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
Universal Citation: FL Admin Code R 65C-28.008
Current through Reg. 50, No. 187; September 24, 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.
(3) Nonrelative Caregiver Financial Assistance (NCFA).
(a) Eligibility Requirements.
1. NCFA is available to nonrelative
caregivers who would be unable to serve as a caregiver without financial
assistance.
a. Persons outside the fifth
degree by blood or marriage to the parent or stepparent of a child are eligible
to receive NCFA provided all other eligibility requirements are met. This does
not include the stepparent or a former stepparent of the child.
b. Nonrelative caregivers who receive
Supplement Security Income (SSI) on the behalf of the child shall not be
eligible to receive NCFA.
c.
Nonrelative caregivers who receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
or Social Security Survivor Benefits on the behalf of the child in an amount
less than the monthly payments for NCFA, as set forth in paragraph (3)(d) of
this rule, shall be eligible to receive NCFA. The amount of the monthly NCFA
payment shall be the difference between the monthly NCFA payment set forth in
paragraph (3)(d) of this rule, and the amount of the child's SSDI or Social
Security Survivor Benefit.
2. To be eligible for NCFA, the nonrelative
caregiver must have the following:
a. A
completed Unified Home Study which includes the requirements set forth in
Section 39.521(2)(o),
F.S.,
b. A court order adjudicating
the child dependent,
c. A court
order placing the child in the care and custody of the nonrelative caregiver
and finding that the placement is in the best interest of the child;
and,
d. A signed statement by the
nonrelative caregiver expressing financial need to continue to care for the
child long term.
3. A
nonrelative may receive the NCFA payment for a minor parent who is in his or
her care, and for that minor parent's child, if both children have been
adjudicated dependent and meet all other eligibility requirements. The minor
parent may not receive a TCA payment for him or herself and his or her child
while the nonrelative receives the NCFA payment for either or both of them. If
the minor parent applies for TCA for him or herself and his or her minor child,
the NCFA payment must be terminated.
4. A child who is eligible for a Relative
Caregiver payment based on his or her placement with a half-sibling who is
related to the caregiver is not eligible for NCFA.
5. Eligibility for NCFA shall be reassessed
annually by reviewing the eligibility criteria in paragraph (3)(a) of this
rule.
(b) Application.
1. Nonrelative caregivers seeking financial
assistance must complete an "Application for Nonrelative Caregiver Financial
Assistance, " CF-FSP 5398, (April 2023), incorporated by reference and
available at
http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-15340.
2. The nonrelative caregiver must sign the
financial attestation portion of the application to indicate his or her
financial need for assistance to care for the child on a long term
basis.
(c) Notification.
1. The Nonrelative Caregiver Payment
Administrator shall review the application, conduct the eligibility
reassessment, and send a completed "Notice of Action, " CF-FSP 5399, June 2018,
incorporated by reference, and available at
http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-09989,
to the nonrelative caregiver through email, if available, or by regular U.S.
mail within five (5) business days of receipt of the application.
2. The Notice of Action shall indicate
whether the application was approved or denied, and if the application was
denied, the reason for the denial and the nonrelative caregiver's right to
appeal.
(d) Payment.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Payments shall
be made using a pro-rated daily amount for the days the child resided in the
nonrelative caregiver's home during the calendar month.
4. Payments shall be issued one (1) month in
arrears.
5. Nonrelative caregivers
are eligible to receive payments effective the day all eligibility requirements
specified in the Application for Nonrelative Caregiver Financial Assistance,
CF-FSP 5398, incorporated in subparagraph (3)(b)1. of this rule, were met or
the day the nonrelative caregiver applied, whichever is later.
6. When a child's absence from the home
requires a placement change in the child welfare information system (e.g.
placement for treatment services), but the child remains in the care and
custody of the nonrelative caregiver, financial assistance payments will be
suspended for up to 60 days. If the child remains absent from the home on the
61st day, financial assistance payments will be terminated.
7. The nonrelative caregiver must notify the
Nonrelative Caregiver Payment Administrator if the child's placement changes or
if there is a change in the nonrelative caregiver's ability to care for the
child in his or her home.
8.
Contingent upon continued availability of funding and continued eligibility,
nonrelative caregiver financial assistance payments shall continue until:
a. The child reaches age 18,
b. The child is adopted,
c. The child is no longer placed in the home
of the nonrelative caregiver,
d.
The child has an increase or decrease in unearned income, or
e. The child moves from the state of Florida,
or
f. The nonrelative caregiver
becomes licensed as a foster placement.
9. When a payment ends due to lack of funding
or a disqualifying event as listed in sub-subparagraphs (3)(d)8.a.-e. of this
rule, the Nonrelative Caregiver Payment Administrator shall complete a Notice
of Action, CF-FSP 5399, incorporated in subparagraph (3)(c)1. of this rule,
indicating the reason for the termination of payments. The Nonrelative
Caregiver Payment Administrator shall send the completed Notice of Action to
the nonrelative caregiver via e-mail, U.S. mail, or similar service within 30
days of receiving the notice of
change.
Rulemaking Authority 39.012, 39.0121, 39.5085(2)(a) FS. Law Implemented 39.5085 FS.
New 5-4-06, Amended 4-27-15, 8-22-16, 9-3-18, 11-11-18, Amended 9-22-21, 5-23-23.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Florida may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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