The extended foster care program provides an opportunity for young adults ((in foster care)) who are dependent at age eighteen to voluntarily agree to continue receiving foster care services, including placement services, while the youth:

(1) Completes a high school or a high school equivalency program;

(2) Completes a secondary or post-secondary academic or vocational program;

(3) Participates in a program or activity designed to promote employment or remove barriers to employment;

(4) Is engaged in employment for eighty hours or more per month; or

(5) Is unable to engage in subsections (1) through (4) of this section due to a documented medical condition.

Extended foster care is a program offered to young adults, age eighteen to twenty-one, who turn eighteen while in ((foster care)) a dependency, to enable them to:

(1) Complete a high school diploma or high school equivalency certificate;

(2) Complete a post-secondary academic or vocational program;

(3) Participate in a program or activity designed to promote employment or remove barriers to employment;

(4) Be employed for eighty hours or more per month; or

(5) Participate in the program if unable to engage in subsections (1) through (4) of this section due to a documented medical condition.

(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;

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

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

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

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

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

(i) Had their dependency dismissed on their eighteenth birthday;

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

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

(2) A youth is not eligible to enroll in extended foster care while in the care and custody of juvenile rehabilitation, county detention, or in the department of corrections. Youth meeting EFC eligibility in subsection (1)(a) through (e) of this section may enroll when they are released from juvenile rehabilitation, county detention, of department of corrections custody.

(3) 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 subsection (1)(a) through (e) when requesting to reenroll 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)) twenty-one; or

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

(3) An eligible ((nondependent)) nonminor dependent 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 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 VPA.

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

(a) Has not turned twenty-one;

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

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