The Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) changed some administrative billing abilities for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance, and confirms that the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has issued program instructions to carry out the DRA/court reversal of the Rosales case. (The new law disallows federal foster care eligibility based on the home of the relative with whom the foster child is placed, when no eligibility existed in the home of removal.) More notably for advocates, the ACL has provided instructions on the Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) eligibility. To be eligible, the foster child must have meet AFDC eligibility criteria (as existed 6/16/96) at the time of the removal from the home. The child must have special needs, was removed from the home pursuant to a judicial determination or got foster care under a Title IV-E voluntary placement, meet the SSI standards prior to adoption OR was in foster care in which the child’s minor parent received IV-E. The letter reminds counties that if the adoption dissolves or the adoptive parents die, the APP can continue in a subsequent adoption. At that point, the county need only confirm that the child still has special needs. [Download]
Summaries of select CalWORKs, CalFresh, Health and Housing Regulations