(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a tribe that has entered into an agreement pursuant to Section 10553.1 may elect to participate in the Tribal Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Program.
(b) (1) In return for the care and supervision of a child placed with an approved relative caregiver, a participating tribe shall pay the approved relative caregiver a per child per month rate that, when added to the tribal Temporary Aid to Needy Families (tribal TANF) benefit received by the approved relative caregiver on behalf of the child, shall equal the rate established for the child’s assessed level of care, as set forth in subdivision (g) of Section 11461 and in Section 11463.
(2) Payments made pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be made only if all of the following conditions exist:
(A) The tribe has notified the department in writing of its decision to participate in the program, consistent with subdivision (c).
(B) The child has been removed from the parent or guardian and has been placed into the placement and care responsibility of the tribal child welfare agency pursuant to a voluntary placement agreement or by the tribal court, consistent with the tribe’s Title IV-E agreement.
(C) The child resides within California.
(D) The caregiver is receiving tribal TANF payments, or an application for tribal TANF has been made, on behalf of the child.
(E) The child is not eligible for AFDC-FC while placed with the approved relative caregiver because the child is not eligible for federal financial participation in the AFDC-FC payment.
(3) Any income or benefits received by an eligible child, or by the approved relative caregiver on behalf of an eligible child, which would be offset against a payment made to a foster care provider, shall be offset from the amount paid by the tribe under the program. This paragraph shall not apply to any tribal TANF payments received on behalf of an eligible child.
(4) An approved relative caregiver receiving payments on behalf of a child pursuant to this section shall not be eligible to receive CalWORKs payments on behalf of the same child under Section 11450.
(5) To the extent permitted by federal law, payments received by the approved relative caregiver from the program shall not be considered income for the purpose of determining other public benefits.
(6) Paragraph (1) shall not be interpreted to prevent any participating tribe from supplementing the payment made to the approved relative caregiver with any tribal optional program, including, but not limited to, a specialized care increment or a clothing allowance.
(c) A tribe electing to participate in the program shall notify the department of that fact in writing at least 60 days prior to the date the tribe will begin participation. As a condition of participation, the tribe shall do all of the following:
(1) Provide to the department the tribal TANF maximum aid payment (MAP) rate in effect at the time that the tribe elects to participate in the program, consistent with the tribe’s approved tribal TANF plan.
(2) Agree to recoup overpayments to an approved relative caregiver utilizing the standards for determining whether an overpayment is recoupable, and the processes for overpayment recoupment, that are applicable to overpayments as described in the tribe’s Title IV-E agreement entered into pursuant to Section 10553.1.
(3) Agree to make child support referrals for program cases, consistent with processes applied by the tribe to Title IV-E program cases.
(d) The following funding shall be used for the program:
(1) The tribe’s applicable per-child tribal TANF grant.
(2) General Fund resources specified in the annual Budget Act.
(e) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Program” means the Tribal Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Program established in this section.
(2) “Relative” means an adult who is related to the child by blood, adoption, or affinity within the fifth degree of kinship, including stepparents, stepsiblings, and all relatives whose status is preceded by the words “great,” “great-great,” or “grand,” or the spouse of any of these persons even if the marriage was terminated by death or dissolution, or as otherwise established consistent with the tribe’s Title IV-E agreement.
(3) “Tribe” means a federally-recognized Indian tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization with an agreement pursuant to Section 10553.1.
(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 24, Sec. 34. (SB 89) Effective June 27, 2017.)