SB346 Summary

• Reduces the required time for a child to reside in a relative guardian's home from an unspecified period to at least six (6) consecutive months to be eligible for subsidized guardianship, with department authority to waive this requirement if adequate funding is available.

• Establishes state-funded adoption subsidies for adults age 18 in extended foster care programs who are not Title IV-E eligible.

• Expands the definition of "relative" to include persons within the fifth degree of kinship by blood, marriage, or adoption, and updates terminology throughout the code replacing "visitation" with "family time."

• Allows juveniles in foster care before age 18 to request extended court jurisdiction until age 21 if engaged in instruction, treatment, or working at least 80 hours monthly toward self-sufficiency, with clear disengagement consequences.

• Requires home studies for relative or fictive kin placements but exempts parents from home study requirements; establishes provisional foster home status lasting up to six (6) months with limited board payments during that period.