(a) To receive permanency care assistance for a child, a person must:
  (1) become the permanent kinship conservator of a child who meets all of the eligibility criteria in subsection (b) or (c) of this section; and
  (2) enter into a permanency care assistance agreement with DFPS on behalf of the child prior to becoming the child's permanent kinship conservator.
(b) A child is eligible to be the subject of a permanency care assistance agreement if all of the following eligibility criteria apply to that child:
  (1) the child's prospective permanent kinship conservator:
    (A) is related to the child by consanguinity or affinity; or
    (B) has had a longstanding and significant relationship to the child prior to DFPS placing the child in the home of that person;
  (2) the child's prospective permanent kinship conservator must have been eligible for the receipt of foster care reimbursements on behalf of the child who is the subject of the permanency care assistance agreement for at least six consecutive months prior to the effective date of the permanency care assistance agreement;
  (3) the child has demonstrated a strong attachment to the prospective permanent kinship conservator and that person has a strong commitment to caring permanently for the child;
  (4) at the time the permanency care assistance agreement is signed, DFPS has determined that neither adoption nor reunification are appropriate permanency options; and
  (5) if the child will be at least 14 years of age at the time the permanency care assistance agreement is signed, DFPS has consulted with the child about the prospective permanent kinship conservator's commitment to assume permanent managing conservatorship of the child.
(c) If a prospective permanent kinship conservator or permanent kinship conservator has entered into a permanency care assistance agreement on behalf of one child for whom all the eligibility criteria in subsection (b) of this section are satisfied, that same individual will be eligible to receive permanency care assistance on behalf of a sibling of the child if all of the following criteria apply to the sibling child:
  (1) the sibling must have been placed in the home of the same individual by DFPS; and
  (2) DFPS has temporary or permanent managing conservatorship of the sibling child at the time the permanency care assistance agreement is signed with respect to the sibling child.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision in this subchapter, a person will not be eligible for permanency care assistance on behalf of any child if the court issues an order:
  (1) naming either of the child's parents joint managing conservator of the child;
  (2) naming the person and DFPS joint managing conservators of the child; or
  (3) awarding possessory conservatorship to any parent of the child under circumstances DFPS determines have the effect of reunifying the child with that parent.

Source Note: The provisions of this §700.1029 adopted to be effective March 1, 2010, 35 TexReg 878; amended to be effective December 1, 2010, 35 TexReg 9744; amended to be effective January 19, 2017, 42 TexReg 84