This letter transmits the proposed new rule 5101:2-33-39 of the Administrative Code in response to the federal requirements under the Health Care and Tax Relief Act of 2006. The Program Instructions from the Department of Health and Human Services on February 21, 2007 requires the social services agency to verify United States citizenship or immigration status for all children in foster care whether a Title IV-E foster care maintenance payment is made or not. This rule will be effective March 15, 2008.

OAC 5101:2-33-29 entitled Verification of United States citizenship and immigration status for all children in foster care. This rule sets forth the acceptable documentation to verify a child's citizenship or immigration status when the child is in foster care. This is a new rule which will replace language in OAC 5101:2-47-09 that speaks to citizenship verification and immigration status requirements for all children in foster care and are being determined whether the child is Title IV-E eligible.

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.