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(a) (1) Foster care providers shall be paid a per child per month rate in return for the care and supervision of the AFDC-FC child placed with them. The department is designated the single organizational unit whose duty it shall be to administer a state system for establishing rates in the AFDC-FC program. State functions shall be performed by the department or by delegation of the department to county welfare departments or Indian tribes, consortia of tribes, or tribal organizations that have entered into an agreement pursuant to Section 10553.1.
(2) Foster care providers that care for a child in a home-based setting described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (g) of Section 11461, or in a certified home or an approved resource family of a foster family agency, shall be paid the per child per month rate as set forth in subdivision (g) of Section 11461, or, on and after the date required by paragraph (9) of subdivision (h) of Section 11461, the rate developed pursuant to the Tiered Rate Structure, as described in subdivision (h) of Section 11461, as applicable.
(3) (A) In addition to administering the state system of rates described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), at the request of and in consultation with a county, the department shall have the authority to develop, implement, and approve alternative funding models and set individualized rates for innovative AFDC-FC programs or models of care and services that are consistent with statewide licensing and program requirements and that provide children with service alternatives to residential care, enhance the ability of children to remain in the least restrictive, most family-like setting possible, and promote services that address the needs and strengths of individual children and their families.
(B) A county that chooses to request an alternative funding model or individualized rate under this paragraph shall pay the entire nonfederal share of any additional cost for providing these innovative programs or models of care and services that exceeds the nonfederal portions of the state system of rates established pursuant to subdivision (a).
(C) (i) The provider shall indicate in the program statement the innovative approach or model of care and services for which there is a recognized need that the county seeks to meet.
(ii) The requesting county, in consultation with the department, shall monitor the performance and outcomes of the provider consistent with the program statement to ensure that the purposes of the innovative program or model of care and services will be achieved commensurate with the alternative funding model or individualized rate.
(D) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the department may implement this paragraph by means of all-county letters or similar written directives, which shall be exempt from submission to or review by the Office of Administrative Law. These all-county letters or similar written directives shall have the same force and effect as regulations until the adoption of regulations, no later than January 1, 2030.
(b) “Care and supervision” includes food, clothing, shelter, daily supervision, school supplies, a child’s personal incidentals, liability insurance with respect to a child, reasonable travel to the child’s home for visitation, and reasonable travel for the child to remain in the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement. Reimbursement for the costs of educational travel, as provided for in this subdivision, shall be made pursuant to procedures determined by the department, in consultation with representatives of county welfare and probation directors, and additional stakeholders, as appropriate.
(1) For a child or youth placed in a short-term residential therapeutic program or a licensed foster family agency, care and supervision shall also include reasonable administration and operational activities necessary to provide the items listed in this subdivision.
(2) For a child or youth placed in a short-term residential therapeutic program or a licensed foster family agency, care and supervision may also include reasonable activities performed by social workers employed by the program provider that are not otherwise considered daily supervision or administration activities.
(c) A foster care provider that accepts payments, following the effective date of this section, based on a rate established under this section, shall not receive rate increases or retroactive payments as the result of litigation challenging rates established prior to the effective date of this section. This shall apply regardless of whether a provider is a party to the litigation or a member of a class covered by the litigation.
(d) A county is not precluded from using a portion of its county funds to increase rates paid to family homes, foster family agencies, and short-term residential therapeutic programs within that county, and to make payments for specialized care increments, clothing allowances, or infant supplements to homes within that county, solely at that county’s expense.
(e) A county is not precluded from providing a supplemental rate to serve commercially sexually exploited foster children to provide for the additional care and supervision needs of these children. To the extent that federal financial participation is available, it is the intent of the Legislature that the federal funding shall be utilized.