11360-11376
WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE
SECTION 11360-11376
11360. The department shall establish a Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program as specified by this article. 11361. The Legislature finds and declares that the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program is intended to enhance family preservation and stability by recognizing that many children are in long-term, stable placements with relatives, that these placements are the permanent plan for the child, that dependencies can be dismissed pursuant to Section 366.3 with legal guardianship granted to the relative, and that there is no need for continued governmental intervention in the family life through ongoing, scheduled court and social services supervision of the placement. 11362. For purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply: (a) "Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payments (Kin-GAP)" means the aid provided on behalf of children in kinship care under the terms of this article. (b) "Kinship guardian" means a person who (1) has been appointed the legal guardian of a dependent child pursuant to Section 366.26 and (2) is a relative of the child. (c) "Relative" means an adult who is related to the child by blood, adoption, or affinity within the fifth degree of kinship, including stepparents, stepsiblings, and all relatives whose status is preceded by the words "great," "great-great," or "grand" or the spouse of any of those persons even if the marriage was terminated by death or dissolution. 11363. (a) Aid in the form of Kin-GAP shall be provided under this article on behalf of any child under 18 years of age who meets all of the following conditions: (1) Has been adjudged a dependent child of the juvenile court pursuant to Section 300, or, effective October 1, 2006, a ward of the juvenile court pursuant to Section 601 or 602. (2) Has been living with a relative for at least six consecutive months. (3) Has had a kinship guardianship with that relative established as the result of the implementation of a permanent plan pursuant to Section 366.26. (4) Has had his or her dependency dismissed after January 1, 2000, pursuant to Section 366.3, or his or her wardship terminated pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 728, concurrently or subsequently to the establishment of the kinship guardianship. (b) Kin-GAP payments shall continue after the child's 18th birthday if the conditions specified in Section 11403 are met. (c) Termination of the guardianship with a kinship guardian shall terminate eligibility for Kin-GAP; provided, however, that if an alternate guardian or coguardian is appointed pursuant to Section 366.3 who is also a kinship guardian, the alternate or coguardian shall be entitled to receive Kin-GAP on behalf of the child pursuant to this article. A new period of six months of placement with the alternate guardian or coguardian shall not be required if that alternate guardian or coguardian has been assessed pursuant to Section 361.3 and the court terminates dependency jurisdiction. (d) If the conditions specified in subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive, are met and, subsequent to the termination of dependency jurisdiction, a parent or person having an interest files with the juvenile court a petition pursuant to Section 388 to change, modify, or set aside an order of the court, Kin-GAP payments shall continue unless and until the juvenile court orders the child removed from the home of the guardian, terminates the guardianship, or otherwise grants the relief requested in the petition, after holding a hearing. 11364. (a) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 11450, the rate paid on behalf of children eligible for a Kin-GAP payment shall equal 100 percent of the rate for children placed in a licensed or approved home as specified in subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, of Section 11461. (b) For a child eligible for a Kin-GAP payment who is a teen parent, the rate shall include the two hundred dollar ($200) monthly payment made to the relative caregiver in a whole family foster home pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (d) of Section 11465, where prior to entering the Kin-GAP program, the relative was receiving foster care benefits on behalf of the child as a whole family foster home. (c) Effective October 1, 2006, the rate paid for a child eligible for a Kin-GAP payment shall be increased by an amount equal to the clothing allowances, as set forth in subdivision (f) of Section 11461, to which the child would have been entitled while in foster care, including any applicable rate adjustments. (d) Effective October 1, 2006, if a child, while in foster care, received a specialized care increment, immediately prior to his or her enrollment in the Kin-GAP Program, as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (e) of Section 11461, the Kin-GAP rate shall be adjusted by the specialized care increment amount, including any applicable rate adjustments. (e) If a child, while in foster care, received a dual agency rate, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 11464, immediately prior to his or her enrollment in the Kin-GAP Program, the Kin-GAP rate shall be the amount of the dual agency rate, including any applicable rate adjustments under paragraph (3) of subdivision (e) of Section 11464. (f) If a child, while in foster care, is receiving services under the California Early Start Intervention Services Act, and is receiving AFDC-FC benefits as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 11464, immediately prior to his or her enrollment in the Kin-GAP Program, the child shall be considered and assessed for a dual agency rate, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 11464, if the child becomes a regional center client. The Kin-GAP rate shall be the amount of the dual agency rate, including any applicable rate adjustments under paragraph (3) of subdivision (e) of Section 11464. 11365. Kin-GAP shall be paid to the kinship guardian on a per child basis. 11366. A child who is eligible to receive Medi-Cal benefits with no share of cost shall maintain that eligibility notwithstanding the receipt of Kin-GAP by his or her kinship guardian. 11367. Kin-GAP, in an amount equal to the applicable regional per-child CalWORKs grant, shall be paid by the state. The supplemental clothing allowance shall be paid pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (f) of Section 11461. The balance of Kin-GAP shall be paid in equal portions by the state and the counties. Notwithstanding Section 11216, effective July 1, 2006, the state share of benefits and administration of the Kin-GAP Program shall be funded with General Fund resources. 11368. (a) The department shall seek any waiver from the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that is necessary to implement this article. (b) Any provision of this article that may only be implemented pursuant to a waiver described in subdivision (a) shall only be operative during the period for which the waiver is granted, as stated in a declaration that shall be executed by the director when the waiver is obtained. 11369. (a) Notwithstanding the Administrative Procedure Act, Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, through June 30, 2000, the department may implement the applicable provisions of the Kin-GAP Program through all county letters or similar instructions from the director. (b) The director shall adopt regulations as otherwise necessary, to implement the applicable provisions of the Kin-GAP Program no later than July 1, 2000. Emergency regulations to implement the applicable provisions of this act may be adopted by the director in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act. The initial adoption of the emergency regulations and one readoption of the initial regulations shall be deemed to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety or general welfare. Initial emergency regulations and the first readoption of those emergency regulations shall be exempt from review by the Office of Administrative Law. The emergency regulations authorized by this section shall be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law for filing with the Secretary of State and shall remain in effect for no more than 180 days. 11370. The provisions of this article shall become operative on January 1, 2000. 11371. Income to the child, including the Kin-GAP payment, shall not be considered income to the kinship guardian for purposes of determining the kinship guardian's eligibility for any other aid program, unless required by federal law as a condition of the receipt of federal financial participation. 11372. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program implemented under this article is exempt from the provisions of Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3, except Sections 11253.5, and 11265.8, as long as these exemptions would not jeopardize federal financial participation in the payment. (b) A person who is a kinship guardian under this article, and who has met the requirements of Section 361.4, shall be exempt from Chapter 4.6 (commencing with Section 10830) of Part 2 governing the statewide fingerprint imaging system. A guardian who is also an applicant for or a recipient of benefits under the CalWORKs program, Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3, or the Food Stamp program, Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 18900) of Part 6 shall comply with the statewide fingerprint imaging system requirements applicable to those programs. (c) Any exemptions exercised pursuant to this section shall be implemented in accordance with Section 11369. 11373. Two years after the implementation date of this article, and again five years after the implementation date of this article, the department shall report to the Legislature information on the outcomes of the Kin-GAP Program, with the report to include all of the following: (a) The number and characteristics of the children who exited the child welfare system to the Kin-GAP Program. (b) The numbers and types of disruptions to the Kin-GAP Program, including subsequent substantiated child abuse reports, child welfare services, and cases where children return to foster care. (c) Rates of Kin-GAP exits from foster care compared to relative adoption and return to parents. 11374. (a) Each county that formally had court ordered jurisdiction under Section 300 over a child receiving benefits under the Kin-GAP program shall be responsible for paying the child's aid regardless of where the child actually resides, so long as the child resides in California. (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when a child receiving benefits under the CalWORKs program or the AFDC-FC foster care program becomes eligible for benefits under the Kin-GAP program during any month, the child shall continue to receive benefits under the CalWORKs program or the AFDC-FC foster care program, as appropriate, to the end of that calendar month, and Kin-GAP payments shall begin the first day of the following month. 11375. The following shall apply to any child in receipt of Kin-GAP benefits: (a) He or she is eligible to request and receive independent living services pursuant to Section 10609.3. (b) He or she may retain cash savings, not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000), including interest, in addition to any other property accumulated pursuant to Section 11257 or 11257.5. 11376. A foster child who has become the subject of a legal guardianship, who is receiving assistance under the Kin-Gap Program, including Medi-Cal, and whose foster care court supervision has been terminated, shall be provided medically necessary specialty mental health services by the local mental health plan in the county of residence of his or her legal guardian, pursuant to all of the following: (a) The host county mental health plan shall be responsible for submitting the treatment authorization request (TAR) to the mental health plan in the county of origin. (b) The requesting public or private service provider shall prepare the TAR. (c) The county of origin shall retain responsibility for authorization and reauthorization of services utilizing an expedited TAR process. (d) This article shall become inoperative on the date that the Director of Social Services executes the declaration required pursuant to Section 11217, stating that increased federal financial participation in the Emergency Contingency Fund for State Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Programs is no longer available pursuant to the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (Public Law 111-5) or subsequent federal legislation, including an amendment to the ARRA, that maintains or extends increased federal financial participation and as of the January 1 immediately following that date is repealed.