Following up on a federal review of cases claimed for federal foster care, DSS has issued clarification. Some of it was procedural (failure to list requisite language or get all the needed signatures) and some was more substantive (no policies or procedures in place to identify foster care candidates). The letter goes through all the findings and the steps to ensure compliance. [Download]
Summaries of select CalWORKs, CalFresh, Health and Housing Regulations
Foster Care
ACL 14-29: Reporting Service Delivery Activities Related To Providing Mental Health Services To Children In Foster Care For The Period Of September 1, 2013 Through February 28, 2014, Due On May 1, 2014(Revised Progress Report Template) (3/28/14)
DSS issued this notice to provide counties with a revised progress report template for reporting their activities and progress related to implementation of Intensive Care Coordination , Intensive Home Based Services , and Therapeutic Foster Care for children and youth who meet Katie A. subclass criteria. [Download]
ACL 14-15: Federal Requirements For The Transfer Of Indian Children To A Tribal Title IV–E Agency Or An Indian Tribe With A Title IV–E Agreement (2/14/14)
A summary and explanation of the policies and procedures and identify the minimum federal requirements for transferring an Indian child from the county child welfare system and court jurisdiction, to the Title IV-E Agreement Tribe or tribal agency. [Download]
ACL 13-82E: Errata To The CalWORKs): Extending Benefits To Non-Minor Dependents – Questions And Answers (Part Two)(3/25/14)
Revised responses to questions 13 and 14 to correctly reflect that if a child living with his or her parent, where the parent is a non-minor dependent and also a recipient of foster care, is not an eligible child for CalWORKs and must instead receive Foster Care benefits. [Download]
ACL 14-31: The Independent Living Program Annual Narrative Report For Federal Fiscal Year 2013 (3/26/14)
Transmitting the updated requirements for the ILP Annual Narrative Report. Due 4/15/14. [Download]
ACL 14-28: Expansion Of The Definition Of Relative For The Federal KIN-GAP Program (3/25/14)
Instructions on the implementation of the expanded definition of “relative” for the federal KinGAP program. (No change to the state-funded KinGAP). In addition to the traditionally defined relatives, California can now provide federal KinGAP to “fictive” relatives. These are: non-related extended family members; adult members of the child’s tribe or an Indian custodian, and a current foster parent who has established a family-like relationship with the child and who enters into an agreement to be a permanent connection for the child. These new definitions cannot be retroactive to the period prior to federal approval, even though the state law exercising the state optional expansion passed in 2013. All the other eligibility rules that apply to KinGAP must be met. [Download]