If a parent will not provide written consent to participate in FAR, the FAR worker and his/her supervisor should staff the case. Washington state law requires parents to sign the consent form to participate in FAR. The following issues should be considered in deciding next steps:
- If the parent has allowed the FAR worker to complete the IFF and other required work is still needed, the FAR worker should allow the parent up to 10 days to sign the form. If the FAR worker knows that the parent is out of town for a short period of time but beyond 10 days, the FAR supervisor may decide to extend the time to meet the needs of the family. Keep in mind, though, that a FAR case must be closed within 45 days of the intake unless the parent agrees to an extension of up to 45 more days.
- If the parent has not permitted the FAR worker to conduct an IFF with the child, the case should be transferred to CPS Investigations immediately.
- If the FAR worker has completed all of the steps that an investigator would take to assess the family (IFF, parent interview, collateral contacts, etc.) and the child is safe, the FAR worker should close the case.
- If the FAR worker has completed all of the steps that an investigator would take to assess the family (IFF, parent interview, collateral contacts, etc.) and the child is unsafe, the FAR worker should schedule an FTDM. If the child is not safe in the home, the FAR worker can file a dependency petition without referring the case to an investigator.
- If additional work is needed to assess the safety of the children in the home and the family can be located, the FAR worker should schedule a family meeting to talk about next steps, which may include transferring the case to Investigations if the family does not agree to continue with FAR.