Approved Relative Caregiver (ARC) Funding Option Program

Overview

The ARC program enacted by SB 855 (Chapter, 29, Statute of 2014), provides payments to a relative caregiver (RC when the child or non-minor dependent (NMD) has been denied federal foster care funding. This program allows a per child, per month payment to the approved RC. 

The ARC program is optional for the RC. The RC can decide not to apply for any funding or to apply for ARC or CalWORKs.

Note: The County of Santa Clara County will not authorize county-only funding for an RC that does not apply for ARC.

 

The ARC program changes the “Miller v Youakim” denials where the RC would be referred to CalWORKs (CW) after the federal foster care determination is denied. FCE, DFCS, and JPD staff are now required to provide a:

  • “Statement of Facts Supporting Eligibility For the Approved Caregiver (ARC) Funding Option Program” form  (ARC 1) 
  • “Rights, Responsibilities And Other Important Information” form  (ARC 1A) to all RCs at the initial placement or the change of placement from an FFH, FFA, or GH to an RC. The SW/PO or the FC EW must assist the RC in completing as much of the ARC 1 as possible. An ARC 1 must be completed for each potentially eligible child.
     

ARC children and NMDs are eligible for the same special needs and specialized rates that AFDC-FC funded foster youth may receive. These payments are issued under the ARC aid code in CalSAWS.

Eligibility

To be eligible for an ARC payment a child or NMD must meet ALL the following requirements:

  • The child/youth must be under the supervision of DFCS or JPD as a part of the California juvenile court system
  • When the child/youth is placed by a Voluntary Placement Agreement (VPA the child is eligible for the ARC Program for up to 180 days (six months). To continue payment beyond six months court dependency must be established before the VPA payment expiration date. For more information refer to “Voluntary Placement,” page 3-11.
  • The Relative Caregiver’s home must be fully approved (RFA)
  • The Relative Caregiver may live in or outside of California
  • A federal foster care determination must be denied
  • The “Rights and Responsibilities for ARC” form (ARC 1A) must be sent along with the "Statement of Facts Supporting Eligibility for the ARC Program" form  (ARC 1). No signatures are required on the ARC 1A.

An ARC 1 must be signed, dated, and returned to the Social Services Agency (SSA) by the RC for each potentially eligible ARC child/NMD. The ARC 1 can be completed at SSA during the intake process when FC is denied or when provided by the SW/PO.

Reminder: The ARC 1 form must be signed by the Approved Relative Caregiver, the Eligibility Worker, and the Eligibility Worker Supervisor.

 

Non-Minor Dependents (NMDs)

An NMD participating in the ARC program is eligible to receive payments until the age of 21. A new ARC application is not required to continue payments.

The difference between CalWORKs and ARC NMDs is that the relative caregiver, not the NMD, receives the ARC payment. However, the NMD may request to become the payee under a Supervised Independent Living Program (SILP. For more information regarding the AB 12 program refer to Basic Eligibility Requirements.

Ineligible Placements

  • RCs cannot receive CW and ARC at the same time for ARC eligible children. The RC must decide.
  • RCs eligible for federal AFDC-FC are not eligible for the ARC Program.

Undocumented Children

An undocumented child may be eligible for the ARC Program if all ARC requirements have been met. The child would be approved under the “ARC Only” aid code 2P. Refer to “Funding Sources and ARC Aid Codes” on page 13-23.

An undocumented child may receive CalWORKs when the child is a victim of trafficking, domestic violence, and other serious crimes (per MPP Section 42-431.23). The child would be in one of the CalWORKs aid codes for the TCVAP. The ARC aid code for this population is 2T.

For new foster care cases the status may be found on the “T” Visa provided by the SW/PO. When there are questions regarding the immigration status, the assigned SW/PO must provide clarification.

For more information regarding the immigration status refer to PRUCOL for FC Children.

Inter County Transfers

ICT will not follow the normal ICT process for CalWORKs or Foster Care. Although the county of residence is typically the county with payment responsibility for CalWORKs (except NMDs), the county of court jurisdiction is the county with payment responsibility for the ARC Program even if the RC moves out of the county. This includes the CalWORKs portion of the ARC payment and Medi-Cal for the ARC-eligible child. For certain cases, an Inter-County Transfer may be necessary to transfer the case from the county of residence to the county of court jurisdiction.

The county of court jurisdiction (the county with placement and care responsibility over the child or NMD), will make the ARC payment to the approved relative caregiver.

The county with jurisdiction over the child must continue the payments at the eligible rate. The ARC payment must continue as long as all eligibility criteria are met. If the child’s dependency proceeding is transferred to another county, the new county of court jurisdiction will be responsible for the ARC payment. The FC EW must request that ARC-eligible child/ren living in another county be discontinued from the CalWORKs case. A CalWORKs ICT cannot be initiated.

The following are issues relating to ARC-eligible children living outside the county of jurisdiction:

  • Non-needy RC With Only ARC Eligible Child/ren - The child/ren must be discontinued from the CalWORKs case of county of residence. An ARC case must be established in the county with jurisdiction over the child. FC ICT documents are not required.
  • Non-needy/Needy RC With ARC-Eligible Child/ren And With Child/ren Not Participating In ARC - The ARC-eligible child/ren must be discontinued from the CalWORKs case but the CalWORKs non-needy/needy RC will remain active in the county of residence.

New cases are established at the county of jurisdiction, but CalWORKs cases for Non-needy/Needy RCs who receive CalWORKs for themselves and/or a child/ren who is not participating in the ARC Program would be maintained by the county of residence. The ARC-eligible child/ren cannot be included in the CalWORKs case.

ExampleExample

For existing CalWORKs case; a SCC ARC-eligible child lives in Alameda County, while Alameda County retains payment responsibility for CalWORKs, SCC is responsible for the ARC payment. Since SCC has the payment responsibility for the ARC Program, the child’s ARC case must be created in SCC and the ARC-eligible child/ren must be discontinued from the CalWORKs case in Alameda county.

 

 

Termination of Parental Rights or Relinquishment for ARC Eligible Children

The ARC program is for relatives however, when the termination of parental rights or relinquishment occur by court action, that parent and his or her relatives are no longer considered to be the child’s relative. The ARC program follows the same requirements as FC placements. If the child remains with the same caregiver as a former relative, the caregiver is no longer eligible for ARC. The worker will have to close the ARC placement and open a new placement as a NREFM and change to the appropriate Foster Care aid code. The beginning date of aid for the NREFM case is the date the state acknowledged the relinquishment (which is found on the Freed Child Memo in the “FILING WITNESS WHEREOF SACRAMENTO” field). A new SOC 158A form is required to reflect the change of funding and placement type from relative caregiver to a NREFM. To avoid payment delays, the FC EW may contact the DFCS Placement Tracking Team (PTT) to request a new SOC 158A. A new home approval is not necessary.

Related Topics

Relative Placements