A. The kinship care program is established in the department. The program shall:

Terms Used In Arizona Laws 8-514.04

  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • department: means the department of child safety. See Arizona Laws 8-501
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Process: means a citation, writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Arizona Laws 1-215
  • Relative: means a grandparent, great-grandparent, brother or sister of whole or half blood, aunt, uncle or first cousin. See Arizona Laws 8-501
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215

1. Streamline, expedite and coordinate existing services and referrals.

2. Preserve families.

3. Meet the protection, developmental, cultural and permanency needs of children.

4. Enable families to sustain support for a child who cannot live with the child’s parents.

5. Promote the best interests of the child.

B. The department shall adopt rules to prescribe application and eligibility requirements that provide an expedited process for kinship care families to receive child only temporary assistance for needy families.

C. The department shall use existing measures for outreach and marketing in order to facilitate community awareness regarding the program.

D. The department of economic security shall submit an amendment to modify the temporary assistance for needy families state plan to the United States department of health and human services. The amendment shall waive the face-to-face requirement for relative caregivers applying for temporary assistance for needy families, for a child only case.

E. Any kinship care family that applies for or receives cash assistance under this section on behalf of a dependent child who is under eighteen years of age shall conform to the requirements established pursuant to sections 46-292 and 46-295 and department of economic security rule unless the requirements have been modified pursuant to this section.

F. The department shall keep confidential information it obtains pursuant to this section.