§4 ch11: Financial Support Planning
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11.2 Financial Contributions by Parents:
- Interview birth parent(s) for willingness to pay all or part of the cost of alternative care.
- Complete the Financial Statement for Families of Children in Alternative Care, CS-99, and advise parent(s), before the juvenile court hearing, an order requiring payment for the care of the child may be made at the time of the hearing.
- Attach the completed CS-99 to the social history sent to the court.
- Open the child's AC function in FACES.
- The ES will complete the Referral/Information for Child Support Services/AC, CSE-201AC. However, the Case Manager shall indicate via the IOC to the ES if a case should not be pursued because of any of the following conditions:
- Both parents are deceased;
- TPR on both parents has occurred;
- The Division has not and will not be providing any Out-of-Home Care payment or special expenses; or
- The best interests of the child would not be served, i.e., physical or emotional harm would likely result to the child; adoption proceedings are pending before a court; the parent is working through the issues involved in whether to relinquish or not, etc.
The Children's Service Worker and the Children's Service Supervisor must evaluate and agree concerning the child's best interests. The reasons must be documented in the case record and on the CSE-201AC. An IOC may be sent to Child Support/Alternative Care Collections Unit (ACCU) which includes the child's DCN and an explanation if, at a later time, the circumstances change and it is decided, in consultation among the Children's Service Worker and Children's Service Supervisor the case should now be pursued.
- Parents may contact Child Support for more information regarding where and when to submit payment.
- Report changes within ten (10) days to ES via an IOC. Changes including:
- Absent parent obtains employment;
- Absent parent changes jobs;
- Absent parent moves; or
- Court modifies order which will affect child support.
- Deposit payments received for the support of the child in the KIDS account via the Income Entry Log, CS-KIDS-1.
The Family Support Service Center should receive Court ordered and Family Support Division (FSD) administrative ordered parental contributions (child support) and forward same to the Division of Finance and Administrative Services (DFAS) to be deposited in the KIDS account. Therefore, only in rare situations will the county office complete the CS-KIDS-1 for support received from parents and forward to DFAS for entry into the KIDS account.
- Apply any unused contribution to the child’s cost of care when the child leaves Out-of-Home Care.
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11.2.1 Continuation of Child Support
According to Section 452.340 RSMo, children in foster care can continue to receive child support from their non-custodial parent if they meet the requirements under state law. The child's case manager will be responsible for determining eligibility based on the criteria listed below.
Ninety days prior to the child's 18th birthday, the case manager will receive the Notice of Intent to Stop Collection of Current Support,CS-697.In most circumstances, the child will be eligible for continued support if:
- The child will be attending high school or a graduation equivalence degree (GED) program on his/her 18th birthday; or
- The child plans to attend college or vocational school by October 1 after graduation from high school or completion of a GED program; or
- The child is currently attending a college or vocational school.
If the case manager determines the child continues to meet requirements under state law for current support to continue beyond the child's 18th birthday, they will need to complete the Custodian's Response to Notice of Intent to Stop Collection of Current Support section of the CS-697 form received in the mail and select the reason child support should continue from the options listed.
If the child no longer meets the eligibility criteria specified in the statute, the case manager shall notify the Family Support Division (FSD).