(A) The kinship support program (KSP) is
available to eligible kinship caregivers to provide financial payments for the
placement of children in the kinship caregiver's home. The
Ohio department of job and family services
(ODJFS)
Ohio department of children and youth
(DCY) is to coordinate and administer the program pursuant to section
5101.881 of the Revised Code and
provide payments in accordance with section
5101.885 of the Revised Code to
the extent funds are appropriated and allocated for this purpose.
(B) "Kinship caregiver" has the same meaning
as in section
5101.85 of the Revised
Code
, which is any of the following who is eighteen
years of age or older and is caring for a child in place of the child's
parents.
(1) Individuals related by blood or
adoption to the child including:
(a) Grandparents, including
grandparents with the prefix "great," "great-great," or
"great-great-great."
(b) Siblings.
(c) Aunts, uncles, nephews, and
nieces, including such relatives with the prefix "great," "great-great,"
"grand," or "great-grand."
(d) First cousins and first cousins
once removed.
(2) Stepparents and stepsiblings of
the child.
(3) Spouses and former spouses of
individuals named in paragraphs (B)(1) and (B)(2) of this rule.
(4) A legal guardian of the
child.
(5) A legal custodian of the
child.
(6) Any nonrelative adult that has a
familiar and long-standing relationship or bond with the child or the family,
which relationship or bond will ensure the child's social ties.
(C) A kinship caregiver who is not
certified as a foster caregiver in accordance with Chapters 5101:2-5 and
5101:2-7 of the Administrative Code is eligible to receive KSP payments for a
child placed in the kinship caregiver's home pursuant to rule
5101:2-42-18 of the
Administrative Code when:
(1) The child is in
the temporary, permanent, or legal custody of a public children services agency
(PCSA); or
(2) The child is under
the care of a Title IV-E agency with legal responsibility for care and
placement of the child and which has a
Title IV-E subgrant agreement in effect.
(D) Eligible kinship caregivers are
not to receive KSP payments
in accordance with the following
timeframes:
for more than six months from the
date of placement.
(1) For not more than nine months
after December 29, 2020 when the child is already placed in the kinship
home;
(2) For not more than nine months
from the date of placement when the child is placed in the kinship home between
December 29, 2020 and September 29, 2021; or
(3) For not more than six months
from the date of placement when the child is placed in the kinship home on or
after September 30, 2021.
(E)
The kinship
caregiver is to receive KSP payments
are to
stop
until the earliest of the
following:
when any of the following
occur:
(1) The date the kinship caregiver obtains foster home
certification in accordance with Chapters 5101:2-5 and 5101:2-7 of the
Administrative Code; or
(2) The applicable
timeframe specified in paragraph (D) of this rule is exhausted; or
kinship caregiver has received KSP payments for the
placement of the child for six months;
(3)
The date the
child is no longer in the custody of the PCSA or Title IV-E
agency;
(3)(4) The
date the child is no longer placed in the kinship
caregiver's home;.
or
(5)
The date the home
assessment is denied pursuant to rule
5101:2-42-18 of the
Administrative Code.
(F) Prior to placing a child in a kinship
home, the PCSA or other Title IV-E agency is to provide the kinship caregiver
with information about
the KSP.
kinship programs and foster care certification pursuant to
rule 5101:2-42-18 of the
Administrative Code.
(G) The
PCSA or other Title IV-E agency is to enter the necessary data into
the statewide automated child welfare information
system (SACWIS)
Ohio comprehensive child
welfare information system (CCWIS) to initiate and/or terminate payments
for eligible kinship caregivers in accordance with this rule.
(H) A kinship caregiver who obtains
foster home certification in accordance with Chapters 5101:2-5 and 5101:2-7 of
the Administrative Code is to receive foster care maintenance (FCM) payments
equal to the rate the PCSA or other Title IV-E agency would pay for that child
if placed in a foster home that is not kin.
(H)
The PCSA or Title
IV-E agency is to pay foster care maintenance (FCM) payments for a child placed
with a kinship caregiver who is certified as a foster caregiver in accordance
with Chapters 5101:2-5 and 5101:2-7 of the Administrative Code, or the
equivalent in another state. The FCM payment is to equal the rate the PCSA or
Title IV-E agency would pay for the child if placed in a foster home that is
not kin.
(I)
If a kinship caregiver becomes a certified foster
caregiver pursuant to Chapters 5101:2-5 and 5101:2-7 of the Administrative
Code, or the equivalent in another state, after the child was placed with the
kinship caregiver, the PCSA or Title IV-E agency is to pay FCM the date the
kinship caregiver becomes certified as a foster caregiver.
(I) The eligibility for kinship
caregivers and foster caregivers to receive Ohio works first (OWF) is
determined pursuant to rules 5101:1-3-01, 5101:1-23-10, and 5101:1-23-20.1 of
the Administrative Code.
(J)
In accordance
with rule 5101:2-5-18 of the Administrative Code, a recommending agency may
submit a waiver request for a kinship caregiver to waive any non-safety foster
home certification standards. These waiver requests will be reviewed on a case
by case basis. Pursuant to section 5103.0329 of the Revised Code, a
recommending agency may submit a request for a kinship caregiver to waive
training hours and topic requirements contained in rule 5101:2-5-33 of the
Administrative Code. Per rule 5101:2-5-18 of the Administrative Code, all
waiver requests for kinship caregivers to become certified foster parents are
to be completed in SACWIS and forwarded to ODJFS. Kinship caregivers who become
certified foster caregivers as a result of the approval of non-safety waivers
are not able to receive placement of children other than kinship
children.
Waiver requests by a recommending
agency for a kinship caregiver seeking foster care certification are permitted
for the following:
(1)
Pursuant to rule
5101:2-5-18 of the
Administrative Code, non-safety foster care certification standards;
and
(2)
Pursuant to section
5103.0329 of the Revised Code,
training hours and topic requirements contained in rule
5101:2-5-33 of the
Administrative Code.
(K)
DCY will send
notification to a kinship caregiver of a possible overpayment with the JFS
04065 "Prior Notice of Right to a State Hearing" if an overpayment occurs. The
kinship caregiver may be responsible for returning payments they were not
eligible to receive to DCY.
