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instructional technique for parents. Each HIPPY site has a professional coordinator, and a staff of paraprofessional home visitors to provide services, home visits, and parent group meetings. The home visitors go into the home and role-play the activities outlined in the curriculum with the parents and support each family throughout their participation in the program.

5.7 RELATIVE CAREGIVER PROGRAM

Purpose: This is a program that provides financial assistance to relatives who are caring full-time for an eligible child who is adjudicated dependent and ordered by the court into the custody of the relative, decreasing the likelihood of the child’s placement in foster care, and avoiding the trauma to the child that could result from such a placement.

Eligibility Criteria: The relative caregiver must be within the fifth degree of relationship by blood, marriage, or adoption to the parent or stepparent of the child for whom the relative caregiver is providing full-time care. The household must meet the technical and financial requirements of the TANF “child-only” program, including the requirement that neither parent reside in the home, with the following eligibility requirements: 1. The monthly amount of the payment before any deductions from income of the child are: a. Age zero through five years-$242 b. Age six through 12 years-$249 c. Age 13 to 18 years-$298 2. DCF bases financial eligibility on a comparison of the income of the child to the benefit payment standard for the child’s age. The difference between the Relative Caregiver Program payment standard for the child’s age and the income of the child is the amount of the payment. 3. Each child applying for or receiving a Relative Caregiver Program payment is a filing unit of one, and the program uses only the child’s income and assets to establish and maintain eligibility.

In addition to the TANF eligibility requirements, the placement of the child must be due to a finding of abuse or neglect by the dependency court, and DCF’s Office of Child and Family Well-Being must complete an approved home study of the relative caregiver. The 2014 Legislature passed Senate Bill 1666, which established provisions for non- relatives to be eligible for the Relative Caregiver Program. Funding for the non-relative caregivers does NOT come from TANF funds, so this section does not apply to non- relative caregivers.

The 2022 Legislature passed Senate Bill 7034, which established an increase in payment rates for the first six months. The increase is based on an annual cost-of-living adjustment. The increase will allow the relative caregiver the opportunity to obtains a Level I Licensure within the six months and become a licensed foster parent. If the caregiver obtain licensure, they will begin receiving a foster care board payment and will no longer be eligible for the relative caregiver payment. Caregivers who do not complete