WSR 17-16-027

EMERGENCY RULES

DEPARTMENT OF

SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES

(Children's Administration)

[Filed July 21, 2017, 12:38 p.m., effective July 23, 2017]

Effective Date of Rule: July 23, 2017.

Purpose: The Washington state legislature modified RCW 74.13.031 by expanding the age youth can reenroll into the extended foster care (EFC) program. The age has been expanded from nineteen years old to twenty-one years old. The following WAC are being revised to align with legislation and other edits to clarify existing language.

The following EFC WAC are being revised to align with this change: WAC 388-25-0506 Who is eligible for extended foster care?, 388-25-0528 How does a youth agree to participate in the extended foster care program?, and 388-25-0534 If an extended foster care participant loses his or her eligibility before he or she turns nineteen, can he or she reapply for extended foster care?

Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 388-25-0506, 388-25-0528, and 388-25-0534.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 13.34.145, 13.34.267, 74.13.020, 74.13.031, 43.88C.010, 74.13.107, 43.131.416, 13.34.030.

Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that state or federal law or federal rule or a federal deadline for state receipt of federal funds requires immediate adoption of a rule.

Reasons for this Finding: To align with changes to state legislation. This change goes into effect July 23, 2017.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 2, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Date Adopted: July 21, 2017.

Katherine I. Vasquez

Rules Coordinator

AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 16-14-065, filed 6/30/16, effective 7/31/16)

WAC 388-25-0506 Who is eligible for extended foster care?

(1) To be eligible for the extended foster care program, a youth, on his or her eighteenth birthday must be dependent under chapter 13.34 RCW, placed in foster care as defined in WAC 388-25-0508 by CA, and:

(a) Enrolled in school as described in WAC 388-25-0512 ((in a high school or high school equivalency program));

(b) ((Enrolled as described in WAC 388-25-0512 in a post-secondary academic or vocational education program;

(c))) Have applied for ((and)), or can demonstrate intent to timely enroll in a post-secondary academic or vocational education program ((())as described in WAC 388-25-0514(())); ((or

(d))) (c) Participating in a program or activity designed to promote employment or remove barriers to employment as described in WAC 388-25-0515;

(((e))) (d) Engaged in employment for eighty hours or more per month; ((or

(f))) (e) Unable to engage in subsection (1)(a) through (((e))) (d) of this section due a documented medical condition((.)) as described in WAC 388-25-0519; or

(((2) Have)) (f) Did not enroll in the extended foster care program and;

(i) Had their dependency dismissed on their eighteenth birthday ((as the youth did not meet any of the criteria found in subsections (1)(a) through (f) of this section, or did not agree to participate in the program and the youth));

(ii) Is requesting to ((participate)) enroll in the extended foster care program through a voluntary placement agreement (VPA) prior to reaching the age of nineteen((.)); and

(iii) Meets one of the criteria found in subsections (1)(a) through (e) of this section.

(2) If the youth was in the extended foster care program but then unenrolled or lost their eligibility, the youth may reenroll in the extended foster care program through a VPA one time before the age of twenty-one. The youth must meet one of the criteria in subsections (1)(a) through (((f))) (e) when requesting to ((participate)) reenroll in the extended foster care program.

AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 16-06-044, filed 2/24/16, effective 3/26/16)

WAC 388-25-0528 How does a youth agree to participate in the extended foster care program?

(1) An eligible dependent youth can agree to participate by:

(a) Signing an extended foster care agreement; or

(b) For developmentally disabled youth, remaining in the foster care placement and continuing in an appropriate educational program.

(2) An eligible nondependent youth who did not elect to participate in the program on their eighteenth birthday can agree to participate by:

(a) Signing a voluntary placement agreement (VPA) before reaching age nineteen; or

(b) Establishing a nonminor dependency before reaching age nineteen if the department denied entry into the program.

(3) An eligible nondependent youth requesting to reenter the program may agree to participate by signing a VPA prior to reaching age twenty-one as long as the youth has not previously entered into a VPA for extended foster care services.

(4) In order to continue receiving extended foster care services after entering into a ((voluntary placement agreement)) VPA with the department, the youth must agree to the entry of an order of dependency within one hundred eighty days of the date that the youth is placed in foster care pursuant to a ((voluntary placement agreement)) VPA.

AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 14-13-051, filed 6/12/14, effective 7/13/14)

WAC 388-25-0534 If an extended foster care participant loses his or her eligibility before he or she turns ((nineteen)) twenty-one, ((can)) may he or she reapply for extended foster care?

(1) Yes. If a youth was ((receiving)) receiving extended foster care ((services)) services and lost eligibility, he or she may reapply as long as the youth:

(((1) The youth)) (a) Has not turned ((nineteen)) twenty-one; ((and

(2) The youth)) (b) Meets one of the conditions for eligibility in WAC ((388-25-0506)) 388-25-0506 (1)(a) through (e); and

(((3) The youth)) (c) Has not entered into a prior voluntary placement agreement with the department for the purposes of participating in the extended foster care program.

(2) Youth may reenter the extended foster care program one time between the ages of eighteen to twenty-one.

Reviser's note: The typographical errors in the above section occurred in the copy filed by the agency and appear in the Register pursuant to the requirements of RCW 34.08.040.