Florida Administrative Code › 65 - DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES › 65C - Family Safety and Preservation Program › Chapter 65C-28 - OUT-OF-HOME CARE › Section 65C-28.008 - Relative Caregiver Program Requirements

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
(1) In order for a relative to receive a
				monthly Relative Caregiver Program (RCP) payment or a nonrelative caregiver to
				receive financial assistance (NCFA), the requirements of Section
				 39.5085, F.S., shall be
				met.
(2) Relative Caregiver Program
				Payments.
(a) A Unified Home Study completed
				by a case manager with the lead agency or subcontractor assigned to the
				geographical area where the child and caregiver reside shall be completed in
				accordance with Section
				 39.521(2)(o),
				F.S. In regard to a child in a permanent guardianship or a permanent placement
				with a fit and willing relative, if a Unified Home Study has already been
				completed on the placement, another Unified Home Study is not
				required.
(b) The child shall be
				adjudicated dependent and be in the court-ordered temporary legal custody of
				the relative pursuant to Section
				 39.521, F.S., or in the
				court-ordered permanent guardianship or permanent placement with a fit and
				willing relative pursuant to Section
				 39.6221 or
				 39.6231, F.S.
(c) The child shall live in an approved home
				of an adult relative who meets a specified degree of relationship to the parent
				or stepparent of the child by blood or marriage. If the parent or stepparent of
				the child is not related to the caregiver or is not within the required degree
				of relationship to the parent or stepparent of the child, the child must be a
				half-sibling of another child who is related to the caregiver and both children
				shall have been court ordered into the same placement.
1. Half-sibling eligibility for RCP payment
				shall meet the following requirements:
a. A
				child who is not related to the caregiver is eligible for RCP payment as long
				as their half-sibling is related to the caregiver and remains in the
				court-ordered custody of the caregiver.
b. When the half-sibling who is related to
				the caregiver becomes 18 years of age or leaves the legal custody of the
				caregiver for any reason, the half-sibling who is unrelated to the caregiver
				loses eligibility for continued RCP payment.
2. Termination of marriage for the parent or
				other relatives affects eligibility for RCP payment as follows:
a. The termination of the marriage of a
				stepparent from the parent due to death or divorce shall not disqualify
				relatives of the former stepparent as eligible caregivers if the relatives are
				within the required degree of relationship to the former stepparent. The former
				stepparent shall be considered to be within the required degree of relationship
				to the parent and shall be eligible for the RCP payment if all other
				eligibility factors are met.
b. The
				termination of the marriage of a non-blood relative to a blood relative due to
				death or divorce shall not disqualify the non-blood relative as an eligible
				caregiver if the blood relative to whom he or she was married is within the
				required degree of relationship to the blood relative, or if the non-blood
				relative was within the required degree of relationship to the blood relative
				prior to the non-blood relative's death.
(d) The child shall not live in a home where
				either parent or stepparent resides. If the parent is in the home 30
				consecutive days or longer, the child's eligibility for the RCP payment
				ends.
(e) The child shall reside in
				the state of Florida. Children who move out-of-state or are placed out-of-state
				with a relative caregiver are not eligible for a RCP payment. A child placed
				with a relative in Florida by another state is not eligible for the RCP
				payment.
(f) Failure by the
				relative caregiver to cooperate with the Child Support Enforcement Program in
				regard to a child shall terminate that child's eligibility to receive the RCP
				payment while in that placement. If the child is not eligible due to the
				relative caregiver's lack of cooperation:
1.
				The child remains eligible for Medicaid and other services necessary to ensure
				his or her safety and well-being.
2. Eligibility for the RCP payment for other
				children in the same placement is not affected if the relative caregiver is
				cooperating with the Child Support Enforcement Program in regard to those
				children.
(g) Once all of
				the preceding eligibility requirements in this section are met, the eligibility
				requirements of the temporary cash assistance programs in Chapters 65A-1 and
				65A-4, F.A.C., applicable to "child only cases" in the Temporary Cash
				Assistance Program (TCA) shall be met, with the following exceptions:
1. The basic monthly payment schedule (not
				including Medicaid, family support services, flexible funds utilized in
				accordance with Section
				 409.165, F.S., subsidized
				child-care and other services available through the Department or contracted
				service provider or other local, state or federal programs), is based on the
				age of the child.
2. The monthly
				amount of the payment for the initial six (6) months, before any deductions for
				income of the child, shall be at a rate equal to the rate established in
				Section  409.145(3),
				F.S., pursuant to Section
				 39.5085  (2)(d)2., F.S.
3. Pursuant to Sections 39.5085(2)(d)3. and
				4., F.S., the subsequent monthly amount of payment, before any deductions for
				income of the child, shall be:
a. Age zero
				(0) through five (5) years - $242.
b. Age six (6) through 12 years -
				$249.
c. Age 13 to 18 years -
				$298.
4. Financial
				eligibility is based on a comparison of the income of the child to the benefit
				payment standard for the child's age. The difference between the RCP payment
				standard for the child's age and the income of the child is the amount of the
				payment; and,
5. Each child
				applying for or receiving the RCP payment is a filing unit of one and only the
				child's income and assets are considered in establishing or maintaining
				eligibility. In this regard, a child receiving a Supplemental Security Income
				grant is ineligible for an RCP payment.
(h) When a relative caregiver is approved as
				a guardian pursuant to Section
				 39.6221 or
				 39.6231, or Chapter 744, F.S.,
				after an adjudication of dependency, completion of a Unified Home Study and
				placement by the court with the relative, continuing eligibility for the RCP
				payment shall not be affected.
(i)
				A child receiving an RCP payment shall not simultaneously receive a TCA grant,
				except when timely action has not been taken by the Department or a contracted
				service provider to convert a payment from TCA to RCP. When converting from TCA
				to RCP, the ESS case will be processed as a change and the payment will be
				effective the next recurring month. No auxiliaries to restore lost RCP payments
				may be issued without approval of the circuit/region ESS Program Office.
1. Restoration of RCP benefits must be issued
				when:
a. An application for RCP payment has
				been denied in error, or
b. A TCA
				payment is not terminated timely (the next recurring month) following the
				establishment of all RCP eligibility requirements. This includes delays by the
				lead agency or subcontractor assigned following a determination of potential
				placement eligibility in accordance with Section 39.5085, F.S., to timely
				communicate the potential placement eligibility within five (5) calendar days
				of making this determination.
2. A child may not be included in a TCA
				assistance group and receive full RCP payments in the same month. Any
				auxiliaries approved for the restoration of RCP payments for months in which
				the child received TCA payments shall only be authorized for the difference
				between the amount of the TCA payment and the amount of the RCP payment during
				the affected months.
(j)
				The following changes in an active services case of a child in the RCP program
				may impact eligibility and/or the RCP payment:
1. The child is adopted,
2. The child's age changes, resulting in a
				change to a new age group,
3. The
				child leaves the relative caregiver's household,
4. The child has an increase or decrease in
				unearned income, or
5. The parent
				or stepparent resides in the relative caregiver's household for over 30
				consecutive days.
6. The child
				moves from the state of Florida, or
7. The relative caregiver becomes licensed as
				a foster placement.
(k)
				Relative caregivers apply for TCA or RCP benefits through the ESS
				program.
(l) When supervision of a
				child has been terminated due to court ordered custody of the child under
				Section  39.6221  or 39.6231, F.S., any
				documentation required for the relative or child to receive services needed in
				support of the placement shall be provided by the Department of contracted
				service provider.
(m) When a
				relative or nonrelative caregiver has been approved as a permanent guardian
				pursuant to Section 39.6221, F.S., and wants to apply for relative or
				nonrelative caregiver funds after the case has closed, court ordered
				supervision does not need to be reinstated for the approval of an
				application.