Committee approves agency amendment to adoption-assistance regulations to remove 'civil determination' barrier for providers

Members of the House Standing Committee on Families and Children voted to approve an agency amendment to referred administrative regulations affecting state-funded adoption assistance and Title IV-E adoption assistance.

Veronica Sears, adoption branch manager with the Department for Community Based Services’ Division of Protection and Permanency, and Kristen Breeden, out-of-home care branch manager for DCBS DPP, told the committee the agency amendment (identified in the hearing as amendment 490) removes a phrase referencing a "civil determination" from the regulations. Agency staff said the cabinet cannot perform a civil determination for background checks and that leaving the language in regulation could indefinitely bar relatives from becoming licensed relative or foster providers based on old civil findings that do not reflect present safety concerns.

Sears said agency rules already allow for substantiations in the agency's system and that those mechanisms remain to protect children; removing the civil-determination language corrects the regulation to align with what staff can actually evaluate. The agency cited examples including educational-neglect findings that could otherwise block placements even when the cabinet deems a placement safe.

Committee members moved and seconded approval of the agency amendment; members voted "aye" and the amendment was approved. The committee then moved to find the remaining referred administrative regulations reviewed. No roll-call tally of the agency-amendment vote was recorded in the transcript; the chair announced the amendment was approved following the voice vote.

The committee’s approval allows the agency amendment to proceed as the regulations move through the administrative-review process; agency staff said the change removes a regulatory barrier that could prevent suitable relatives from serving as providers.