Clarification on when a child is a “candidate” for foster care, for purposes of getting IV-E funds for pre-placement prevention services.  The definition of “candidate” is that the child be “at serious risk of removal”  as evidenced by the state agency either pursuing his/her removal from the home or making reasonable efforts to prevent such removal,” this was interpreted too broadly.  The clarification states that “a decision must have been made that the next step for the child was foster care.”  In California, this can be documented in one of 3 ways: 1) A defined case plan which clearly indicates that, absent effective preventive services, foster care is the planned arrangement for the child; 2) Evidence of court removal proceedings ; OR 3) An eligibility determination form completed by the County Welfare Department which establishes the child’s eligibility under Title IV-E.  Documentation needs to be done every 6 months.  [Download] 

The letter implements AB 1774, and clarifies for whom and how a county child welfare agency or probation department obtains state and federal level criminal history information as part of the process of assessing a relative or nonrelative extended family member for placement. These primarily are technical changes.

The decision whether to seek to obtain the parent’s or legal guardian’s criminal history is made on a case-by-case basis, and the information may only be obtained if the parent or legal guardian has agreed to submit fingerprints for this purpose as part of the family reunification case plan. Only criminal record history that occurred subsequent to the removal of the child can be considered. In addition, once the Department of Justice (DOJ) has provided the criminal record history, a request for subsequent arrest notification cannot be made. In order to obtain a criminal record history, the county child welfare agency or probation department must submit Live Scan fingerprint transactions to the DOJ. [Download]