18+ Continued Foster Care Eligibility 447-10-52

(NEW 11/1/19 ML #3565)

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18+ Continued Foster Care is available to eligible foster care children up to the age of 21 if the child meets certain criteria. The child must have aged out of foster care while in the custody of a North Dakota public agency including; County Social Services, Department of Human Services, Tribal Social Services and the Division of Juvenile Services (DJS).

 

Children under the custody of Division of Juvenile Services

The North Dakota Department of Human Services has a formal agreement with the ND Division of Juvenile Services (DJS) to offer foster care placements for children in need of out of home care. ND law prohibits DJS from case managing a child who is not in their court ordered custody. If a DJS child ages out of foster care and requests to continue in 18+ Continued Care, the DJS case manager is responsible to refer the case and discuss transfer details with the county social service office.

 

Children under the custody of Tribal Social Services

The North Dakota Department of Human Services has a formal agreement with Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Three Affiliated Tribes, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe. The Title IV-E agreements allow the Tribe to retain jurisdiction of children interested in participating in the 18+ Continued Care program. The Tribe remains responsible for providing full case management to the foster child and all documentation for eligibility determination and case management to the county. Eligible maintenance payments for the care of an 18+ child will be authorized by the county and paid by the state.

 

  1. Tribal Title IV-E
  1. A child under the custody of Tribal Social Services, who was Title IV-E eligible and meets the criteria of “aging out”, is eligible for 18+ Continued Care.
  1. Tribal Non-Title IV-E
  1. A child under the custody of Tribal Social Services, who was not Title IV-E eligible upon “aging out”, may qualify for 18+ Continued Care. The child must apply and have their eligibility determined. If found to be Title IV-E eligible as “child only”, the child would be eligible to participate in the 18+ Continued Care program. If the child loses Title IV-E eligibility or reimbursability while participating in the 18+ Continued Care program, the county will close the case and the state will no longer be financially responsible.

Placement and Care

The 18+ Continued Foster Care Agreement (SFN 60) allows for a bridge in service and payment. The eligibility determination at the time the child ages out of foster care will determine the effective date of the agreement.

 

Title IV-E Eligible Child:

Not Title IV-E Eligible Child:

The agreement authorizes the agency placement and care responsibility until a formal court order can be obtained. An 18+ Continued Foster Care Agreement is not required until the court ordered custody expires when the order extends past the child’s 18th birthday.

 

An 18+ court order authorizing placement and care responsibility to the agency must be obtained within 90 days of the effective date of the 18+ Continued Foster Care Agreement.

 

Eligibility Month

The month of the effective date on the SFN 60, 18+ Continued Foster Care Agreement, is considered the removal month for a child that requires a new eligibility determination.

 

AFDC Income and Assets

The income and assets available to an 18+ child that no longer meets the definition of a dependent child must be considered in the eligibility month when determining eligibility for 18+ Continued Care. An 18+ child is considered an AFDC unit of one.

 

Exclusions:

See Manual Chapter 447-10 AFDC Relatedness for additional exclusions.

 

If a child's available net income exceeds the daily foster care rate, reimbursability may still exist since the needs of the child include costs other than basic maintenance.

 

Dependent Child

An 18+ child is considered a “Dependent Child” if they are a full-time student in high school (or in an equivalent level of vocational/technical training) if they are expected to complete high school or vocational training curriculum before attaining age 19.

 

Student Status

  1. A child participating in Job Corps is considered to be a student.
  2. A child is considered in regular attendance for the months in which he/she is not in school because of official vacation, illness, or convalescence if the plan is to continue training when the event that prompted the interruption has run its course.
  3. A child is considered a dependent child during the entire month of his/her 18th birthday.
  4. A child is no longer considered a dependent child the month after one of the following occurs:
  1. They turn 18 and are no longer attending high school or an equivalent course of study.
  2. They graduate from high school or an equivalent course of study before turning age 19.
  3. They turn 19 and are still attending high school or an equivalent course of study.
  1. The terms “full-time” and “part-time” school attendance are defined as follows:
  1. “Full-time” attendance in a secondary school (high school) requires four or more units of credit. “Part-time” is anything less than four units of credit.
  2. “Full-time” attendance in college or university requires 12 or more semester or quarter hours and “part-time” is less than 12 semester or quarter hours. Full time summer school normally means one-half of the semester hours earned during a regular quarter or semester.
  3. “Full-time” in a vocational/technical school, under state operation, means 12 or more semester or quarter hours, and “part-time” is less than 12 semester or quarter hours. There is no uniform defined criteria of what constitutes full or part-time attendance in private vocational/technical schools such as for auto mechanics, auto body repair, hair stylists, etc.

18+ Court order

All children continuing in or returning to the 18+ program must have a court hearing within 90 days of the effective date of the 18+ Continued Foster Care Agreement (SFN 60). A child will lose eligibility and reimbursability for the remainder of their placement starting on the 91st day if the agency fails to obtain an 18+ court order within 90 days.

 

For Title IV-E eligible children continuing in the 18+ program, the requirement of timely permanency findings does not change. Permanency findings must be obtained 12 months from the date the child entered foster care or 12 months from the last permanency hearing.

 

A child that is not Title IV-E eligible at the time they age out of foster care must be discharged from the foster care program and the case closed. The foster care discharge date must be equal to the court order expiration date or the date the child age 18 or greater under agency custody is discharged from the foster care program. Permanency findings are required within 12 months from the effective date of the child’s return to care.

 

For payment purposes, the 18+ court order must include:

  1. The child willfully entered the 18+ Continued Foster Care Agreement.
  2. A judicial determination that it is in the best interest for the child to remain in or return to foster care.
  3. A judicial determination the agency has made reasonable efforts to meet the youth’s needs before a foster care placement.
  4. Permanency goal for the child.
  5. Permanency Hearing: A judicial determination the agency has made reasonable efforts to finalize the permanency plan specific to the youth.
  6. Placement and care responsibility to the agency.

Eligibility Determination

All 18+ eligibility determinations require the following:

  1. A current 18+ Continued Foster Care Agreement (SFN 60)
  2. A court order containing the required 18+ judicial determinations obtained within 90 days of the effective date of the 18+ Continued Foster Care Agreement (SFN 60).
  3. Continued Eligibility
  1. Title IV-E: If the child was previously Title IV-E, no redetermination is necessary. However, income and assets must be reviewed to determine the child’s reimbursability.
  2. Non-Title IV-E: If the child was not previously Title IV-E eligible prior to aging out, a new eligibility determination is required specific to the child only.

Based on the child’s determination, the following documents are required:

 

Title IV-E children

  1. Remain in ND 18+ Continued Care:
  1. Child remains Title IV-E eligible
  2. A new determination is not required, but income and assets must be monitored for continued reimbursability.
  3. Additional documentation in the eligibility file must include:
  1. SFN 60, 18+ Continued Foster Care Agreement
  2. SFN 45, Notice of Change
  3. 18+ Court Order
  1. Return within six months of discharge:
  1. Child remains Title IV-E eligible.
  2. Reimbursability must be established.
  3. Additional documentation in the eligibility file must include:
  1. SFN 641 Title IV-E Title XIX Application – Foster Care specific to the 18+ Continued Care eligibility month and signed by the child.
  2. SFN 870, Title IV-E 18+ Continued Care Eligibility
  3. SFN 873, Title IV-E Income Calculation Worksheet if child has income
  4. SFN 60, 18+ Continued Foster Care Agreement
  5. SFN 45, Notice of Change
  6. 18+ Court Order

Non-Title IV-E children aging out of foster care

All non-IV-E children must be discharged from the foster care program upon aging out of foster care. A child must “return” to foster care if they wish to continue in the 18+ program. The child must apply for 18+ Continued Foster Care and a new eligibility determination is required.

 

  1. Return to 18+ Continued Care:
  1. Additional documentation in the eligibility file must include:
  1. SFN 641 Title IV-E Title XIX Application – Foster Care specific to the 18+ Continued Care eligibility month and signed by the child.
  2. SFN 870, Title IV-E 18+ Continued Care Eligibility
  3. SFN 873, Title IV-E Income Calculation Worksheet if child has income
  4. SFN 60, 18+ Continued Foster Care Agreement
  5. SFN 45, Notice of Change
  6. 18+ Court Order

Reimbursability

To maintain reimbursability the child must have a financial need in AFDC terms. Need has two elements. First, the income available to the child must be less than the costs of maintaining the child. Income available includes all forms of income the child receives. Income is the gain or benefit, earned or unearned, derived from labor, business, capital, or property, which is received or is available to the assistance unit. It is considered actually available when the applicant has a legal interest in a liquidated sum and has the legal ability to make such sum available for support or maintenance. Any earnings designated for a sole purpose and not available for support or maintenance are excluded. All unearned income would be considered available to the child, while earned income would only be partially available since the AFDC rules allow disregards for work expenses and for earnings of employed. The cost of maintaining the child is the amount the state is paying for the foster care placement of the child. In any month where the child's income after deductions exceeds this amount, the child is not reimbursable.

 

Medical Services

The Foster Care Application (SFN 641) must be completed in order to reinstate Medicaid for children who exit and return to foster care after age 18. Title IV-E Title XIX Redetermination – Foster Care (SFN 642) may be used to re-determine Medicaid annually for children who remain in foster care past the child’s 18th birthday. Children who are discharged from foster care at or after age 18 are eligible for Medicaid until the age of 26.

 

Additional 18+ Policy: 18+ Continued Care program policy can be found in 624-05 and 18+ maintenance payment policy can be found in 623-05.