261.6 - ALL IOWA OPPORTUNITY FOSTER CARE GRANT PROGRAM.
261.6 ALL IOWA OPPORTUNITY FOSTER CARE GRANT
PROGRAM.
1. The commission shall develop and implement, in cooperation
with the department of human services and the judicial branch, the
all Iowa opportunity foster care grant program in accordance with
this section.
2. The program shall provide financial assistance for
postsecondary education or training to a person who has a high school
diploma or a high school equivalency diploma under chapter 259A and
is described by any of the following:
a. Is age seventeen and is in a court-ordered placement under
chapter 232 under the care and custody of the department of human
services or juvenile court services.
b. Is age seventeen and has been placed in the state training
school or the Iowa juvenile home pursuant to a court order entered
under chapter 232 under the care and custody of the department of
human services.
c. Is age eighteen through twenty-three and is described by
any of the following:
(1) On the date the person reached age eighteen or during the
thirty calendar days preceding or succeeding that date, the person
was in a licensed foster care placement pursuant to a court order
entered under chapter 232 under the care and custody of the
department of human services or juvenile court services.
(2) On the date the person reached age eighteen or during the
thirty calendar days preceding or succeeding that date, the person
was under a court order under chapter 232 to live with a relative or
other suitable person.
(3) The person was in a licensed foster care placement pursuant
to an order entered under chapter 232 prior to being legally adopted
after reaching age sixteen.
(4) On the date the person reached age eighteen or during the
thirty calendar days preceding or succeeding that date, the person
was placed in the state training school or the Iowa juvenile home
pursuant to a court order entered under chapter 232 under the care
and custody of the department of human services.
3. The program requirements shall include but are not limited to
all of the following:
a. Program assistance shall cover a program participant's
expenses associated with attending an approved postsecondary
education or training program in this state. The expenses shall
include tuition and fees, books and supplies, child care,
transportation, housing, and other expenses approved by the
commission. If a participant is attending on less than a full-time
basis, assistance provisions shall be designed to cover tuition and
fees and books and supplies, and assistance for other expenses shall
be prorated to reflect the hours enrolled.
b. If the approved education or training program is more than
one year in length, the program assistance may be renewed. To renew
the assistance, the participant must annually reapply for the program
and meet the academic progress standards of the postsecondary
educational institution or make satisfactory progress toward
completion of the training program.
c. A person shall be less than age twenty-three upon both the
date of the person's initial application for the program and the
start date of the education or training program for which the
assistance is provided. Eligibility for program assistance shall end
upon the participant reaching age twenty-four.
d. Assistance under the program shall not be provided for
expenses that are paid for by other programs for which funding is
available to assist the participant.
e. The commission shall implement assistance provisions in a
manner to ensure that the total amount of assistance provided under
the program remains within the funding available for the program.
4. The commission shall develop and implement a tracking system
that maintains a record of the postsecondary and workforce
participation for those assisted under the program. The system shall
maintain a record for each participant for up to ten years after the
first year of assistance. The commission shall deliver a report on
the outcomes of the program to the governor and general assembly by
January 1 annually. Section History: Recent Form
2007 Acts, ch 214, §25; 2009 Acts, ch 177, §25
Referred to in § 261.2