Agency procedures

Agency procedures. (1) Application. (a) Complete application. A kinship care agency shall consider a relative caregiver’s application for kinship care payments or long-term kinship care payments to be complete when the agency has received all of the following from the relative caregiver: 1. All information required on the application form prescribed by the department under s. DCF 58.04 (1) . 2. All information that a relative caregiver is required to provide for background checks under s. DCF 58.05 (3) . (b) Agency timeframe for determining eligibility. Except as provided under s. DCF 58.09 , a kinship care agency shall approve or deny a relative caregiver’s application within 45 days after receiving the complete application specified under par. (a) . (c) Reapplication within 2 years. A kinship care agency may refuse to accept an application for kinship care or long-term kinship care from a relative caregiver that was determined ineligible for the same program within the previous 2 years if the agency determines that the reason for the previous denial or termination of payments has not changed. (2) Health insurance. A kinship care agency shall do all of the following: (a) Provide information on medical assistance to all relative caregivers during the initial eligibility determination process. (b) Require that a relative caregiver that does not have private health insurance for the child apply for medical assistance for the child and assist the relative caregiver with applying if appropriate. (c) Inform a relative caregiver that has private health insurance for the child that medical assistance may be available as a secondary health insurance. (3) Agency eligibility or termination criteria prohibited. A kinship care agency may not create eligibility or termination criteria for kinship care or long-term kinship care that are in addition to the criteria in this chapter and s. 48.57 (3m) , (3n) , and (3p) , Stats. (4) Best interests determination. (a) Voluntary and long-term kinship care. When determining whether living with the relative caregiver is in the best interests of the child under s. DCF 58.06 , the kinship care agency shall do all of the following: 1. Assess the ability of the relative caregiver to care for the child and the safety of the relative caregiver’s home and do the following if applicable: a. If a kinship care agency determines that a relative caregiver has a positive approach to parenting the child under s. DCF 58.06 (2) (a) 1. , despite a parenting history that includes behaviors or actions that are contrary to the health, safety, or welfare of a child, the agency shall document the reasons for concern in the relative caregiver’s parenting history and the agency’s rationale for determining that the relative caregiver has a positive approach to parenting the child despite the parenting history. b. If the relative caregiver does not have safe sleeping arrangements for the child as required under s. DCF 58.06 (5) (b) 2. , the kinship care agency shall assist the relative caregiver with obtaining the needed crib or bed. 2. With an approach that is trauma-informed and age and developmentally appropriate, talk to each child for whom a relative caregiver is applying for or receiving kinship care payments or long-term kinship care payments and discuss the child’s needs. 3. When determining a relative caregiver’s initial eligibility for kinship care or long-term kinship care, check for all of the following: a. Child abuse or neglect investigations or final substantiated findings in any jurisdiction in Wisconsin in which the relative caregiver, adult residents, prospective adult residents, employees, and prospective employees reside or have resided within the previous 5 years. b. Investigations or findings on a child abuse or neglect registry maintained by any jurisdiction outside Wisconsin in which the relative caregiver, adult residents, prospective adult residents, employees, or prospective employees reside or have resided within the previous 5 years. 4. When redetermining a relative caregiver’s eligibility, make the checks specified under subd. 3. in any jurisdiction where the relative caregiver, adult resident, or employee reside or have resided since the most recent check by the kinship care agency. (b) Voluntary kinship care; parental consent. 1. ‘Request express consent for living arrangement.’ When determining a relative caregiver’s initial eligibility for voluntary kinship care when the relative caregiver is not the child’s guardian, the kinship care agency shall make diligent efforts to contact the custodial parent or parents and request that the parent or parents sign a form prescribed by the department expressly consenting to the child living with the relative caregiver. The initial effort to contact the custodial parent or parents shall be by mail. The agency may subsequently attempt contact by phone, in person, or by electronic mail. 2. ‘Express denial.’ The kinship care agency shall determine that a relative caregiver is ineligible to receive voluntary kinship care and contact the local child protective services agency if the relative caregiver does not have guardianship of the child under s. 48.9795 , Stats., or a tribal private guardianship order, and a custodial parent expressly denies consent for the child to live with the relative caregiver. 3. ‘Implied consent.’ A kinship care agency may determine that consent by the child’s custodial parent or parents for the child to live with the relative caregiver is implied if any of the following conditions is met: a. The kinship care agency makes diligent efforts to contact the child’s custodial parent or parents and does not receive a response from any of the child’s custodial parents within 20 days after the agency’s first attempt to contact the custodial parent or parents. b. The child’s custodial parent or parents respond to the kinship care agency in a manner that is not an express denial of consent for the child to live with the relative caregiver. c. The child has 2 custodial parents, one custodial parent responds in a manner that is not an express denial of consent for the child to live with the relative caregiver, and the other custodial parent does not respond to the agency’s diligent efforts to contact the parent within 20 days after the first attempt to contact the parent. (5) Child safety. (a) Child protective services. A kinship care agency that has reasonable cause to suspect that the child has been abused or neglected or has been threatened with abuse or neglect and that abuse or neglect will occur shall report the facts and circumstances contributing to the suspicion to the local child protective services agency under s. 48.981 (2) , Stats. (b) Court. 1. ‘Guardian; not in best interests.’ If a kinship care agency has concerns about whether it continues to be in a child’s best interests to live with a relative caregiver that has been appointed the child’s guardian under s. 48.977 , Stats., or a tribal court order that is substantially similar to an order under s. 48.977 , Stats., or under s. 48.9795 , Stats., or a tribal private guardianship order, the kinship care agency shall inform the court that appointed the guardianship. 2. ‘Parent in home; long-term kinship care.’ If a child’s parent resides with the child and the relative caregiver that is the child’s guardian under s. 48.977 , Stats., or a tribal court order that is substantially similar to an order under s. 48.977 , Stats., for more than 30 days, the kinship care agency shall inform the court that appointed the guardianship. (6) Child age 18 or over. A kinship care agency may contact the school that a child 18 years of age or over is attending to verify the documentation submitted by the relative caregiver under s. DCF 58.04 (2) (h) . (7) Additional child within 6 months. If a relative caregiver applies for kinship care or long-term kinship care for a child that moves into the relative caregiver’s home within 6 months after the kinship care agency determined that the relative caregiver is eligible for kinship care or long-term kinship care for a different child, all of the following apply: (a) The kinship care agency shall direct the relative caregiver to complete only the child-specific portions of the application under s. DCF 58.04 (1) . (b) The kinship care agency is not required to conduct new background checks under s. DCF 58.05 . (c) In determining whether living with the relative caregiver is in the best interests of the child under s. DCF 58.06 , the kinship care agency may use information obtained for the agency’s most recent determinations under s. DCF 58.06 (2) to (4) for the other children. (d) At the earliest date that an eligibility redetermination is required under s. DCF 58.10 (3) for the care of any child in the relative caregiver’s home, the kinship care agency shall redetermine the relative caregiver’s eligibility for all children in the home for whom the relative caregiver is receiving kinship care payments or long-term kinship care payments. (8) Determination. (a) A kinship care agency shall determine whether a relative caregiver is eligible to receive kinship care payments or long-term kinship care payments and send the relative caregiver a written notice of the decision on a form prescribed by the department. (b) A notice denying or terminating a relative caregiver’s eligibility shall include the reasons for the denial or termination and a summary of appeal rights under s. DCF 58.11 and s. 48.57 (3m) (f) , (3n) (f) , and (3p) (h) or (hm) , Stats., as applicable. (c) A notice terminating eligibility shall inform the relative caregiver that payments will continue until a review or hearing decision is issued if the relative caregiver submits a request for a review or hearing as specified under s. DCF 58.11 within 10 days after the date of the notice. Any payments issued while the review or hearing is pending may be recovered by the kinship care agency if the agency’s determination is upheld. (9) Payment. (a) Kinship care payments. After a kinship care agency has determined that a relative caregiver is eligible to receive kinship care payments, the agency shall issue payments that begin as follows: 1. For a child that was placed in the relative caregiver’s home under a court order or a voluntary transition-to-independent-living agreement, the later of the following: a. The date the child was placed in the relative caregiver’s home under a court order or a voluntary transition-to-independent-living agreement. b. Ninety days prior to the date the kinship care agency received the relative caregiver’s application information under sub. (1) (a) . 2. For voluntary kinship care, the date on which the kinship care agency received the relative caregiver’s application information under sub. (1) (a) , unless the relative caregiver is placed on a waiting list under sub. (11) . (b) Long-term kinship care payments. After a kinship care agency has determined that a relative caregiver is eligible to receive long-term kinship care payments, the agency shall issue payments that begin the later of the following: 1. The date the relative caregiver was appointed to be the child’s guardian under s. 48.977 , Stats., or a tribal court order that is substantially similar to an order under s. 48.977 , Stats. 2. Ninety days prior to the date the kinship care agency received the relative caregiver’s application information under sub. (1) (a) .