Extended Foster Care for Youth Placed into a Conservatorship

Q: If a Non-Minor Dependent is severely developmentally delayed and is placed into a conservatorship, does that make the youth ineligible for extended foster care?

A: No, being placed into conservatorship does not make a NMD ineligible. Many youth in extended foster care have been conserved with no impact to eligibility. These youth meet participation criteria #5, which allows youth who are incapable of meeting any of the other participation conditions due to a medical condition to be eligible for extended foster care.

If a NMD is deemed incompetent, the court can appoint a decision maker if it is in the NMD’s best interest. A decision maker can be any “responsible adult” such as a caretaker, relative, CASA, etc. The decision maker will be authorized “to make educational or developmental services decisions” for the NMD and court form JV-535 has been modified for this purpose. Further, the law that states that a NMD who is determined “incapable of making an informed agreement” does not need to complete a mutual agreement.

Source: WIC§361, WIC § 303(d), Code of Civil Procedure§372, WIC§361, ACL 11-61

Treatment of SILP payments for Section 8 or Public Housing

Q: I am a social worker working with a foster youth who will soon turn age 18. Once he does, he would like to live in a Supervised Independent Living Placement (SILP) with this aunt. She has a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher and is worried that the SILP foster care payment will increase the amount of rent she has to pay, because it would be counted as household income. Is this the case? Is a SILP payment counted as income in Section 8 or public housing or not?

 

A: According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, foster care payments are not counted as annual income and are therefore not included in the calculation to determine the tenant’s monthly rent.

Source: 24 CFR §5.609(c)(2)

BOG Fee Waivers

Q: I am planning to attend community college in the fall. I qualified for the Board of Governor’s (BOG) fee waiver but was told I have to pay an Associated Student Fee and Health Services fee. Do I need to pay these even if I am getting the BOG fee waiver?

A: YES. It is very important that you pay these fees by the due date indicated. In addition to course enrollment fees, many colleges have nominal health and/or student activity fees and these fees are typically not covered by the BOG fee waiver. Disenrollment may occur after registration if fees have not been paid within a certain timeframe. Check with the college admissions office for relevant deadlines.