SENATE BILL 86

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2016

INTRODUCED BY

Linda M. Lopez

AN ACT

RELATING TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES; DIRECTING THE SECRETARY OF CHILDREN, YOUTH AND FAMILIES TO ESTABLISH A THREE-YEAR STATEWIDE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT TO PROVIDE MAINTENANCE PAYMENTS TO KINSHIP CAREGIVERS; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. TEMPORARY PROVISION--DEMONSTRATION PROJECT--KINSHIP CAREGIVER MAINTENANCE PAYMENTS--REPORTING.--

          A. By January 1, 2017, the secretary shall adopt and promulgate rules to establish a three-year demonstration project statewide to provide kinship caregivers with maintenance payments for the care and support of children placed in their care. Maintenance payments shall be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

          B. The secretary shall adopt and promulgate rules to establish eligibility for kinship caregivers to participate in the demonstration project. The rules shall establish that a kinship caregiver is eligible to participate in the demonstration project if the kinship caregiver:

                (1) has been the child's primary caregiver for at least six months preceding application for participation in the demonstration project;

                (2) has had a child residing in the kinship caregiver's home for at least six months preceding application for participation in the demonstration project;

                (3) has not had the child's parent residing in the kinship caregiver's home for at least the previous six months; provided that a parent may reside in the home without disqualifying the kinship caregiver from participating in the demonstration project if the parent:

                     (a) has designated the kinship caregiver as the child's caregiver; and

                     (b) is a minor who: 1) is enrolled in school full-time; or 2) has a physical or mental disability that constitutes or results in a substantial impediment to employment, as established pursuant to department rules;

                (4) has, and all adults residing in the kinship caregiver's home for any period of time have, undergone a criminal background check;

                (5) has a household income that is under two hundred percent of the federal poverty level;

                (6) is a resident of the state;

                (7) has applied for temporary assistance for needy families benefits for the child;

                (8) has entered into a maintenance payment agreement, established pursuant to department rules, that includes a provision that no payments received under the agreement shall inure to the benefit of the child's parent but shall be solely for the benefit of the child;

                (9) is not currently receiving a separate foster parent maintenance payment or guardianship- or adoption-assistance payment for the child;

                (10) has provided, in accordance with department rules, a signed statement, sworn under penalty of perjury, that the information provided to establish eligibility for participation in the demonstration project is true and accurate to the best of the kinship caregiver's belief; and

                (11) has met any additional requirements set forth in rules the secretary has adopted and promulgated.

          C. The secretary may by rule provide for waiver of the eligibility requirements established in Paragraph (1) or (2) of Subsection B of this section in cases where:

                (1) the department determines that the child is at risk of removal from the child's parent, guardian or custodian;

                (2) the child's parent, guardian or custodian permits the kinship caregiver to be the child's primary caregiver; and

                (3) the child's parent, guardian or custodian permits the child to reside with the kinship guardian.

          D. The department shall recertify the eligibility of each kinship caregiver participating in the demonstration project on at least an annual basis. The secretary may require the kinship caregiver to provide a signed statement, sworn under penalty of perjury, that the information provided to establish continued eligibility for participation in the demonstration project remains true and accurate to the best belief of the kinship caregiver.

          E. The secretary shall terminate a kinship caregiver's participation in the demonstration project at any time if:

                (1) the department determines that the kinship caregiver no longer meets the eligibility requirements established pursuant to Subsection A or B of this section; or

                (2) there is substantiated finding of child abuse or neglect against the kinship caregiver resulting in the removal of the child from the kinship caregiver's home.

          F. A kinship caregiver whose application for participation in the demonstration project has been denied or whose maintenance payment has been terminated shall be entitled to a fair hearing in accordance with rules the secretary has adopted and promulgated; provided that a kinship caregiver shall not be entitled to a hearing if the denial or termination of a maintenance payment is based upon the unavailability of appropriated funds.

          G. The secretary shall adopt and promulgate rules to establish penalties for any person that makes a false statement in applying to participate or to be recertified to participate in the demonstration project established pursuant to this section.

          H. By November 1, 2017, November 1, 2018 and November 1, 2019, the secretary shall issue a report to the governor, the legislative finance committee and the legislative health and human services committee regarding the demonstration project established pursuant to this section. At a minimum, the report shall include:

                (1) the number of applications filed for participation in the demonstration project;

                (2) the number of applications approved for participation in the demonstration project;

                (3) the number of kinship caregiver households that receive both a maintenance payment and cash assistance through the temporary assistance for needy families program;

                (4) the number of applications for participation in the demonstration project that were denied for failure to meet eligibility criteria;

                (5) the number of applications for participation in the demonstration project that were denied due to lack of appropriated funding;

                (6) the number of maintenance payments denied due to lack of appropriated funding;

                (7) an estimate of the number of kinship caregivers whose income is less than two hundred percent of the federal poverty level but who have not applied for participation in the demonstration project;

                (8) the number of maintenance payments that the secretary has terminated as a result of kinship caregiver ineligibility;

                (9) the number of maintenance payments that kinship caregivers have had terminated voluntarily;

                (10) the number of substantiated cases of fraud and a comparison of this figure to the proportion of cases of fraud involving participants in the temporary assistance for needy families program, the supplemental nutrition assistance program and child care assistance and medicaid programs;

                (11) the number of children removed from households due to a substantiated allegation of child abuse or neglect where a kinship caregiver is participating in the demonstration project established pursuant to this section; and

                (12) any legislative, policy or administrative recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of the demonstration project or for making permanent a statewide program of maintenance payments for kinship caregivers.

          I. As used in this section:

                (1) "adult" means an individual eighteen years of age or older;

                (2) "child" means an individual under eighteen years of age whose residence with a kinship caregiver is the basis of the kinship caregiver's participation or application to participate in the demonstration project;

                (3) "child care assistance" means the program of child care assistance that the department administers in accordance with department rules;

                (4) "criminal background check" means a review of an individual's personal history in which the department obtains the individual's set of fingerprints and submits the fingerprints to the department of public safety and the federal bureau of investigation;

                (5) "demonstration project" means the demonstration project established pursuant to this section to provide maintenance payments to kinship caregivers;

                (6) "department" means the children, youth and families department;

                (7) "federal poverty level" means the measure of individual or household income level issued annually by the federal department of health and human services;

                (8) "maintenance payment" means a payment that the department makes to a kinship caregiver pursuant to this section for the care and support of a child in the kinship caregiver's care;

                (9) "minor" means an individual younger than eighteen years of age;

                (10) "kinship caregiver" means a relative within five degrees of consanguinity or affinity of a child placed in the relative's care;

                (11) "medicaid" means the joint federal-state health coverage program that the human services department administers pursuant to Title 19 or Title 21 of the federal Social Security Act;

                (12) "secretary" means the secretary of children, youth and families;

                (13) "supplemental nutrition assistance program" means the supplemental nutrition assistance program administered by the human services department and the federal department of agriculture; and

                (14) "temporary assistance for needy families" means the program of cash assistance payments funded by the temporary assistance for needy families block grant pursuant to the federal Social Security Act and by state funds that the human services department administers pursuant to the New Mexico Works Act.

     SECTION 2. APPROPRIATION.--Three million dollars ($3,000,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the children, youth and families department for expenditure in fiscal years 2017 through 2020 to fund maintenance payments made through the demonstration project established pursuant to Section 1 of this act. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2020 shall revert to the general fund.

- 9 -