261.6 - ALL IOWA OPPORTUNITY FOSTER CARE GRANT PROGRAM.

        261.6  ALL IOWA OPPORTUNITY FOSTER CARE GRANT
      PROGRAM.
         1.  The commission shall develop and implement, in cooperation
      with the department of human services and the judicial branch, the
      all Iowa opportunity foster care grant program in accordance with
      this section.
         2.  The program shall provide financial assistance for
      postsecondary education or training to a person who has a high school
      diploma or a high school equivalency diploma under chapter 259A and
      is described by any of the following:
         a.  Is age seventeen and is in a court-ordered placement under
      chapter 232 under the care and custody of the department of human
      services or juvenile court services.
         b.  Is age seventeen and has been placed in the state training
      school or the Iowa juvenile home pursuant to a court order entered
      under chapter 232 under the care and custody of the department of
      human services.
         c.  Is age eighteen through twenty-three and is described by
      any of the following:
         (1)  On the date the person reached age eighteen or during the
      thirty calendar days preceding or succeeding that date, the person
      was in a licensed foster care placement pursuant to a court order
      entered under chapter 232 under the care and custody of the
      department of human services or juvenile court services.
         (2)  On the date the person reached age eighteen or during the
      thirty calendar days preceding or succeeding that date, the person
      was under a court order under chapter 232 to live with a relative or
      other suitable person.
         (3)  The person was in a licensed foster care placement pursuant
      to an order entered under chapter 232 prior to being legally adopted
      after reaching age sixteen.
         (4)  On the date the person reached age eighteen or during the
      thirty calendar days preceding or succeeding that date, the person
      was placed in the state training school or the Iowa juvenile home
      pursuant to a court order entered under chapter 232 under the care
      and custody of the department of human services.
         3.  The program requirements shall include but are not limited to
      all of the following:
         a.  Program assistance shall cover a program participant's
      expenses associated with attending an approved postsecondary
      education or training program in this state.  The expenses shall
      include tuition and fees, books and supplies, child care,
      transportation, housing, and other expenses approved by the
      commission.  If a participant is attending on less than a full-time
      basis, assistance provisions shall be designed to cover tuition and
      fees and books and supplies, and assistance for other expenses shall
      be prorated to reflect the hours enrolled.
         b.  If the approved education or training program is more than
      one year in length, the program assistance may be renewed.  To renew
      the assistance, the participant must annually reapply for the program
      and meet the academic progress standards of the postsecondary
      educational institution or make satisfactory progress toward
      completion of the training program.
         c.  A person shall be less than age twenty-three upon both the
      date of the person's initial application for the program and the
      start date of the education or training program for which the
      assistance is provided.  Eligibility for program assistance shall end
      upon the participant reaching age twenty-four.
         d.  Assistance under the program shall not be provided for
      expenses that are paid for by other programs for which funding is
      available to assist the participant.
         e.  The commission shall implement assistance provisions in a
      manner to ensure that the total amount of assistance provided under
      the program remains within the funding available for the program.
         4.  The commission shall develop and implement a tracking system
      that maintains a record of the postsecondary and workforce
      participation for those assisted under the program.  The system shall
      maintain a record for each participant for up to ten years after the
      first year of assistance.  The commission shall deliver a report on
      the outcomes of the program to the governor and general assembly by
      January 1 annually.  
         Section History: Recent Form
         2007 Acts, ch 214, §25; 2009 Acts, ch 177, §25
         Referred to in § 261.2