Chapter 1: Kin-GAP Introduction

Introduction and Background

Policy: ACL 11-15, ACL 14-28, ACL 15-66, ACL 19-31

The purpose of the Kin-GAP program is to enhance family preservation and stability by providing relatives with an alternative route to permanency when reunification and adoption are not appropriate permanency options. Once dependency or wardship is terminated, the Kin-GAP program offers funding to relative guardians on behalf of the children and youth placed in their care. It is not intended to be a legal mandate that a relative who has guardianship and has cared for a child for consecutive 6 months or longer must exit to Kin-GAP.

Guardianship under the Kin-GAP program is a permanency option for children in long-term placement with relatives. The transition from foster care or wardship to Kin-GAP is not automatic. Once the requirements are met, the social worker will complete the paperwork for enrollment into the program.

For more information, refer to CDSS Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program.

History and Background

Policy: ACL 11-15, WIC section 11385, WIC section 11363

The Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) program was established by Senate Bill 1901 (Chapter 1055, Statutes of 1998 and modified by Assembly Bill (AB)1111 (Chapter 147, Statutes of 1999). The Kin-GAP program became available to those children exiting the juvenile court dependency system to live with a relative legal guardian. The federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (PL110-351) made extensive policy and program changes with the goal of improving the well-being and permanency outcomes for children served by public welfare agencies which included a federally-subsidized guardianship assistance program which California chose to opt into. As a result of the enactment of AB 12 (Chapter 559, Statutes of 2010), further improvements were made to the Kin-GAP program, including the creation of the federal Kin-GAP program in California and the extension of Kin-GAP up to age 21 under specific circumstances. 

Once dependency or wardship is terminated, the Kin-GAP program offers funding to relative guardians on behalf of the children and youth placed in their care. It was the Legislature’s intent that this program be utilized to enhance family preservation and stability.

Effective October 1, 2006, Assembly Bill (AB) 1808 extended the provisions of the Kin-GAP program to probation youth exiting the delinquency system to live with a related guardian.

The Kin-GAP Program has two components:

• A federally funded component when the child is eligible for Title IV-E foster care (WIC section 11385).
• A state funded component when the child is not eligible for Title IV-E foster care (WIC section 11363).

The resulting improvements in the Kin-GAP Program effective January 1, 2011, include:

• Receiving FFP through Title IV-E for foster children placed with an approved relative guardian who are Title IV-E eligible and providing for a parallel state funded Kin-GAP Program for foster children placed with an approved relative who are not Title IV-E eligible.
• Reducing the length of time that a court-dependent child must reside in the approved home of the prospective relative guardian while under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court or a voluntary placement agreement from 12 consecutive months to six consecutive months.
• Providing for continued eligibility for Kin-GAP regardless of the state of residence of the relative guardian and child.
• Requiring the county child welfare agency, probation department, or Title IV-E agreement tribe to enter into a binding written agreement with the relative guardian.
• Allowing the county child welfare agency, probation department, or Title IV-E agreement tribe and the relative guardian to renegotiate the payment amount based on the changing needs of the child and the circumstances of the relative.
• Allowing entry into the Kin-GAP Program under a voluntary placement agreement with an approved relative that resulted in a guardianship being established in juvenile court under WIC section 360.
• Extending Kin-GAP benefits to age 21 for a youth who has a physical or mental disability that warrants the continuation of assistance.
• Kin-GAP benefits may be extended beyond age 18 per AB 12 (Chapter 559, Statutes of 2010).
• AB 2454 and AB 2337 provides a parallel process for a non-minor dependent (NMD) who receives Kinship Guardianship Assistance. 

Payments (Kin-GAP) established as part of a dependency proceeding to petition the court to re-enter foster care should the guardian die or no longer provides support before the youth reach age 21.

Brazwell v. Wagner Court Ruling

Policy: ACL 11-28, WIC Section 11363, WIC Section 11386

Children in the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) Program whose eligibility is based on dependency through WIC 11363 and 11386, who are subsequently incarcerated and have wardship established pursuant to WIC 628, remain eligible for Kin-GAP payments if the court orders that the child returns to the relative placement without the termination of wardship, if all other Kin-GAP eligibility conditions are met. 

Definition of Relative for Kin-GAP (Federal and State)

Policy: ACL 11-15, ACL 14-28, MPP 45-602.6

The Kin-GAP program consists of two distinct benefit programs: one funded at the federal level and the other at the state level. For recipients, specifically the child and caregiver, the distinction between the two programs is minimal, as the state-funded program aims to assist youth who do not qualify for the federally funded Kin-GAP program.

When a child is removed from the physical custody of a parent due to abuse or neglect, the child welfare agency is obligated to actively search for relatives to evaluate and consider for placement.

A “relative” is defined as an adult who is related to the child by blood, adoption, marriage, or affinity within the fifth degree of kinship.

A “fictive relative”, also known as a non-related extended family member (NREFM), is an adult who has an established familial relationship with a relative of the child or a familial or mentoring relationship with the child. Although fictive relatives do not fall within the relative definition above, they may also be considered for placement.

Federal Funding

Policy: ACL 14-28, MPP 45-602.6, WIC Section 362.7, Section 1903(6) of Title 25 of the United States Code, WIC Section 10553.1, WIC Section 11391(c), MPP 45-602.6

For federal Kin-GAP purposes, California took advantage of federal flexibility in allowing states to broadly define relatives. Assembly Bill 1712 amended Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) section11391(c), to define a “relative” as any of the following:

1. An adult who is related to the child by blood, adoption, or affinity within the fifth degree of kinship, including stepparents, step siblings, and all relatives whose status is preceded by the words “great,” “great-great,” or “grand” or the spouse of any of those persons even if the marriage was terminated by death or dissolution.
2. An adult who meets the definition of an approved, nonrelative extended family member.
3. An adult who is either a member of the Indian child’s Tribe or an Indian custodian.
4. An adult who is the current foster parent of a child under the juvenile court’s jurisdiction, who has established a significant and family-like relationship with the child, and the child and the county child welfare agency, probation department, Indian Tribe, consortium of Tribes, or Tribal organization that has entered into an agreement to identify this adult as the child’s permanent connection.

Number (1) above is the “traditional” relative or kin; numbers (2), (3), and (4) are “fictive” relative or kin for the purposes of Kin-GAP eligibility. When processing the Kin-GAP case, eligibility staff must include case comments documenting that the caregiver is a fictive relative or a traditional relative.

To be eligible for federal Kin-GAP, a child or non-minor former dependent shall meet all federal requirements specified in Section 45-602 and all general requirements.

Siblings

Pursuant to WIC Section 11388, siblings placed with the same relative guardian in a kinship guardianship arrangement may be eligible for federal Kin-GAP regardless of their Title IV-E eligibility status as long as one of the siblings meets the federal Kin-Gap requirements. There is no requirement the siblings be placed together simultaneously. “Siblings” includes stepsiblings, half-siblings, and adoptive siblings of the federally eligible child.

State Funding

Policy: ACL 14-28, WIC Section 11391(c), MPP 45-602.6

A child or non-minor former dependent is eligible to receive state Kin-GAP assistance if they are found to be ineligible to receive federal Kin-GAP. The child or non-minor former dependent shall meet all state requirements specified in Section 45-602 and all general requirements.

For purposes of the state-funded Kin-GAP program, a “relative” is defined as the following:

An adult who is related to the child by blood, adoption, or affinity within the fifth degree of kinship, including stepparents, stepsiblings, and all relatives whose status is preceded by the words “great,” “great- great,” or “grand” or the spouse of any of those persons even if the marriage was terminated by death or dissolution.

Please note, unlike eligibility for federally funded Kin-GAP, this definition does not include “fictive kin.” (Please see Nonrelated Legal Guardian section below for information related to children who do not meet the eligibility criteria for federal or state funded Kin-GAP.)

Tribally Approved Homes

A child who is placed in a home that is approved by an Indian child’s tribe or a tribal organization designated by the tribe as a TAH is eligible for Kin-GAP funding pursuant to WIC Section 11362(d) and WIC Section 11391(e), assuming all other eligibility requirements are met, when the caregiver meets the definition of a relative for either the federal or state Kin-GAP program. A TAH is not required to be licensed or approved by the state or county and is equivalent to a state-licensed or county approved home, including an approved resource family home pursuant to WIC Section 224.1(r). (Please also refer to ACL 19-71.) As a reminder, the home approval does not need to be reconsidered when the guardianship is established.

Resource Family Approval

Policy: ACL 18-142, ACL 18-02, ACL 17-50, ACL 17-16, ACL 17-16E, ACL 16-58, ACL 16-10, ACL 14-11, ACIN I-01-18

Resource Family Approval (RFA) is a unified approval process in California. It is a family-friendly and child-centered caregiver approval process that combines elements of the past foster parent licensing, relative approval, and approvals for adoption and guardianship processes and replaces those processes.

RFA is the process used by child serving agencies, public and private, to approve caregivers, related and non-related, to better meet the needs of children, youth and NMDs in the county child welfare and/or probation systems.

RFA is a unified, family friendly, and child centered resource family approval process that:

• Is streamlined and eliminates duplication.
• Unifies approval standards for all caregivers regardless of the child’s case plan.
• Includes a comprehensive psychosocial assessment, home environment check, and training for all families including relatives.
• Allows seamless transition to permanency.
• Includes approval for foster care, adoption, and guardianship.

Resource Family Approval Written Directives:

The Written Directives contain the written processes, standards, and requirements for the RFA program. The Written Directives have the same force and effect as regulations and ensure that counties use the same standards.

The CDSS issued RFA Written Directives (Version 8.0) and forms to implement the RFA program, also on the RFA website: Resource Family Approval (RFA).

Foster Family Agencies Interim Licensing Standards:

Interim Licensing Standards are a set of rules that are issued by the CDSS as an operational tool to incorporate the Continuum of Care Reform (CCR) changes applicable to Foster Family Agencies, including implementation RFA Program by Foster Family Agencies. 

The CDSS issued Interim Licensing Standards: Foster Family Agencies (ILS Version 6), also on the Community Care Licensing website: Laws and Regulations.