Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
Payments are made for children for whom the Department has
legal responsibility and their children living with them in the following types
of substitute care living arrangements if the placements meet the requirements
established via the purchase of service contracts and the applicable licensing
rules as specified in 89 Ill. Adm. Code 357, Purchase of Service, 89 Ill. Adm.
Code 401, Licensing Standards for Child Welfare Agencies, 89 Ill. Adm. Code
402, Licensing Standards for Foster Family Homes, 89 Ill. Adm. Code 403,
Licensing Standards for Group Homes, and 89 Ill. Adm. Code 404, Licensing
Standards for Child Care Institutions and Maternity Centers:
a) Foster family care is provided in licensed
foster family homes. The Department recognizes the following types of foster
family care:
1) Specialized foster family
homes and intensive service foster homes receive additional monthly
compensation because they accept children with medical, behavioral and/or
psychological problems or because they accept pregnant girls or young mothers
who are in need of specialized training in parenting skills, child development,
money management, and self sufficiency.
2) Emergency foster homes may be paid a flat
rate for days of service provided or may receive retainer fees to assure that
emergency beds are available 24 hours per day.
3) Department boarding homes are licensed
foster family homes operated by foster parents supervised by the
Department.
4) Private agency
foster homes are licensed foster family homes supervised by licensed child
welfare agencies.
5) Relatives who
choose to be licensed as foster family homes under the provisions of 89 Ill.
Adm. Code 402, Licensing Standards for Foster Family Homes.
6) Deaf foster care is a unique service
provided in Department boarding homes for children for whom the Department is
not legally responsible who require placement for educational
reasons.
b) Relative
family care may be provided by a relative as defined in Section
359.2, living within
the State of Illinois, as follows:
1) If a
relative does not wish to apply for licensure as a foster family home, or has
submitted an application for licensure and the application is pending, or has
applied for licensure and been denied, the relative may provide care to
children for whom the Department is legally responsible as long as the relative
family home continues to meet the conditions in Section
301.80 of
89 Ill. Adm. Code 301, Placement and Visitation Services.
2) For children for whom the Department is
legally responsible who are residing in a home described in subsection (b)(1)
above, the Department will pay for the related children placed with the
relative caregiver at the child only standard of need established by the
Illinois Department of Human Services.
c) Relative family care may also be provided
to relatives living out of the State of Illinois. If a relative living in
another state is providing care for a child for whom the Department is legally
responsible, the relative will receive the full foster care rate if the
relative submits documentation to the Department within 120 days after
placement of the child that they are licensed, approved or certified in
accordance with the other state's standard for licensing, approving or
certifying foster homes. If documentation is not submitted, the Department will
reduce the payment to the child only standard of need established for that
number of children by the Illinois Department of Human Services. If, at a
future date, the relative submits documentation to the Department that they are
licensed, approved or certified in accordance with the other state's standard
for foster homes, the payment will be increased to the full foster care
rate.
d) Institution and group home
care is provided in licensed institutions and group homes. Rates are
established for these facilities via a purchase of service contract with the
Department.
e) Subsidized adoptive
homes are adoptive homes to which the Department provides financial assistance
when a special needs child for whom the Department was legally responsible is
adopted.
1) The types of adoption assistance
that may be provided include:
A) one-time only
payments of non-recurring expenses incurred by or on behalf of the adoptive
parents in connection with the adoption of a special needs child up to a
maximum of $1500 for each adopted child;
B) payment for physical, emotional and mental
health needs not wholly payable through insurance or other public resources
that are associated with or result from a condition(s) whose onset has been
established as occurring prior to the completion of the adoption;
C) ongoing monthly payments in an amount
determined in each case by the Department in accordance with 89 Ill. Adm. Code
302, Services Delivered by the Department, Section
302.310,
Adoption Assistance Agreements, and Appendix B, Calculating the Amount of
Adoption Assistance. The duration of adoption assistance may not extend beyond
18 years of age, although adoption assistance may be provided at the
Department's option until the child's 21st birthday if the child has a
physical, mental, or emotional disability that warrants the continuation of
assistance.
2) The
purpose, amount, and duration of the adoption assistance will be mutually
agreed to by the Department and the adopting parents prior to completion of the
adoption in the form of a written agreement. The amount of financial assistance
shall be less than the cost of maintaining the child in an appropriate foster
family home. Special service fees shall cost no more than such services would
cost the Department.
3) The
Department shall review with the adoptive parent(s) the continuing needs of the
child for adoption assistance every two years or more frequently, based on
changes in the circumstances of the adoptive parent(s) and the needs of the
child being adopted. The adoptive parent(s) shall renew the adoption assistance
agreement every two years prior to the anniversary date of the finalization of
the adoption.
f) Related
services are not substitute care services but are provided to enhance the care
provided to children who require substitute care services.
1) In an effort to upgrade the quality of
foster family care, the Department may pay for foster parent training and costs
associated with training. These payments are provided as funding
allows.
2) Permanent planning and
adoption contracts may be negotiated with licensed child welfare agencies.
These contracts are negotiated to develop plans for children in substitute care
and to secure adoptive resources for special needs children.