§ 11461.35

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide, through June 30, 2018, interim support to emergency caregivers, as defined in subdivision (c), who have pending applications under the Resource Family Approval Program that have been temporarily delayed due to the need to increase capacity for statewide implementation of the program.

(b) Commencing on the date of the release of the all-county letter pursuant to subdivision (j), and subject to the limitations contained in this section, each county shall provide a payment equivalent to the resource family basic level rate of the home-based family care rate structure to an emergency caregiver, as defined in subdivision (c), who is caring for a child or nonminor dependent placed in the home of the caregiver pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 309, Section 361.45, or based on a compelling reason pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 16519.5, effective the date of the emergency or compelling reason placement of the child or nonminor dependent, or the release date of the all-county letter pursuant to subdivision (j), whichever is later, if the child or nonminor dependent meets both of the following criteria:

(1) The child or nonminor dependent is not otherwise eligible for AFDC-FC or the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Program, pursuant to Section 11461.3, while placed in the home of the emergency caregiver.

(2) The child or nonminor dependent resides in California.

(c) For purposes of this section, an “emergency caregiver” means an individual who has a pending resource family application filed with an appropriate agency on or after the effective date of this section, and who has been assessed pursuant to Section 361.4 or has successfully completed the home environment assessment portion of resource family approval pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 16519.5.

(d) Funding for the payment described in subdivision (b) shall be as follows:

(1) Notwithstanding Section 11461.3, if the emergency caregiver is a relative, as defined by paragraph (2) of subdivision (f) of Section 319, of the child and the county placing agency has determined that the child would be ineligible for federal AFDC-FC when placed in an approved resource family home, the child shall be deemed eligible for the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Program for the purpose of making the payment authorized by this section.

(2) If the emergency caregiver is a nonrelative extended family member, or if the county placing agency has determined that the child would be eligible for federal AFDC-FC when placed with the relative once the home is an approved resource family home, payment as specified in this section shall be made through the Emergency Assistance Program that is included in the state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant.

(e) (1) The department shall make available to counties funding to cover up to 60 days of emergency assistance payments made pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (d).

(2) The department shall extend the funding provided in paragraph (1) through June 30, 2018, if either of the following conditions are met:

(A) The county has documented good cause for the delay in approving a resource family application that is outside the direct control of the county, which may include delays in processing background check clearances or exemptions, medical examinations, or delays that are based on the needs of the family.

(B) The county has documented a prior existing backlog of resource family applications, and has communicated to the applicant an anticipated date by which the application will be processed. Each county with a prior existing backlog of resource family applications shall provide to the department and implement a countywide plan based on available resources to the counties and recent state guidance on resource family approval that will eliminate the backlog by September 1, 2018.

(f) Any amounts expended for emergency assistance by a county placing agency as a result of not meeting either of the conditions specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) shall be compared to the maintenance payment costs that the county otherwise would have expended prior to Resource Family Approval Program implementation, to determine the net fiscal impact to the county placing agency.

(g) Counties shall not be liable for any federal disallowance or penalty imposed on the state based on implementation of this section, including a county’s action in reliance on the state’s instruction related to implementation of this section.

(h) Payments authorized pursuant to this section shall not continue beyond June 30, 2018.

(i) No appropriation pursuant to Section 15200 shall be made for purposes of implementing this section.

(j) 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 State Department of Social Services may implement and administer this section through all-county letter or similar instructions. The all-county letter or similar instructions shall be finalized and published no later than 21 days following the enactment of this section.

(k) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2018, and, as of January 1, 2019, is repealed.

(Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 8, Sec. 3. (AB 110) Effective March 13, 2018. Section inoperative July 1, 2018. Repealed as of January 1, 2019, by its own provisions.)