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Manual Title Chapter Page Revision Date Virginia Medical Assistance Eligibility M03 January 2020 Subchapter Subject Page ending with Page M0310 GENERAL RULES & PROCEDURES M0310.115 29

M0310.115 FOSTER CARE

A. Definition Foster Care provides maintenance and care for children whose custody is held by: • a local board of social services; • a licensed private, non-profit child placement agency; • the Department of Juvenile Justice; or • the child’s parent(s), under a non-custodial agreement. Federal regulations define “foster care” as “24-hour substitute care for children placed away from their parents or guardians and for whom the State agency has placement and care responsibility” (45 C.F.R. §1355.20). Transfer of the legal custody of the child is not a component when determining if a child is considered to be in foster care. The federal definition is based upon the child being placed outside of the home and who has placement and care responsibility for the child. If a child is placed outside of the home and LDSS is the case manager with placement and care responsibility, then the federal government considers the child to be in foster care. For the federal government, the term “placement and care” means that LDSS is legally accountable for the day-to-day care and protection of the child through either a court order or a voluntary placement agreement. 1. Custody Custody may be given to an agency by the court or may be retained by the parent(s) or guardian when a non-custodial agreement is involved. If custody is retained by the parent under a parental agreement with the Community Policy and Management Team (CPMT), the child is NOT in foster care. 2. Child Placing Agency A child placing agency is an agency that is licensed by the State Department of Social Services for child placing services. Not all child placing agencies provide adoption services; some may provide foster home placement. The services offered must be identified in the description given for the license. The foster care service unit of the local department of social services should be familiar with the function of the child placing agency, and whether or not it is licensed.

3. Independent Living and Fostering Futures A foster care child who is under age 18 who is in an Independent Living arrangement and receives full or partial support from a local social services agency, continues to meet the foster care definition and may be eligible in the covered group of Individuals Under Age 21. A child age 18 and over who is in an Independent Living arrangement with a local department of social services or in the Fostering Futures Program is considered a former foster care child and may be eligible in the Former Foster Care Child Under Age 26 covered group.

4. Kinship Guardianship Payments Kinship Guardianship Payments are not income. These payments are a stipend paid to a relative caregiver who has assumed custody of a child as an alternative to that child remaining in foster care. Children who are eligible for Title IV-E KinGAP (federal funds) Payments are categorically eligible for Medicaid.