ARC Expansion

The Approved Relative Caregiver (ARC) program expanded between 2021 and 2022. The program changes expanded eligibility criteria for placements outside of California and for relative caregivers denied resource family approval (RFA).

Relative Caregivers, Children, and Non-Minor Dependents Living Outside of California

Assembly Bill (AB) 153 and Senate Bill (SB) 354, Assembly Bill (AB) 153, and All County Letters (ACLs) 21-141 and 21-141E
Effective January 1, 2022, the ARC program allows payments to out-of-state (OOS) ARC cases. All other ARC rules and policies remain in effect and unchanged. The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) rules continue to apply when a foster child is placed outside of California. The OOS ARC rate and specialized rates are based on the host state’s rate system. If the host does not have a specialized rate plan, then the county rates may be used. If the host state increases or changes those rates in any way, the ARC recipient will be eligible to receive the modified rate.
CalSAWS functionality allows workers to issue the ARC payment (using the ARC aid codes) to out-of-state placements.

Court Authorized/Specified Placements (CSPs)

ACL 22-33, Senate Bill (SB) 354 (Chapter 687; Statutes Of 2021), WIC 224
Effective January 1, 2022, SB 354 clarifies that the juvenile court may authorize:
• Placement of a child with a relative before the completion of a criminal record exemption process or the approval of a relative as a resource family (RF) if the court finds the placement would not jeopardize the health or safety of the child. It is still required in these situations for the county or tribe to initiate the approval process for RFA or for a Tribally Approved Home (TAH).
• Placement of a child with a relative if the relative has been denied approval as an RF if it would not jeopardize the health or safety of a child. These caregivers are not required to adhere to the standards of the RFA program.

In specific circumstances, a county may decide to grant a child-specific approval. SB 354 added background check criteria that when applicable, allow for child-specific approval for relatives only. Also, additional discretion to consider granting criminal record exemptions specifically when an RFA applicant is a relative, which includes an extended family member in the case of an Indian child, and the applicant(s) is being approved to care for a specific child. This discretion is not available for NREFMs. The juvenile court may authorize the placement of a child with a relative if the relative has been denied approval as a resource family (RF) if it would not jeopardize the health or safety of the child.

The “RFA Approval Certificate” form (RFA 05A) has been updated to reflect the changes from SB 354. The form now includes:

A Yes/No checkbox for the question “Is this approval child/NMD specific?”
A Yes/No checkbox for the question “Is the child or NMD specific approval because a relative and/or adult residing in the relative’s home was granted a criminal exemption for a federally non-exemptible crime (Health and Safed Code 1522(g)(2)(A)(iii) & (iv)?”
A line to specify “Conditions on Approval.”

CSPs are eligible for ARC funding and special needs and specialized rates. The ARC beginning date of aid (BDOA) for these cases will be the date of denial of the Resource Family application or the date child-specific approval is granted.

Funding For Relatives

Emergency Caregiver (EC) Funding

Children placed with families (related or non-related) on an emergency or compelling reason basis and have a RFA or TAH application pending, may qualify for EC funding. This now includes children placed with a relative as a result of the juvenile court authorizing the placement prior to the completion of a criminal record exemption process or the approval of a relative as a resource family. The beginning date of aid is the date of placement into the home. The EC funding is available for 120 days from the date of placement and up to 365 days with documented good cause.

Funding for Relatives

SB 354 allows certain placements with relatives to receive ARC funding if the placement is ineligible for both EC and Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) funding due to the denial of RFA. Therefore, ARC payments must be made on behalf of children or NMDs placed with relatives when the placement has been authorized by the juvenile court and the relative has been denied RFA (before the home is approved or denied as a resource family, the child would receive EC funding).

Additionally, ARC payments must be made on behalf of a child/NMD placed with a relative who is granted child-specific approval as a resource family and who has a criminal record exemption for a crime that is not federally exemptible. In such circumstances, the child will not be eligible for AFDC-FC while the child is placed in the home of the relative. The beginning date of aid (BDOA) for these cases will be the date of denial of the resource family application or the date child-specific approval is granted provided all other ARC eligibility criteria are met.

Out-of-State Court Specified Placements

The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) rules continue to apply when a foster child is placed outside of California. Therefore, a CSP ARC case would not meet the host state’s home licensing standards because the RC has a criminal record exemption for a crime that is not federally exemptible. In this scenario, the CSP would not be eligible for ARC funding.
Note: ARC payments will be suspended if the home is not licensed in the host state. Payments can be suspended effective the date of the move to another state.

Differences Between ARC and ARC CSPs

The chart below provides a summary of the differences between ARC and ARC for court-specified placements.

	ARC	ARC for Child-Specific Placement
Beginning Date of Aid	The date when the ARC 1 was signed or the date the home is approved and all other criteria are met, whichever is later.	Date of the Resource Family application denial.
Receipt of RFA 05A	Yes	Yes, RFA 05A for CSP.
Ability to reside outside of California	Yes	Generally, no. Not unless the host state can grant the caregiver an exemption to a federally non-exemptible criminal record.

Documents For Court-Specified Placements

In addition to all other ARC-required documents, the following documents are required for CSPs:

SOC 158A listing placement as a court-specified placement (1419) on line I1
Copy of Resource Family Approval (RFA) Denial Notice of Action (NOA)
Copy of “Resource Family Approval Certificate” form (RFA 05A) indicating “Child Specific Approval”
Copy of court minute order indicting the youth is in a CSP.

CalSAWS

Release 23.7 added ‘Court Specified Home’ and ‘Tribal Specific Home’ with relationship type of ‘Relative’ to the types of placements eligible for ARC. Foster Care EDBC will only set an ARC aid code if the placement meets one of the following conditions:

The Placement Type is ‘Relative Home’
The Placement Type is ‘Resource Family Home,’ Court Specified Home,” or “Tribal Specific Home” and the Care Provider Relationship to Child field is one of the following two values:

Relative Guardian
Relative Non-Guardian

Eligibility for Kin-GAP and AAP

The Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) Program

CSP relative caregivers will not qualify for Kin-GAP because the caregivers cannot obtain RFA with a record exemption. Current state law requires the youth to be placed in an approved home for six months before establishing Kin-GAP.

Adoption Assistance Program (AAP)

Current state statutes regarding AAP benefits do not allow agencies to grant criminal record exemptions to individuals who were convicted of some previously non-exemptible crimes under specified circumstances.
To be eligible to receive AAP benefits in California, the law requires the prospective adoptive parent, or any adult living in the prospective adoptive home, to have completed the criminal background check requirements. Therefore, individuals granted a criminal record exemption based on the provisions outlined in SB 354 may not be eligible to AAP due to not meeting federal requirements.