234.35 - WHEN STATE TO PAY FOSTER CARE COSTS.
234.35 WHEN STATE TO PAY FOSTER CARE COSTS.
1. The department of human services is responsible for paying the
cost of foster care for a child, according to rates established
pursuant to section 234.38, under any of the following circumstances:
a. When a court has committed the child to the director of
human services or the director's designee.
b. When a court has transferred legal custody of the child to
the department of human services.
c. When the department has agreed to provide foster care
services for the child for a period of not more than ninety days on
the basis of a signed placement agreement between the department and
the child's parent or guardian.
d. When the child has been placed in emergency care for a
period of not more than thirty days upon approval of the director or
the director's designee.
e. When a court has entered an order transferring the legal
custody of the child to a foster care placement pursuant to section
232.52, subsection 2, paragraph "d", or section 232.102,
subsection 1. However, payment for a group foster care placement
shall be limited to those placements which conform to a service area
group foster care plan established pursuant to section 232.143.
f. When the department has agreed to provide foster care
services for a child who is eighteen years of age or older on the
basis of a signed placement agreement between the department and the
child or the person acting on behalf of the child.
g. When the department has agreed to provide foster care
services for the child on the basis of a signed placement agreement
initiated before July 1, 1992, between the department and the child's
parent or guardian.
h. When the child is placed in shelter care pursuant to
section 232.20, subsection 1, or section 232.21.
i. When the court has entered an order in a voluntary foster
care placement proceeding pursuant to section 232.182, subsection 5,
placing the child into foster care.
2. Except as provided under section 234.38 for direct payment of
foster parents, payment for foster care costs shall be limited to
foster care providers with whom the department has a contract in
force.
3. Payment for foster care services provided to a child who is
eighteen years of age or older shall be limited to the following:
a. For a child who is eighteen years of age, family foster
care or independent living arrangements.
b. For a child who is nineteen years of age, independent
living arrangements.
c. For a child who is at imminent risk of becoming homeless
or failing to graduate from high school or to obtain a graduate
equivalency diploma, if the services are in the child's best
interests, funding is available for the services, and an appropriate
alternative service is unavailable.
4. The department shall report annually to the governor and
general assembly by January 1 on the numbers of children for whom the
state paid for independent living services during the immediately
preceding fiscal year. The report shall detail the number of
children, by county, who received such services, were discharged from
such services, the voluntary or involuntary status of such services,
and the reasons for discharge. The department shall assess the
report data as part of any evaluation of independent living services
or consideration for improving the services. Section History: Early Form
[C75, 77, 79, 81, § 234.35] Section History: Recent Form
90 Acts, ch 1270, § 42, 43; 92 Acts, ch 1229, § 25; 93 Acts, ch
172, §37, 56; 2003 Acts, ch 117, §9; 2003 Acts, ch 175, §37; 2004
Acts, ch 1116, §15
Referred to in § 225C.49, 233A.7, 234.37, 234.38, 234.39, 234.46,
237.15
See Iowa Acts for special provisions relating to foster care
payments in a given fiscal year Footnotes
Limitations on funding for state shelter care; expansion of child
welfare emergency services; 2008 Acts, ch 1187, § 16, 79, 97; 2009
Acts, ch 182, §16