Hawaii Administrative Rules › Title 17 - DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES › Department of Human Services › Chapter 1617 - FOSTER CARE MAINTENANCE AND RELATED PAYMENTS › Section 17-1617-11 - Eligibility requirements for foster care maintenance payments

Current through June, 2024
(a) To be eligible for foster care
				maintenance payments, the department shall have determined that the child is in
				need of out-of-home care as the family home is unsafe, even with the assistance
				of a service plan. In addition:
(b)
				To establish eligibility for federally funded foster care maintenance payments,
				the following eligibility requirements shall also be met:
(1) Age. The child is under eighteen years of
				age.
(2) Removal from the home. The
				child shall have been removed from the home of a parent or specified relative
				as a result of:
(A) A judicial order for a
				physical or constructive removal of the child based on a judicial determination
				that:
(i) Continuation in the home would be
				contrary to the welfare of the child. This determination must be made at the
				first court hearing that sanctions, even temporarily, the removal of a child
				from the home; and
(ii) Reasonable
				efforts were made to prevent removal of the child from his or her home or a
				judicial determination that reasonable efforts were not required to prevent
				removal. This determination must be made within sixty days of the child's
				involuntary removal. If the determination concerning reasonable efforts to
				prevent the removal is not made as specified above, the child shall not be
				eligible for federally funded foster care maintenance payments for the duration
				of that stay in foster care; or
(B) A valid voluntary foster custody
				agreement signed by the child's legal custodian and the department which leads
				to a physical or constructive removal of the child.
(i) If a child is expected to remain in
				out-of-home placement longer than one hundred and eighty (180) days, a petition
				must be filed and judicial determination specified in subparagraph (A)(i)
				obtained prior to the one hundred and eightieth
				(180th) day.
(ii) If parents or guardians request that the
				child be returned to their home or to the home of a relative, the voluntary
				custody agreement shall be deemed to be revoked unless the department opposes
				such request and obtains a judicial determination that the return of the child
				to such home would be contrary to the child's best interests.
(C) If the reasonable efforts and
				contrary to the welfare judicial determinations specified in subparagraphs (A)
				and (B) are not included as required in the court orders, a transcript of the
				court proceedings shall be the only other documentation accepted to verify that
				these required determinations have been made. Neither affidavits nor nunc pro
				tunc orders shall be accepted to verify that the required determinations have
				been made.
(D) A removal has not
				occurred in situations where legal custody is removed from the parents or
				relative and the child remains with the same relative in that home under
				supervision by the department.
(3) Responsibility for placement and care.
				The child's placement and care shall be the responsibility of the department
				pursuant to chapter 587A, HRS.
(4)
				Eligibility for AFDC as defined in 45 C.F.R., Part 233 and in effect on July
				16, 1996. (Effective December 14, 1999, the value of resources allowable for
				IV-E eligibility increased to $10,000.)
The child would have received AFDC as in effect on July 16,
				  1996 except for the child's removal from the home of a parent or specified
				  relative (specified in section 406(a)), if application had been made for such
				  benefits in or for the month in which the voluntary foster custody agreement
				  was entered into or court proceedings leading to removal from the home were
				  initiated;
(i) For removals between
				October 1,2003-June 8, 2006, the child would have received AFDC in the home
				from which the child was removed or the home of any specified relative with
				whom the child was living within six months prior to removal (Eligibility based
				on this criteria was no longer used beginning with the child's IV-E eligibility
				re-determination that occurred subsequent to June 8, 2006.);
(ii) For children removed from the home on or
				after June 9, 2006, the child is AFDC eligible at the time of removal from the
				home of a parent or specified relative, as defined in chapter 17-656.1-7(b); or
(B) The child was living with or had been
				living with a parent or specified relative within six months prior to the month
				in which either a voluntary foster custody agreement was entered into or court
				proceedings were initiated and the child would have been AFDC eligible in that
				month if he or she had been living in that home;
(5) The child is a U.S. citizen or
				is a qualified alien under section 431 of the Personal Responsibility and Work
				Opportunity Act of 1996 (PRWORA). If a qualified alien,
(A) The child must have lived in the United
				States (U.S.) for five years if the child entered the U.S. on or after August
				22, 1996 if placed with an unqualified alien; or
(B) The child is exempt from the five-year
				residency requirement because the child is placed with a U.S. citizen or
				qualified alien or the child is a member of one of the exception groups
				pursuant to USC title 8, Chapter 14, Section 1612(b): refugees, asylees, aliens
				whose deportation is withheld, veterans and those on active duty (as well as
				the spouse and unmarried dependent children of that person), Cuban or Haitian
				entrants, and Amerasians from Vietnam;
(6) Licensed foster home. The child shall
				reside in a fully licensed foster home or child-caring institution.