R512-1-2. Introduction

  (1) Pursuant to Sections 62A-4a-103 and 62A-4a-105, Child and Family Services is authorized to provide programs and services that support the strengthening of family values, including services that preserve and enhance family life and relationships; protect children, youth, and families; and advocate and defend family values established by public policy and advocacy and education.

  (2) Child Welfare Services shall be made available for children who are abused, neglected, exploited, abandoned; for those whose parents are unable to care for them; and for the assisting of youth who are ungovernable or who are runaways. Domestic violence services shall be made available to assist adult victims who have been abused or threatened by their partners.

  (3) Child and Family Services shall provide protective services, services given in the family home, short-term temporary crisis placement services, out-of-home placements, and adoption services. The "Best Interest of the Child" shall be the guiding principle used in making decisions for those served by Child and Family Services.

  (4) The programs administered by Child and Family Services have been established to help children remain with their families, to solve problems in their homes, and, if that is not possible, to place them in out-of-home care for as short a time as possible. When Child and Family Services finds that return of a child to the family will never be possible, adoption or guardianship shall be sought to ensure a permanent family for the child. Domestic violence services shall provide comprehensive assistance to adult victims of domestic violence, their dependent children, and in some cases, to the abusive partner so that families can be restored to harmony or helped to develop new, more productive ways of life.

  (5) Child and Family Services shall provide its services through local offices situated throughout the state. These offices are listed in telephone directories under Utah State Department of Human Services, Division of Child and Family Services and also on Child and Family Services' website.

  (6) The State Office of Child and Family Services located in Salt Lake City shall operate as the central office to administer Child Welfare programs, which include:

  (a) Program planning,

  (b) Practice guideline development,

  (c) Training and consultation,

  (d) Program financing,

  (e) Administration of the Interstate Compact on Placement of Children (ICPC) and the Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance (ICAMA),

  (f) Legislative and federal liaison, and

  (g) Information and referral.