House File 2645 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE
BY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES
(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 643)
Passed House, Date Passed Senate, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to services and requirements for current and
2 former participants in the child welfare system.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
4 TLSB 5355HV 81
5 jp/gg/14
PAG LIN
1 1 DIVISION I
1 2 FOSTER PARENT TRAINING
1 3 Section 1. Section 237.5A, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code
1 4 2005, is amended to read as follows:
1 5 As a condition for initial licensure, each individual
1 6 licensee shall complete thirty hours of foster parent training
1 7 offered or approved by the department. However, if the
1 8 licensee has completed relevant training or has a combination
1 9 of completed relevant training and experience, and the
1 10 department deems such training or combination to be an
1 11 acceptable equivalent to all or a portion of the initial
1 12 licensure training requirement, or based upon the
1 13 circumstances of the child and the licensee the department
1 14 finds there is other good cause, the department may waive all
1 15 or a portion of the training requirement. Prior to annual
1 16 renewal of licensure, each individual licensee shall also
1 17 complete six hours of foster parent training. The training
1 18 shall include but is not limited to physical care, education,
1 19 learning disabilities, referral to and receipt of necessary
1 20 professional services, behavioral assessment and modification,
1 21 self=assessment, self=living skills, and biological parent
1 22 contact. An individual licensee may complete the training as
1 23 part of an approved training program offered by a public or
1 24 private agency with expertise in the provision of child foster
1 25 care or in related subject areas. The department shall adopt
1 26 rules to implement and enforce this training requirement.
1 27 DIVISION II
1 28 PREPARATION FOR ADULT LIVING PROGRAM
1 29 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 234.46 PREPARATION FOR ADULT LIVING
1 30 PROGRAM.
1 31 1. For the purposes of this section, "young adult" means a
1 32 person who is described by all of the following conditions:
1 33 a. The person is a resident of this state.
1 34 b. The person is age eighteen, nineteen, or twenty.
1 35 c. At the time the person became age eighteen, the person
2 1 received foster care services that were paid for by the state
2 2 under section 234.35 and the person is no longer receiving
2 3 such services.
2 4 d. The person enters into and participates in an
2 5 individual self=sufficiency plan that complements the person's
2 6 own efforts for achieving self=sufficiency and the plan
2 7 provides for one or more of the following:
2 8 (1) The person attends an accredited school full=time
2 9 pursuing a course of study leading to a high school diploma.
2 10 (2) The person attends an instructional program leading to
2 11 a high school equivalency diploma.
2 12 (3) The person is enrolled in or pursuing enrollment in a
2 13 postsecondary education or training program or work training.
2 14 (4) The person is employed or seeking employment.
2 15 2. The division shall establish a preparation for adult
2 16 living program directed to young adults. The purpose of the
2 17 program is to assist persons who are leaving foster care
2 18 services at age eighteen or older in making the transition to
2 19 self=sufficiency. The department shall adopt rules necessary
2 20 for administration of the program, including but not limited
2 21 to eligibility criteria for young adult participation and the
2 22 services and other support available under the program. The
2 23 services and other support available under the program may
2 24 include but are not limited to any of the following:
2 25 a. Support for the young adult continuing to reside with
2 26 the family that provided family foster care to the young
2 27 adult.
2 28 b. Support for a supervised apartment living arrangement.
2 29 c. Support for participation in education, training, or
2 30 employment activities.
2 31 d. Other assistance to enhance the young adult's ability to
2 32 achieve self=sufficiency.
2 33 3. This section shall not be construed as granting an
2 34 entitlement for any program, services, or other support for
2 35 the persons described in this section. Any state obligation
3 1 to provide a program, services, or other support pursuant to
3 2 this section is limited to the extent of the funds
3 3 appropriated for the purposes of the program.
3 4 Sec. 3. Section 249A.3, subsection 2, Code Supplement
3 5 2005, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
3 6 NEW PARAGRAPH. k. As allowed under 42 U.S.C. }
3 7 1396a(a)(10)(A)(ii)(XVII), individuals under twenty=one years
3 8 of age who were in foster care under the responsibility of the
3 9 state on the individuals' eighteenth birthday, and whose
3 10 income is less than two hundred percent of the most recently
3 11 revised official poverty guidelines published by the United
3 12 States department of health and human services. Medical
3 13 assistance may be provided for an individual described by this
3 14 paragraph regardless of the individual's resources.
3 15 EXPLANATION
3 16 This bill relates to services and requirements for current
3 17 and former participants in the child welfare system. The bill
3 18 is organized by divisions.
3 19 FOSTER PARENT TRAINING. This division revises the initial
3 20 30=hour training requirement for foster parent licensees in
3 21 Code section 237.5A to allow the department of human services
3 22 (DHS) to waive the requirement. In order for the department
3 23 to grant a waiver, the licensee must have completed relevant
3 24 training or have a combination of completed relevant training
3 25 and experience, and the department must deem the training or
3 26 combination to be an acceptable equivalent to all or a portion
3 27 of the initial licensure training requirement, or the
3 28 department must find there is other good cause based upon the
3 29 individual circumstances of the child and the licensee to
3 30 grant the waiver.
3 31 PREPARATION FOR ADULT LIVING PROGRAM. This division
3 32 revises Code chapter 234, relating to child and family
3 33 services. Current law in Code section 234.1 extends the term
3 34 "child" to include a person who is age 18 or 19 and is
3 35 completing a high school diploma or high school equivalency
4 1 diploma, until such diploma is received. In addition, current
4 2 law provides authority in Code section 234.35 for the state to
4 3 pay for certain types of foster care services provided to
4 4 certain persons who are age 18 or older.
4 5 The division establishes a new preparation for adult living
4 6 program. The new program is directed to persons who are
4 7 residents of the state; are young adults who are age 18, 19,
4 8 or 20, and who, at the time of becoming age 18, received
4 9 foster care services paid for by the state under Code section
4 10 234.35, and are no longer receiving such foster care services;
4 11 and who meet other qualifications.
4 12 Code section 249A.3, providing authority for the department
4 13 to provide Medicaid to certain populations, is amended to
4 14 include individuals younger than age 21 who were in foster
4 15 care upon becoming age 18. An income limit of 200 percent of
4 16 the federal poverty level is required, but a resource
4 17 limitation does not apply.
4 18 LSB 5355HV 81
4 19 jp:rj/gg/14