Section 1356.22: Implementation requirements for children

voluntarily placed in foster care.

Analysis

This section has been redesignated and revised by updating the statutory and regulatory provisions which include the requirements a State must meet in order to receive title IV-E funds for voluntary foster care placements. The ASFA requirements, including expedited termination of parental rights, apply to all children in foster care, regardless of whether the child entered as a result of a voluntary placement agreement.

Proposed Regulation

§1356.22 Implementation requirements for children

voluntarily placed in foster care.

(a) As a condition of receipt of Federal financial participation (FFP) in foster care maintenance payments for a dependent child removed from his home under a voluntary placement agreement, the State must meet the requirements of:

(1) Section 472 of the Act, as amended;

(2) Sections 422(b)(10) and 475(5) of the Act;

(3) 45 CFR 1356.21(h),(i), and (j); and

(4) The requirements of this section.

(b) Federal financial participation is available only for voluntary foster care maintenance expenditures made within the first 180 days of the date the voluntary placement agreement was signed by all pertinent parties unless there has been a judicial determination by a court of competent jurisdiction, within the first 180 days of the date the voluntary placement agreement was signed, to the effect that the continued voluntary placement is in the best interests of the child.

(c) The State agency must establish and maintain a uniform procedure or system, consistent with State law, for revocation by the parent(s) of a voluntary placement agreement and return of the child.

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This rule is closed for comment.