HAR §17-1617-2. Definitions

As used in this chapter: "Adoptive home" means a home, which has been studied and approved by the department or a licensed child-placing organization for the placement of children for the purpose of adoption. "Aid to families with dependent children" or "AFDC" means federally funded aid to families with dependent children based on meeting requirements 1617-2 2946 defined in 45 Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R) Part 233 and in effect on July 16, 1996. "Caregiver" means any adult other than the legal custodian authorized to provide care or oversee the care of children. "Child" means a person who is born alive and is less than eighteen years of age. "Child-caring institution" or "group home" means any institution or group home licensed by the department, for the purpose of receiving six or more unrelated minor children for temporary substitute supervision, care, and maintenance apart from their legal custodians on a twenty-four hour basis for monetary payment. This term shall not apply to any boarding school which is primarily engaged in educational work or to any resource family home, detention facility, forestry camp, training school, or facility operated primarily for the detention of delinquent children. This term shall also exclude public child care institutions that accommodate more than twenty five children. "Constructive removal" means a non-physical removal of custody from a legal parent or legal custodian with whom the child resided within six months of the constructive removal. A child is considered constructively removed on the date of the first judicial order removing custody, even temporarily, from the appropriate specified relative or the date that the voluntary placement agreement is signed by all relevant parties. "Date child is considered to have entered foster care" means the earlier of the date of the first judicial finding that the child has been subjected to child abuse or neglect or the date that is 60 days after the date on which the child is removed from the home. "Difficulty of care payments" or "difficulty of care" means payments in addition to the basic foster care maintenance board rate based on the level of care and supervision a child requires as determined by an assessment of the child's level of overall functioning. Payments for difficulty of care can be 1617-3 946 issued when the child requires an increased level of care and supervision that is over and above the average level needed by a child due to physical or mental health conditions, or emotional, psychological, or behavioral needs, which are being treated by a professional. Payments for difficulty of care may also be issued when the child requires academic or educational assistance that is over and above the average assistance needed for a child as documented by appropriate school personnel. "Emergency shelter home" means a licensed resource family home or child-caring institution where temporary care, apart from the legal custodian, is provided to abused or neglected or other dependent children in need of care and protection on a twenty-four hour basis, until more suitable plans are made for the children. "Federally funded foster care maintenance payments" means the financial assistance program administered by the department under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. sections 670-672 in effect July 16, 1996). For purposes of Titles XIX and XX, any child with respect to whom Title IV-E foster care maintenance payments are made under this section will be deemed a dependent child as defined in section 406 of the Act (as so in effect 7/16/1996) and shall be deemed to be a recipient of aid to families with dependent children under Part A of this Title (as so in effect 7/16/1996). Titles XIX and XX services will be available to such child in the State in which the child resides. "Foster care" and "foster care services" means temporary substitute supervision, care, and maintenance apart from the child's legal custodians on a twenty-four hour basis for monetary payment in a licensed resource family home, or group home licensed by the department or other appropriate agency, to an eligible child pursuant to this chapter, whose legal custodians are unwilling or unable to provide a safe family home for the child's safety, welfare and protection as determined by the department pursuant to the child protective act. 1617-4 2946 "Foster care maintenance payments" means payments issued by the department to compensate eligible caregivers for the provision of care and supervision to eligible foster children. Foster care maintenance payments consist of a basic board rate, and if appropriate, difficulty of care payments based on an assessment of the child's need for higher level of care and supervision. "Foster care related payments" means payments for specified related costs not covered in the foster care maintenance payments for an eligible child, including but not limited to clothing, transportation, limited medical expenses, and activity fees. "Foster child" means: (1) Any child under eighteen years of age in out-of-home care who is under the placement responsibility of the department, or (2) A youth under the placement responsibility of the department receiving state-funded foster care who is under the age of 20 and remains enrolled in high school. "Independent placement" means placement of a child into a licensed resource family home directly by the child's legal custodian, and not through a child-placing agency. "Initial date of entry into out-of-home care" means the initial date on which the department assumed placement responsibility of a child: (1) By receipt of custody of the child from the police; (2) Pursuant to a voluntary agreement with the legal custodian; (3) By order of the court; or (4) By placing a child in foster care and thereby assuming temporary foster custody of a child subject to court ordered family supervision, pursuant to section 587A-4, HRS. "Legal custodian" means the child's parent(s), permanent custodian(s), legal guardian(s), or other entities that have legal and physical custody of the child. 1617-5 2946 "Out-of-home care" means placement which is apart from the child's legal custodian which provides twenty-four hour parenting care, including, but not limited to a licensed relative's home, a resource family home, or a child-caring institution. "Parental deprivation" means depriving a child of parental support or care by reason of death, continued absence from the home (other than absence based solely on performance of active duty in the uniformed services of the United States), physical or mental incapacity of a parent, or unemployment of the parent who is the principal wage earner, as defined in 45 C.F.R., section 233.100. "Periodic review" means a judicial review of the status of each child in out-of-home care under the placement responsibility of the department which is held within six months of the initial date of entry into out-of-home care and at least every six months thereafter. "Placement responsibility" means the authority of the department or other agency or individual to determine the placement and care of the child. "Provisionally licensed resource family home" means a home approved for placement of a child that has been determined appropriate by the department for a placement of a child while completing the requirements to become a licensed resource family home. "Reasonable efforts" means appropriate and available services offered or provided to prevent the placement of a child, to reunify a family, or to finalize the permanency plan for the child. "Resource family home" means a home which has met the state licensing requirements in chapter 17-1625, HAR, in which minor children are received for temporary substitute supervision, care and maintenance apart from their legal custodians on a twenty-four hour basis for monetary payment. "Resource family" or "resource caregiver" means a family or person who is: (1) Licensed by the department to provide temporary safe foster care services for 1617-6 2946 children under the jurisdiction of the department in out-of-home care; and (2) Paid foster care maintenance payments by the department for such services. "Respite care payments" means the payments provided by the department to reimburse licensed resource families for the cost of obtaining an alternate caregiver for the temporary care of a foster child under the placement responsibility of the department. These funds are limited each fiscal year and respite care payments may not be available once the allotted funds have been expended. "Specified relative" means father, mother, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, uncle, aunt, uncle half-blood, aunt half-blood, great uncle, great aunt, great uncle half-blood, great aunt half-blood, grandfather, grandmother, great grandfather, great grandmother, first cousin, first cousin once removed, nephew or niece, great-great grandmother, great-great grandfather, great-great-great grandmother, great-great-great grandfather, great-great aunt, great-great uncle, great-great aunt half-blood, great-great uncle half-blood, stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, and stepsister; the adoptive parents of a legally adopted child as well as other natural or legally adopted children and relatives of the adoptive parents; and the legally married spouse of any of the persons specified in this subsection even after the marriage has ended in death or divorce. "Voluntary foster custody agreement" means a written agreement, binding on the parties to the agreement, between the Department, any other agency acting on its behalf, and the parents or guardians of a minor child which specifies, at a minimum, the legal status of the child and the rights and obligations of the parents or guardians, the child, and the agency while the child is in placement. "Voluntary placement" means an out-of-home placement of a minor, by or with participation of a State agency, after the parents or guardians of the minor have requested the assistance of the agency and signed a voluntary placement agreement. 1617-7 6946 [Eff 09 2010] (Auth: HRS §§346-14, 346-17) (Imp: HRS §§346-14, 346-17; 45 C.F.R. §§233.10, 233.39, 1355.20, 1356.20, 1356.21, 1356.30; 42 U.S.C. §675) §17-1617-3 Scope of service for foster care maintenance payments. (a) The basic functions performed by resource families include, but are not limited to, the provision of: (1) Warmth, security, emotional nurturing; (2) Intellectual stimulation; (3) Training by example to develop social skills; and (4) Encouragement to participate in family life. (b) Foster care maintenance payments shall be made for the care and maintenance of eligible children in out-of-home care under the placement responsibility of the department in provisionally licensed resource family homes, licensed resource family homes, emergency shelter homes and child caring institutions; and (c) Foster care maintenance payments shall be made for the care and maintenance of eligible children. Payment covers the following: (1) Food, including lunches and milk; (2) Shelter, including utilities; (3) Use of household furnishings and equipment; (4) Expenses involved in household operations; (5) Personal essentials, including, but not limited to, toothbrush, soap, brush/comb, haircuts, hygienic supplies, and contact lens maintenance supplies; (6) Reading and educational materials/supplies; (7) Recreational and community activities for the child such as parties, picnics, movies, and excursions; (8) Transportation expense for the resource family or caregiver to shop for the foster child, or deliver the child to school events, or other community and recreational activities; 1617-8 0046 (9) Medicine chest supplies or first aid materials such as band-aids, aspirin, cough syrup, bandages, and antiseptics; (10) Allowance according to the age of the child; (11) Other requirements for infant and toddler care including two basic sub-items: (A) Baby supplies, including diapers, and nutritional supplements recommended by the physician for the care of infants and toddlers; (B) Increased costs for utilities, household furnishing, and maintenance operations related to increased activities, such as, laundering and formula preparation. (d) The cost of local travel associated with providing food, shelter, daily supervision, school supplies, and a child's personal incidentals is federally reimbursable to the state for payments made by the state for a child who meets the eligibility requirements for federally funded foster care maintenance payments as described in this chapter. (e) For children under the department's placement responsibility, or under the department's placement responsibility when legal guardianship or permanent custody was awarded to another child-placing organization or caregiver, the department shall provide foster care maintenance payments in accordance with departmental procedures. Payments shall be based on an assessment of the care and supervision required to provide appropriate care to meet the child's needs and the ability of the resource family or caregiver to provide the appropriate level of care. (1) "Basic board" means the amount of care and supervision provided for a child whose medical needs, emotional and psychological development, and behavior are within expected norms. (2) "Difficulty of care" is a payment provided in accordance with departmental procedures, in addition to the basic board rate, for a child who requires more care and supervision 1617-9 8946 as documented by a treating professional because of the child's physical, emotional, psychological, and/or behavioral needs, or as documented by appropriate school personnel when the child requires academic or educational assistance that is over and above the average assistance needed for a child. (f) For other eligible children not under the placement responsibility of the department, the foster care maintenance payment shall be made at the basic board rate. (g) When a child placed in a resource family home that receives federally funded foster care maintenance payments and is the minor parent of a child who is in the same home or institution as the minor parent, payments made on behalf of the minor parent shall include amounts necessary to cover the maintenance costs of the minor parent's child. Costs shall be limited to cover items described in the definition of foster care maintenance payments. [Eff] (Auth: HRS §§346-14, 346-17) (Imp: HRS §346-17; 45 C.F.R. §§1356.21(j), 1356.60; 42 U.S.C. §675)