Runaway Foster Care Youth

When the foster care youth is located and returned to a placement, the FC EW shall return the youth to the appropriate foster care aid code.

When the foster care youth is located outside of the county of jurisdiction the child may be returned to a placement within his/her county of jurisdiction. The FC EW must return the youth to the appropriate foster care aid code. If there is a need to place the foster care youth within the county they are located, once the new foster care placement is made, the foster care youth will be placed in the appropriate foster care aid code.

If the foster care youth (under 18 years old) is located and is still living in California but no longer under the jurisdiction of the court, he/she will remain eligible for no-cost MC under the Continuous Eligibility for Children (CEC) program until the next annual redetermination unless there is an indication of death, incarceration, or no California state residency. CEC eligibility is appropriate only if the youth is not eligible for any other no-cost MC program.
If the foster care youth is located living in California, they were under the jurisdiction of the court at age 18 or older and the court has closed the juvenile court case, the foster care youth is eligible for the FFY program and should be assigned 4M aid code.

If the foster care youth is located while still under the jurisdiction of the court, but in a Juvenile Hall Facility or other juvenile correctional institution, the FC EW will keep the youth in aid code 45 until it is determined that either the foster care youth will not be returning to placement or is incarcerated as an inmate in a public institution.

If the youth is an inmate in a public institution, Medi-Cal benefits should be suspended until the youth is no longer considered an inmate or at the end of the month of the anniversary date that he or she became an inmate of the public institution, whichever occurs first. At this point the FC EW will conduct a redetermination to confirm if the youth is still considered an inmate or not. The FC EW will terminate benefits if the youth is still an inmate.

For any youth with a court order for a foster care placement at age 18 or older (non-minor dependent), the FC EW shall transition the youth into aid code 4M when the court closes the foster care case, even if the youth is still incarcerated at the time of case closure.

Once the youth is no longer considered an inmate, the EW must reestablish the youth’s full benefits. If the foster care youth still has an active juvenile court case, they should be returned to a placement and returned to the appropriate foster care aid code. If the foster care youth was transitioned into 4M while still considered an inmate, EWs must make sure the youth is placed into the FFY program.

If the foster care youth’s whereabouts are not located, but the youth is still under jurisdiction of the court, they shall remain in aide code 45 until the court closes the youth’s juvenile court case. When the court closes the foster care youth court case at age 18 or older, the FC EW will transition the youth into the FFY program and assign the 4M aid code without requiring an application to ensure no interruption in coverage.

If the FC youth is under 18 years old, then he/she must be placed on CEC until the next annual redetermination unless there is an indication of death, incarceration, or no California state residency. If it is already the month of the annual redetermination, then the FC youth cannot be placed on CEC. The EW must make every effort to determine if the youth is eligible for any other MC programs using available information. The EW must also make every effort to contact the FC youth to obtain the necessary information to make a determination for other MC programs. After all efforts have been exhausted, the youth should be discontinued with a timely 10-day NOA.

If the FC EW determines that the foster care youth is no longer under the jurisdiction of the court, it should then be established if the youth was still under the jurisdiction of the court at age 18 or older. A foster care youth who exits foster care at age 18 or older should be seamlessly transitioned in the FFY program even if the youth’s whereabouts are unknown at the time of case closure.