Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) To receive
permanency care assistance for a child, a person must:
(1) become the permanent kinship conservator
of a child who meets all of the eligibility criteria in subsection (b) or (c)
of this section; and
(2) enter into
a permanency care assistance agreement with DFPS on behalf of the child prior
to becoming the child's permanent kinship conservator.
(b) A child is eligible to be the subject of
a permanency care assistance agreement if all of the following eligibility
criteria apply to that child:
(1) the child's
prospective permanent kinship conservator:
(A) is related to the child by consanguinity
or affinity; or
(B) has had a
longstanding and significant relationship to the child prior to DFPS placing
the child in the home of that person;
(2) the child's prospective permanent kinship
conservator must have been eligible for the receipt of foster care
reimbursements on behalf of the child who is the subject of the permanency care
assistance agreement for at least six consecutive months prior to the effective
date of the permanency care assistance agreement;
(3) the child has demonstrated a strong
attachment to the prospective permanent kinship conservator and that person has
a strong commitment to caring permanently for the child;
(4) at the time the permanency care
assistance agreement is signed, DFPS has determined that neither adoption nor
reunification are appropriate permanency options; and
(5) if the child will be at least 14 years of
age at the time the permanency care assistance agreement is signed, DFPS has
consulted with the child about the prospective permanent kinship conservator's
commitment to assume permanent managing conservatorship of the child.
(c) If a prospective permanent
kinship conservator or permanent kinship conservator has entered into a
permanency care assistance agreement on behalf of one child for whom all the
eligibility criteria in subsection (b) of this section are satisfied, that same
individual will be eligible to receive permanency care assistance on behalf of
a sibling of the child if all of the following criteria apply to the sibling
child:
(1) the sibling must have been placed
in the home of the same individual by DFPS; and
(2) DFPS has temporary or permanent managing
conservatorship of the sibling child at the time the permanency care assistance
agreement is signed with respect to the sibling child.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision in
this subchapter, a person will not be eligible for permanency care assistance
on behalf of any child if the court issues an order:
(1) naming either of the child's parents
joint managing conservator of the child;
(2) naming the person and DFPS joint managing
conservators of the child; or
(3)
awarding possessory conservatorship to any parent of the child under
circumstances DFPS determines have the effect of reunifying the child with that
parent.
