(1) After a prospective foster parent has been approved by a foster family care agency, pursuant to 23 Pa. C.S. § 6344, the Department of Human Services (hereinafter, "The Department"), subject to its discretion as to appropriate management of foster care placements, shall not authorize any placement with such prospective foster parent until the Department has first:
(a) Reviewed and considered any history of involvement with the Department by such prospective foster parent. The Department shall not place any child with a foster parent whose history of involvement with the Department, in combination with other relevant factors, demonstrates an inability to safely and appropriately care for a foster child.
(b) Itself or through its agent, reviewed and considered the prospective foster parent's ability and willingness to accept a foster child's relationship with his or her own parents; and to work in partnership with a foster family care agency, including the prospective foster parent's role in facilitating appropriate family and sibling visits. Once a child is placed in a foster home, the Department shall not continue to authorize such placement if the foster parent demonstrates an unwillingness or inability to facilitate appropriate family and sibling visits.
Former foster children who are now adults as well as current foster children shall be consulted by the Department in conjunction with policies concerning the placement of children with foster parents. Such consultation can be through an already established advisory board or through a newly created entity, however such entity shall have no less than four former foster care children and one current foster care child.
(1) This section applies to children committed to the custody of the Philadelphia Department of Human Services.
(2) Screening and Application for Benefits. The Department of Human Services, or such other City department or office as the Mayor may designate, is authorized to develop and implement procedures to:
(a) Ensure all children are screened for potential eligibility for Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Veterans or other various benefits within 60 days of being committed to DHS custody;
(b) Apply for the benefits, in cooperation with the child's attorney or guardian ad litem, if the screening results in a determination that the child is potentially eligible for any of such benefits;
(c) Identify, in cooperation with the child's attorney or guardian ad litem, a representative payee of the beneficiary's highest priority in accordance with the established categories of preferred payees in 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.2021 and 416.621, and apply to become the representative payee if there is no other suitable candidate available;
(d) Support the maintenance of benefits for youth who are transitioning out of foster care or reach the age of legal adulthood.
(3) Conservation and Use of Benefits. To the full extent of Council's legislative authority and provided compliance would not violate 55 Pa. Code Chapter 3140 or any other requirements for financial reimbursement of county services by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, when the Department serves as a representative payee for a child receiving Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Veterans or other various benefits, the Department shall:
(a) Use or conserve the benefits in the specific child's interest, as determined in cooperation with the child and the child's attorney or guardian ad litem, including using the benefits for services or needs not otherwise provided by the Department or covered by health insurance (e.g., disability aids, a car, or tools of the trade for employed youth) or conserving the benefits for the child's reasonably foreseeable future needs;
(b) Ensure that for every child in the Department's custody, the child's benefits are not used to reimburse the City or County for the costs of care for the child or other payments made by the City or County to cover any other cost or expense for an individual in DHS custody;
(c) Monitor any federal asset or resource limit for the benefits and ensure that the specific child's best interest is served by using or conserving the benefits in a way that avoids violating any federal asset or resource limit, including conserving funds by establishing individual financial accounts in accordance with 20 C.F.R. § 416.645.
(4) Notice. The Department is authorized to ensure notification to the child through the child's attorney or guardian ad litem of any application, decision, communication, or appeal related to the child's Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Veterans or other various benefits.
(5) Annual Reporting. The Department of Human Services, or such other City department or office as the Mayor may designate, shall collect, maintain, and provide data relating to the application, use, and conservation of federal benefits for foster youth in DHS custody in an annual report provided to the public.
Notes
68 | Added, Bill No. 220239 (became law September 29, 2022). |