1. (a) The Family Service Worker, with support from the TYS Coordinator, will:

   1. (1)

      1. (A) Assist the youth in locating and choosing a sponsor who is not the person from whom the youth was removed.
      2. (B) Before finalizing a sponsor for a youth, a Division of Arkansas State Police Criminal Record check and Child Maltreatment Central Registry check will be conducted on the proposed sponsor.
      3. (C) In emergency situations in which a family member (other than the person from whom the youth was removed) wishes to serve as the sponsor, a Lexis Nexis check may be run in lieu of the Division of Arkansas State Police criminal record check and Child Maltreatment Central Registry check; and
   2. (2) Request that the local resource team establish an ILP sponsor service for the approved sponsor in the Division of Children and Family Services’ information management system and key the youth into the placement service with the board amount listed in the youth’s approved budget.

2. (b) The youth’s TYS Sponsor will:

   1. (1) Serve as a member of the youth’s transitional team to include participating in the youth’s transitional team meetings;

   2. (2) Provide support and guidance to the youth as they transition to adulthood, for example, assisting with decision making, including without limitation decisions regarding:

      1. (A) Education;
      2. (B) Employment; and
      3. (C) Housing;
   3. (3) Assist the youth with budgeting the youth’s board payment;
   4. (4) Help to ensure the youth meets at least one (1) of the Extended Foster Care Program requirements or has a viable plan in place to meet one (1) of the Extended Foster Care Program requirements; and
   5. (5) Maintain regular contact with the youth.

3. (c) In addition, youth eighteen (18) years of age and older who are participating in the Extended Foster Care Program may live with their TYS Sponsors (even if the TYS sponsor is not an approved resource home) as appropriate, provided that:

   1. (1) A Division of Arkansas State Police Criminal Background and Child Maltreatment Registry checks are clear and up to date (that being within the past two (2) years);
   2. (2) A visual inspection of the sponsor’s home is conducted, and the home is deemed safe and appropriate for a young adult;
   3. (3) The Area Director or designee and the youth’s attorney ad litem approves the living arrangement with the sponsor; and
   4. (4) A transitional team meeting is held to ensure the sponsor understands their role and that individualized guidelines and expectations are established for any youth who will reside with their sponsor, including without limitation curfews and responsibility for assisting with costs of living, if applicable, via the youth’s board payment.

4. (d)

   1. (1) An approved resource parent may serve as both a resource parent for children placed in their home and a TYS Sponsor for a youth in extended foster care but who is not residing in the resource home.
   2. (2) However, an ILP Sponsor service will have to be opened for that individual.
   3. (3) Any resource parent who wishes to serve as a sponsor for a youth and who is set up under a master provider (such as Therapeutic Foster Care or Private Licensed Placement Agencies), must be set up with a new ILP Sponsor service with a new provider number.
5. (e) If a youth in foster care was placed in a resource home prior to turning eighteen (18) years of age and continues to stay in that resource home after turning eighteen (18) years of age (and while participating in the Extended Foster Care Program), the youth will remain keyed into the resource home as a regular placement rather than keying the resource parent as the sponsor for the youth.

Codification Notes: This section as promulgated prior to codification into the Code of Arkansas Rules provided as follows: "05/2022"