Federal title IV-E kinship guardianship assistance is a type
of permanency assistance. Federal title IV-E monies are available to provide
kinship guardianship assistance payments to relatives who assume legal
guardianship of children for whom they have cared while foster parents. Federal
financial participation (FFP) using the applicable federal medical assistance
percentage is available for kinship guardianship assistance payments. The
following provisions apply to the federal Title IV-E kinship guardianship
assistance program:
(a) Eligibility.
(1) The child must have been removed from
his/her home pursuant to a voluntary placement agreement or as a result of a
judicial determination that continuation in the home would be contrary to the
welfare of the chiId; and
(2) The
child must have been eligible for Title IV-E foster care maintenance payments
during a period of at least six consecutive months during which the child
resided in the home of the prospective relative guardian who was
unconditionally licensed as a foster family home.
(3) The department must determine that:
(A) Return home or adoption are not
appropriate permanency options;
(B)
The child demonstrates a strong attachment to the prospective relative
guardian; and
(C) The relative
guardian has a strong commitment to caring permanently for the child.
(4) The department must consult
with a child who is 14 years or older regarding the kinship guardianship
arrangement.
(b)
Treatment of siblings.
(1) The eligible child
and any sibling of the eligible child may be placed in the same kinship
guardianship arrangement if the department and the relative agree on the
appropriateness of the arrangement for the siblings; and
(2) Kinship guardianship assistance payments
shall be paid on behalf of each sibling so placed. The sibling does not have to
meet the eligibility criteria to receive kinship guardianship assistance
payments or for the legal guardian to be reimbursed for the nonrecurring
expenses related to costs of the legal guardianship of the sibling.
(c) Medicaid and social services.
Any eligible child for whom there is a federal Title IV-E kinship guardianship
assistance payment being made is categorically eligible for medical care under
Title XIX of the Social Security Act, Medicaid services, and social services
under Title XX, in the state where such child resides.
(d) Case plan requirements. In addition to
the case plan requirements at HAR 17-1610-26, for a child with respect to whom
the permanency plan is placement with a relative and receipt of kinship
guardian assistance payments, the case plan for this chapter shall include a
description of:
(1) The steps that the agency
has taken to determine that it is not appropriate for the child to be returned
home or adopted;
(2) The reasons
for any separation of siblings during placement;
(3) The reasons why a permanent placement
with a fit and willing relative through a kinship guardianship assistance
arrangement is in the child's best interest;
(4) The ways in which the child meets the
eligibility requirements for a kinship guardianship assistance
payment;
(5) The efforts the agency
has made to discuss adoption by the child's relative foster parent(s) as a more
permanent alternative to legal guardianship and, in the case of a relative
foster parent who has chosen not to pursue adoption, documentation of the
reasons; and
(6) The efforts made
by the department to discuss with the child's parent(s) the kinship
guardianship assistance arrangement, or the reasons why the efforts were not
made.
(e) A child who
does not meet the eligibility requirements for federal Title IV-E kinship
guardianship assistance, shall be evaluated for state funded permanency
assistance eligibility. In all cases, however, eligibility for federal Title
IV-E kinship guardianship assistance shall be evaluated first.
