7 AAC 45.225. Living in home of caretaker relative

(a) To be eligible for ATAP benefits a dependent child must be living with a caretaker relative in the home of that caretaker relative.

(b) When determining if a child is living in the home of a caretaker relative, the department will consider the location of the child to be the primary determining factor. Except in the case of a temporary absence of the child or caretaker relative from the usual place of residence, the child's home is the place where the child resides more than half of the time in a month. The department may consider a child to be living with a caretaker relative even if

(1) the child is receiving protective supervision or probation services; or

(2) legal custody of the child is held by an agency that does not have physical custody of the child.

(c) An otherwise eligible child is eligible for ATAP benefits for a month that the child is not yet physically located in the home of a caretaker relative if the following conditions are met:

(1) a caretaker relative intends that the child will enter the home of the caretaker relative;

(2) the child actually comes to live with the caretaker relative within 30 days after the relative receives the first ATAP payment; and

(3) the child has not received Title IV-E Foster Care benefits or ATAP benefits in the home of another relative for the same month.

(d) Except as provided in (h) of this section, when two caretaker relatives, living together or apart, claim ATAP benefits for the same child, the department will determine which relative is exercising the primary responsibility for the care and control of the child. In determining which of the two caretaker relatives the child is actually living with, the department will consider the following:

(1) whose home the child is living in;

(2) how long the child will probably remain in that home;

(3) what percentage of the month the child will be in the separate home of each of the two caretaker relatives;

(4) who will provide the majority of the child's guidance, discipline, and physical and financial needs; and

(5) the nature and frequency of the contacts made with the child by the relative who is absent from the child's current place of residence.

(e) If a child leaves the home of a caretaker relative during a month, and the child is otherwise eligible, the department may pay benefits for the entire month as long as a payment has not already been made for that child in the same month that child was in the home of another caretaker relative or was the recipient of Title IV-E Foster Care benefits.

(f) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a child is considered to be living with a caretaker relative during a month only if the child and the caretaker relative are both in the home for at least one day of the month. If all other requirements for eligibility are met, the child and caretaker relative are eligible to receive ATAP benefits even though the child or the caretaker relative is absent for an entire month or longer, as long as one of the following circumstances is true for the duration of the absence:

(1) the child or the caretaker relative is in a hospital or other public or private institution to receive treatment for a mental or physical illness, but a return to the home of the caretaker relative is expected, and the caretaker relative continues to be responsible for the child;

(2) the child is absent because a court order specifies that the child is to visit a parent who resides away from the child's customary home, and the following conditions are met:

(A) the caretaker relative maintains a home to which the child will return;

(B) the court's intention is for the child to return to the caretaker relative's home at the end of the visit;

(C) the child does not receive ATAP or other TANF program benefits while in the care of the parent with whom the child is visiting; and

(D) the absence does not last longer than three months; or

(3) the child or the caretaker relative is absent because of a need for education or training that is not available in the home community, and the following conditions are met:

(A) the child and caretaker relative intend that the absent student will return to the home of the caretaker relative at least once each year;

(B) the absent student does not receive ATAP or other TANF program benefits in another household;

(C) the absent student intends to return to the home of the caretaker relative at the completion of the absent student's education or training; and

(D) the caretaker relative maintains a home to which the absent student intends to return.

(g) The caretaker relative of a child who is eligible for ATAP benefits may also be eligible for ATAP benefits if the caretaker relative

(1) applies for benefits;

(2) requests to be included in the assistance unit in accordance with 7 AAC 45.335;

(3) meets the eligibility requirements of this chapter and AS 47.27; and

(4) lives with the dependent child.

(h) If a child resides with both parents, either parent may be the caretaker relative.

History: Eff. 8/5/92, Register 123; am 10/1/97, Register 143; am 1/7/2005, Register 173

Authority: AS 47.05.010

AS 47.27.005

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