§ 5-527. Out-of-home placement and foster care -- Rates

   (a) Department to establish guidelines. -- The Department shall adopt rules and regulations that establish eligibility guidelines for payment for foster care for 1 or more classes of children, including children who are in need of special care.

(b) Single family home -- Regular rate. --

   (1) For a child who does not need special care, the Department shall pay for foster care in a single family home at a monthly rate that is not less than 55% of the monthly rate provided in subsection (c) of this section for a child who requires the most demanding special care in a single family home.

   (2) The monthly rate shall include increments based on the age of the child.

(c) Single family home -- Rate for most demanding special care. -- The Department shall pay for foster care for a child who needs the most demanding special care in a single family home at a monthly rate that is not less than the higher of:

   (1) the rate that the Department paid in fiscal year 1975; and

   (2) the rate that the Department of Juvenile Services pays for the current fiscal year.

HISTORY: An. Code 1957, art. 88A, § 60; 1984, ch. 296, § 2; 1987, ch. 290, § 1; 1989, ch. 539, § 7; 1995, ch. 8, § 4; 2003, ch. 53, § 6.