Kin-GAP Case Returns to Foster Care

To be eligible again for Federal Foster Care, the following criteria must be met:

The child must have a valid authority for placement
- Court Dependency
- Voluntary Placement Agreement
A petition must be filed and dependency reinstated, and/or
A Voluntary Placement agreement must be signed
All other foster care eligibility requirements.

Court Reinstates Dependency for a Kin-GAP Child

Question. A child is receiving Kin-GAP. The court reinstates dependency for one month. Is the child still eligible for Kin-GAP when dependency is dismissed?

Answer. The child is not eligible for Kin-GAP during the time that dependency is in existence, but the child may be eligible for a foster care payment. Once the court dismisses the dependency, Kin-GAP benefits may be reinstated provided all other eligibility conditions are met.

The youth is no longer eligible for federal Kin-GAP but is eligible for state Kin-GAP provided all other eligibility conditions are met.

Kin-GAP Child is Placed by Probation Into Group Home

Question. Juvenile Probation places a Kin-GAP child into a group home for a month and the wardship remains intact. Can the child return to the Kin-GAP guardian and have benefits reinstated?
Answer. If the child returns home with or without the wardship intact, Kin-GAP may be paid provided the legal guardianship remains intact and all other eligibility criteria are met. The same applies to an incarcerated child that returns to the home of the guardian.

Note: Kin-GAP children or youths currently residing with guardians are not eligible for out of home placements.

Burial Allowance

EAS 11-420.2

Kin-GAP children are eligible for a burial allowance special need payment, when appropriate. Refer to Burial Expense Payments .

Independent Living Program (ILP)

EAS 44-111.25

Income and incentive payments earned by a Kin-GAP child 16 years of age or older are exempt as income for the purposes of eligibility and grant determination, when received as part of the ILP written transitional independent living plan. There is no limit to the amount exempted under this.

If a Kin-GAP youth has an ILP plan, the ILP income exemption continues in the Kin-GAP Program.

Property

$10,000 in accumulated property is allowable, as long as there is an approved ILP plan.

Informing of ILP Services

W&IC 11375

Youths in receipt of Kin-GAP benefits are eligible for ILP services. The FC EW must inform the Kin-GAP child when they turn age 16 that ILP services are available to them. Once informed, use “Kin-GAP Independent Living Program (ILP) Referral” (SCD 19) to refer the child to ILP Coordinator.

Self-Sufficiency Program

Needy guardians are exempt from self-sufficiency activities if needed to care for a Kin-GAP child.

Child-only cases are exempt from self-sufficiency activities. However, 16-year-old children who don’t go to school will be referred to the self-sufficiency program requiring the child to return to school.

Time Limits do NOT apply to Kin-GAP cases.

The Extension of the Kin-GAP Program Under The AB 12 Program

Kin-GAP youths who turned 18 years of age in 2012 and are eligible for extended benefits up to the age of 21. When the youth wants to continue benefits beyond 18 years of age he/she must be evaluated for extended benefits and must meet one of the five conditions of eligibility. The SW/PO will identify this population and refer them to foster care for processing. For more information refer to Federal and State Participation for Fictive Relatives and Kin-GAP Requirements.

Overpayments

An overpayment is any amount of aid an AU has received to which it is not eligible. This may be all or a portion of the aid payment. It includes but is not limited to, an immediate need payment, a special need payment or aid paid pending state hearing.

Effective January 1, 2011, overpayments in the Kin-GAP Program no longer follow the CalWORKs rules. Overpayments that are exclusively the result of a county administrative error, the provider did not have knowledge, and did not contribute to the cause of overpayment is not collectible unless the provider agrees to voluntary repay the debt. Refer to Kin-GAP Overpayment.

Administrative Overpayment

An Administrative Overpayment is an overpayment caused by the agency when all the information necessary to determine the correct grant was in the possession of the county.

Kin-GAP payments are based on three rate structures. An example of an administrative overpayment is paying the incorrect rate increase based on when Kin-GAP was established. Refer to Charts - Foster Care .

Non Administrative Overpayment

An Non-Administrative overpayment is an overpayment that does not meet the criteria to be considered an administrative overpayment, a fraudulent overpayment, an intentional program violation (IPV), or a technical overpayment.
A Non-Administrative overpayment occurs when it is discovered the guardian is no longer supporting Kin-GAP child/youth and the guardian fails to report the change.

Demand for Repayment

Non- Administrative Kin-GAP overpayments are collectible. Refer to Kin-GAP Overpayment

Medi-Cal

The Kin-GAP child is eligible for full-scope zero share-of-cost Medi-Cal benefits. Managed care or fee-for-service Medical is an option for the guardian of a Kin-GAP child.

Policy

Children who receive Kin-GAP payments (4F, 4G, 4T, 4S or 4W) are NOT REQUIRED to participate in a managed care plan, nor should they be automatically defaulted into managed care. Kin-GAP children may be voluntarily enrolled in a managed care plan. If the child is to be enrolled in managed care, he/she should be in a permanent and stable placement with the legal guardian. The decision to enroll is the responsibility of the Kin-GAP child’s Legal Guardian.

Preventing Erroneous Enrollment

If legal guardian receives a health plan packet and does NOT wish to enroll the Kin-GAP child in a managed care plan, they must:

Complete the “Medi-Cal Health Plan Choice Form” (MC 901), entering “Foster care, Kin-GAP, (or adopted) child, fee-for-service Medi-Cal” in Box 1.
Sign and date the form,.
Send it back immediately.

If they fail to make a choice, the child(ren) will be assigned to a managed care plan.

Emergency Disenrollment

Instructions for emergency disenrollment from Managed Care are found at Urgent Disenrollment in the Medi-Cal handbook.

ICAMA for Kin-GAP

Effective January 1, 2011, the state made significant changes to the Kin-GAP program in order to comply with the federal Kin-GAP Program requirements. The Kin-GAP Program now provides for continued eligibility regardless of the state of residence of the relative guardian and child. With this enhancement, federally funded Kin-GAP children or youth are entitled to Medicaid under the ICAMA program. This option is only available for federally funded Kin-GAP children or youth. Non-federally funded Kin-GAP children or youth must apply for the host state approved medical program.

The ICAMA program has updated their documents to include federally eligible Kin-GAP. For ICAMA program requirements refer to Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance (ICAMA)