This letter transmits amendments to the OAC rule governing the Kinship Permanency Incentive (KPI) program. The rule will be effective September 30, 2007. The rule changes are being made to address the following statutory changes that resulted from the budget bill:

• Removal of the requirement that the child must be adjudicated by the juvenile court as being abused, neglected, dependent, or unruly.
• Removal of the best interest language as part of the requirement for the court order awarding legal custody or guardianship to the kinship caregiver.
• Removal of the requirement that the child must be determined as "special needs".
• Amending the guidelines governing the gross income of the caregiver's family, including the child, 200% of the federal poverty guidelines to 300%.

The following is a brief explanation of the proposed changes.

OAC 5101:2-40-04 entitled Kinship permanency incentive program outlines the provisions that govern eligibility, the administration and application process for the KPI program. The rule allows the public children services agency (PCSA) to provide incentive payments to kinship caregivers to promote permanency. In this rule, a few changes were made regarding the kinship caregiver's income. Gross income was defined in the definition section of the rule and language was added to the eligibility requirements. The new language addresses limited exclusions of reported income that are to be deducted from the gross income such as up to one-hundred dollars of child support in response to allowances under the Deficit Reduction Act. It also clarifies individuals whose income must be considered for this program. Language was added to clarify that the rule does not prohibit a PCSA or PCPA from completing a home assessment on behalf of caregivers with whom a child was already directly placed by a court or relative.

JFS 01501 "Application for Kinship Permanency Incentive" is the form used by the kinship caregiver(s) when applying for the KPI program. This form is also used by the PCSA when entering data into the KPI web tool. Revisions to the form include deleting all questions and information regarding the child's adjudication, special needs, and best interest statement. Other revisions to the form include minor grammatical and formatting issues, adding the "relationship to caregiver" to the Child Information section, and changing the language in the Affirmation section to mirror the rule.

JFS 01502 "Notice of Incomplete Kinship Permanency Incentive Application" is the form used by the PCSA to inform applicants the reason(s) that the application can not be processed and what the applicant must do to complete the application process. The form was updated to reflect the amended eligibility requirements and rule. The request for the child's adjudication, special needs and best interest statement were deleted from the checklist of items needed to complete the application.

JFS 01504 "Notice of Denial for Kinship Permanency Incentive Funds" is used by the PCSA to deny KPI applicants and indicate the reason for denial. This form was updated to reflect the amended eligibility requirements and rule. The child's adjudication, special needs and best interest statement were deleted from the denial checklist. The income criteria was changed to 300% of the poverty level from 200%.

INSTRUCTIONS:

The following chart depicts what materials are to be removed from the Family, Children and Adult Services Manual (FCASM) and what materials are to be inserted in the FCASM.