Rule 37.49.101 - IV-E FOSTER CARE ELIGIBILITY: DEFINITIONSFor purposes of this subchapter, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Child" means a person who is under age 18 or who is age 18 or older if the person is a full-time student in a secondary school who is reasonably expected to obtain a secondary school diploma or its equivalent in or before the month of the person's 19th birthday.(2) "Child care institution" means a private institution, or public institution which accommodates no more than 25 children, which is licensed or approved by the state to provide care for children who have been removed from the home of the children's parents or guardians by a voluntary agreement or by court order. The term does not include detention facilities, forestry camps, training schools, or any other facility operated primarily for the detention of children determined to be delinquent.(3) "Child support rights" means a child's legal entitlement to cash assistance from a parent with whom the child does not live.(4) "Department" means the department of public health and human services.(5) "Dependent child" means a child as defined in this rule who is deprived of parental support or care due to any of the causes set forth in ARM 37.49.113, lives with a specified relative as provided in ARM 37.49.112 and lacks income and resources sufficient for the child's needs according to the assistance standards and resource limits set forth in ARM 37.49.407 and 37.49.501.(6) "Earned income" means income information acquired by researching the data in the automated eligibility system maintained by the department, the automated wage and labor data base maintained by the Montana department of labor and industry and the automated income tax data base maintained by the Montana department of revenue. Income information may also be obtained from the child or parents.(7) "TANF cash assistance" means assistance in the form of monthly cash payments provided to eligible families.(8) "Filing unit" means the child for whom IV-E eligibility is being sought and the persons with whom the child lives whose income and resources are considered in determining the child's eligibility.(9) "Foster home" means a home licensed by the state to provide care for a child or children who have been removed from the home of the child or children's parents or guardians by voluntary agreement or by court order.(10) "IV-E foster care maintenance payments" means monthly cash payments made on behalf of a IV-E eligible child to cover the cost of (and the cost of providing) food, clothing, shelter, daily supervision, school supplies, a child's personal incidentals, liability insurance with respect to a child and reasonable travel for a child's visitation with family or other caretakers. Local travel associated with providing the items listed above is also an allowable expense. In the case of child care institutions, such term must include the reasonable costs of administration and operation of such institutions as are necessarily required to provide the items described above.(11) "Gross monthly income" means all earned and unearned income received in the month being considered, except for income excluded under ARM 37.49.412 and 37.49.414. In stepparent household cases as described in ARM 37.49.201, gross monthly income includes any income of the stepparent deemed available to the spouse as unearned income as provided in ARM 37.49.406.(12) "Kinship foster care" means a youth care facility in which substitute care is provided to one to six children or youth other than the kinship parent's own children, stepchildren or wards. The substitute care may be provided by any of the following: (a) a member of the child's extended family;(b) a member of the child's or family's tribe;(c) the child's godparents;(d) the child's stepparents; or(e) a person to whom the child, child's parents or family ascribe a family relationship and with whom the child has had a significant emotional tie that existed prior to the department's involvement with the child or family.(13) "Married" means that a legally recognized marital relationship exists between two persons, regardless of whether the marriage was created ceremonially or by common law.(14) "Medical support rights" means a child's legal entitlement to health insurance coverage and/or assistance in paying medical expenses from a parent with whom the child does not live.(15) "Minor parent" means a person under the age of 18 who is the biological or adoptive parent of a dependent child who is in the care of the minor parent.(16) "Month of eligibility" means the month in which either: (a) the child's parent or legal guardian entered into a voluntary placement agreement in regard to the child; or(b) the petition was filed which resulted in a judicial determination to the effect that it would be contrary to the welfare of the child to remain in the home and that reasonable efforts have been made to prevent or eliminate the need to remove the child from the home.(17) "Net monthly income" means gross monthly income less any earned or unearned income excluded pursuant to ARM 37.49.412 and 37.49.414 and less any earned income disregarded in ARM 37.49.413.(18) "Placing worker" means an individual who has the authority and responsibility to make decisions regarding the placement of a child who has been removed from the child's home by a voluntary agreement entered into by the child's parent or legal guardian or as a result of a judicial determination that removal from the home will serve the child's welfare. A placing worker may be an employee or agent of a governmental unit or other public agency who has a IV-E agreement with child and family services division.(19) "Substitute care" means full-time care of a youth in a residential setting for the purpose of providing food, shelter, security and safety, guidance, direction, and if necessary, treatment to youth who are removed from or who are without the care and supervision of their parents or guardian.(20) "Unearned income" means all income that is not earned income as defined in this rule and includes but is not limited to social security benefits, veteran's benefits or payments, worker's compensation payments, unemployment compensation payments, child support payments and dividends paid on capital investments.(21) "Youth care facility" means a facility that is licensed by the department or by the appropriate licensing authority in another state and in which facility substitute care is provided to youth. The term includes youth foster homes, kinship foster homes, youth group homes, youth shelter care facilities, child care agencies, transitional living programs and youth assessment centers. Youth care facilities must meet the definition of a child care institution in order to receive IV-E foster care maintenance payments.Mont. Admin. r. 37.49.101
NEW, 1999 MAR p. 1514, Eff. 7/2/99; AMD, 2003 MAR p. 1196, Eff. 6/13/03.Sec. 53-2-201 and 53-6-113, MCA; IMP, Sec. 53-2-201 and 53-6-131, MCA;