verified foster homes (RCC FY26 §§3400, 3410). Foster parents are oriented to this duty at verification and it is reinforced at supervisory visits.
33 Case Manager Give the child copies of court hearing notices upon receipt; ensure each child age four or older attends permanency court hearings unless prohibited by court order (arranging transportation with the foster family); if the child cannot attend in person, ensure the child is available to participate through telecommunication or other means allowed by the court; document attendance/participation in the Contact Log (RCC FY26 §3310).
34 Program Director / Case Manager Upon CPS request, appear and testify in judicial proceedings, depositions, and administrative hearings relating to the child; when past employees or subcontractors are needed, help CPS locate and notify them that they must come to court (HR assists with last-known contact information); Refuge House pays the costs associated with providing testimony (RCC FY26 §3100).
35 Case Manager Make every effort to attend and participate in DFPS-convened meetings — medical, school, Single Case Plan meetings, Family Group Conferences, Permanency Conferences, Circles of Support Conferences, CPS Transition Plan Meetings, STAR Health Case Conferences, and legal staffings — plus court-required meetings, PAL activities per the service plan/CPS Transition Plan, and any meeting necessary to ensure caregiver compliance with the child's plan of service; document attendance or the documented effort in the Contact Log (RCC FY26 §3200).

REFERENCES:

Same as Policy FC-WCM-01 — principally TAC §749.1291 (post-placement contact), §749.4451 (kinship post-placement contact), §749.137(f) (post-crisis suicide screening), §§749.673/.675 (staff qualifications); the 24-Hour RCC Contract (FY26 — incl. §3100 testimony, §3200 meeting participation, §3310 court notices/attendance, §§3400–3410 third-party access; steps 32–35); the SSCC provider manuals (OCOK, Belong/SJRC, Saint Francis, 2INgage, EMPOWER, 4Kids4Families); and the T3C System Blueprint.

FORMS/ATTACHMENTS:

This procedure operationalizes the principles established in FC-WCM-01 Worker Contact and Monitoring Policy. While policies require Board approval and remain relatively stable, procedures may be updated by the Executive Director to adapt to regulatory changes or operational improvements without requiring Board approval, provided such changes maintain alignment with the policy's intent.

© 2026 Refuge House, Inc. · This is a controlled document. Always refer to the current version.