Section 418.495 - Authority to purchase care; agreement content; payment standards for foster care; rules(1) Within the limits of funds available therefor, the Department of Human Services may enter into agreements and contracts with child-caring agencies, Strengthening, Preserving and Reunifying Families programs under ORS 418.575 to 418.598, other appropriate providers of care or services to children and facilities, including youth care centers, for the purchase of care for children who require and are eligible for such care, regardless of whether the child is a ward of the state, whether the department is the child's guardian or has custody of the child, or whether the child has been released or surrendered to a child-caring agency pursuant to ORS 418.270 or to a Strengthening, Preserving and Reunifying Families program under ORS 418.575 to 418.598 or committed thereto by order of a court under ORS chapter 419B or 419C. The agreement shall prescribe the procedures for payment and the rate of payment and may contain such other conditions as the department and the agency, facility or program may agree. Payment must be made by electronic funds transfer from the department to the payee and may not be made by check.(2) The department shall by rule adopt payment standards for foster care that is provided under ORS 418.625 to 418.645. In establishing standards, the department may take into account the income, resources and maintenance available to and the necessary expenditures of a foster parent who is a relative, as defined by rule, of the child placed in care.Amended by 2016 Ch. 106,§ 26, eff. 4/4/2016, op. 7/1/2016.1971 c.457 §4; 1993 c.33 §329; 2007 c. 801, § 1; 2011 c. 568, § 11