2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 32A - Children's Code › Article 26 - Fostering Connections › Section 32A-26-4 - Fostering connections program; services; supports.

A. The fostering connections program shall provide at least the following services and supports to eligible adults:
(1) major medical and behavioral health care coverage;
(2) housing, in one of the following settings that the eligible adult chooses:
(a) a supervised independent living setting;
(b) a transitional living program that the department licenses or approves; or
(c) a residential facility or another institution; provided that an eligible adult who is residing in a residential facility upon leaving foster care may choose to temporarily stay until the eligible adult is able to transition to a more age-appropriate setting;
(3) foster care maintenance payments; provided that these payments:
(a) shall be sent by the department, all or in part, directly to: 1) the eligible adult, if the eligible adult is living in a supervised independent living setting; or 2) a transitional living program, if the eligible adult is living in a transitional living program; and
(b) shall reflect the eligible adult's status as a parent, if applicable; and
(4) services that include the development of a transition plan, developed jointly by the department and the eligible adult, that includes a description of the identified housing situation or living arrangement, and the resources to assist the eligible adult in the transition from the fostering connections program to adulthood. The services shall include assisting the eligible adult in effectuating each element of a transition plan.
B. The department shall not require background checks for other residents of a supervised independent living setting or a transitional living program as a condition of approving an eligible adult's living setting.
C. The department shall develop procedures to provide extended subsidies to families for adoption and guardianship until the eligible adult turns twenty-one years of age if:
(1) an adoption assistance or guardianship assistance agreement was in effect for the eligible adult when the eligible adult was sixteen years of age or older; and
(2) when at least eighteen years of age and under twenty-one years of age, the eligible adult meets at least one of the following participation criteria:
(a) completing secondary education or an educational program leading to an equivalent credential;
(b) enrolled in an institution that provides post-secondary or vocational education;
(c) participating in a program or activity designed to promote employment or remove barriers to employment;
(d) employed for at least eighty hours per month; or
(e) is incapable of doing any of the activities described in Subparagraphs (a) through (d) of this paragraph due to a medical or behavioral condition that is supported by regularly updated information in the transition plan.
History:
Laws 2019, ch. 149, § 4; 2020, ch. 52, § 6.
ANNOTATIONS
The 2020 amendment,
effective May 20, 2020, revised the fostering connections program services, and clarified duties of and services provided by the children, youth and families department; in Subsection A, Subparagraph A(2)(c), after "provided that", deleted "1) except as provided pursuant to Item 2) of this subparagraph", and after "age-appropriate setting", deleted "and 2) if the court finds that an eligible adult's developmental level, disability or other condition indicates placement in a residential facility or another institution due to an eligible adult's developmental level, disability or other condition, the eligible adult shall be placed in a residential facility or another institution until the court deems that the eligible adult may be appropriately placed in another setting", in Subparagraph A(3)(a), deleted "may" and added "shall", in Paragraph A(4), deleted "case management" preceding each occurrence of "services", after "development of a", deleted "case" and added "transition", and after "assisting the eligible adult in" added "effectuating each element of a transition plan", and deleted former Subparagraphs A(4)(a) through A(4)(n); in Subsection B, after "independent living setting", added "or a transitional living program", and after "eligible adult's", deleted "supervised independent"; and in Subsection C, Paragraph C(2), deleted "between the ages of eighteen and" and added "when at least eighteen years of age and under", and in Subparagraph C(2)(e), after "behavioral condition", added "that is supported by regularly updated information in the transition plan".