Title: Child Care Subsidies for Foster Parents

Summary: Provides that early education or child care subsidy be paid to certain caregivers.

Full Text:
An act relating to child care subsidies for foster parents; amending s. 409.145, F.S.; providing that an early education or child care subsidy be paid to certain caregivers; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 409.145, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 409.145 Care of children; quality parenting; "reasonable and prudent parent" standard.-The child welfare system of the department shall operate as a coordinated community-based system of care which empowers all caregivers for children in foster care to provide quality parenting, including approving or disapproving a child's participation in activities based on the caregiver's assessment using the "reasonable and prudent parent" standard. (4) FOSTER CARE ROOM AND BOARD RATES;ADDITIONAL SUBSIDY FOR CERTAIN CAREGIVERS.-(a) Effective July 1, 2018, room and board rates shall be paid to foster parents as follows: Monthly Foster Care Rate HB 1367 2019 0-5 Years Age 6-12 Years Age 13-21 Years Age $457.95 $469.68 $549.74 (b) Each January, foster parents shall receive an annual cost of living increase. The department shall calculate the new room and board rate increase equal to the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, U.S. City Average, All Items, not seasonally adjusted, or successor reports, fo rthe preceding December compared to the prior December as initially reported by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. The department shall make available the adjusted room and board rates annually. (c) Effective July 1, 2019,foster parents of level I family foster homes, as defined in s. 409.175(5)(a) shall receive a room and board rate of $333. (d) Effective July 1, 2019, the foster care room and board rate for level II family foster homes as defined in s. 409.175(5)(a) shall be the same as the new rate established for family foster homes as of January 1, 2019. (e) Effective January 1, 2020, paragraph (b) shall only apply to level II through level Vfamily foster homes, as defined in s. 409.175(5)(a). HB 1367 2019 (f) The amount of the monthly foster care room and board rate may be increased upon agreement among the department, the community-based care lead agency, and the foster parent. (g) From July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019, community based care lead agen cies providing care under contract with the department shall pay a supplemental room and board payment to foster care parents of all family foster homes, on a per-child basis, for providing independent life skills and normalcy supports to children who are through years of age placed in their care. The supplemental payment shall be paid monthly to the foster care parents in addition to the current monthly room and board rate payment. The supplemental monthly payment shall be based on percent of the monthly room and board rate for children through years of age as provided under this section and adjusted annually. Effective July 1, 2019, such supplemental payments shall only be paid to foster parents of level II through level Vfamily foster home s. (h) In addition to the foster care room and board rate, a caregiver who is required under s. 39.604 to place a child in an early education or child care program must receive a subsidy of up to $300 per month to pay the difference between the amount of the subsidy provided by an early learning coalition and the full cost of the services. Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.