This memo addresses handling TANF applications for children in out of
home placements with a relative and has been updated to reflect current
policy and terminology. There have been several questions raised around
this issue and it is evident that the terminology and procedures are
unclear regarding payments to relatives with whom children are placed
and who are served by Child Welfare Community Based Service (CWCBS) providers
(known as Foster Care or Child Welfare contractors prior to 7/1/05).
The goal of this Memo is to:
- provide EES staff with guidelines regarding TANF eligibility;
- eliminate duplicate payments to the household; and
- emphasize the importance of communication between Children and Family
Services (PPS) social workers and EES staff.
CWCBS providers must offer each relative the choice of whether they
want to receive financial support from the CWCBS provider, receive
Temporary
Assistance Needy to Families (TANF), if eligible, or become the payee
for benefits the child is eligible to receive (e.g., SSI, SSA.)
When
the relative
chooses financial support from the CWCBS provider, the provider
should encourage the relative to become a licensed or approved
foster home
through KDHE, as payments to KDHE licensed or approved homes
are eligible for
Title IV-E reimbursement. However, placement of a child and payment
to the relative is not contingent upon the relative becoming
a licensed or approved foster home through KDHE.
When the relative chooses financial support from the CWCBS provider
and begins receiving payments for the child(ren), there is
no TANF eligibility for the child(ren). If the relative wishes to
pursue
becoming a licensed
or approved home, there can be TANF eligibility during the interim
period before the approval unless the CWCBS provider makes
payments during
this
period. If the CWCBS provider makes payments to the family,
the child(ren) is not eligible for TANF but may be eligible for other
programs such
as food assistance or child care. In such instances, the child
care
would be
Income Eligible Employed (IE EM). The CWCBS provider becomes
responsible for child care costs once the relative is licensed
as a foster home.
See KEESM 2833. For food assistance purposes, children receiving
CWCBS payments are considered foster children and the policies listed
in KEESM 4220
apply.
If the relative caretaker chooses to receive TANF payments,
the relative will be directed to make application with EES.
Again,
the CWCBS provider
may make payments to the family while the TANF application
is being processed. As the family may not receive both a TANF payment
and any
kind of foster
care payments (including these temporary payments) for a
child
in the same month, TANF cannot be approved for a month until
these payments
are terminated. Coordination with PPS will be necessary to
ensure CWCBS
provider
payments cease in one month and the TANF payment begins the
next month to avoid duplicate payments. Clarification of
duplicate payments
is in KEESM Section 2210. If a duplicate payment is made
in error,
the
TANF
benefit will be determined an overpayment and will need to
be recouped through normal repayment procedures (see KEESM
11120
and subsections).
Staff should refer to KEESM 2833 and 4420 for child care
provisions and exceptions.
For guidance on assistance planning refer to KEESM 4111,
4211 and 4220. For guidance on the treatment of financial
support
from the
CWCBS provider
refer to 6410 (1).
Communication with the social service case worker is an
absolute necessity in every case. Social service staff
are responsible
for assisting EES
staff in understanding what the circumstances are between
the family and the CWCBS provider, as far as status of
payments and licensing.
If the family states they were not given a choice by
the CWCBS
provider , the EES case worker needs to convey this message
to the social
service worker for follow-up with the CWCBS provider.
In some situations when the relative has chosen to receive
a TANF benefit, the child may become ineligible for
this assistance due
to child support
collected from the birth-parents being equal to or
greater than
the TANF benefit. When the child is no longer eligible
for TANF due to
the child
support collected, and the child is not eligible for
benefits such as SSI, SSA for which the provider could
become payee,
the only one
of the
payment options left for the relative is financial
support from the CWCBS provider. When this situation occurs,
EES staff need
to contact
the Regional
PPS Program Administrator or designee who will contact
the CWCBS provider. PPS is requiring the CWCBS providers
to negotiate
a
support plan with
the relative. The support plan would also need to address
child care since in this situation the loss of TANF
would result in
loss of the
income budgeting exception listed in KEESM 4420 resulting
in a family share,
or at worst ineligibility for child care due to excess
income.
DP:jmm
Attachment
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