1. 1. The commission shall develop and implement, in cooperation with the department of human services and the judicial branch, the all Iowa opportunity foster care grant program in accordance with this section.

2. 2. The program shall provide financial assistance for postsecondary education or training to a person who has a high school diploma or a high school equivalency diploma under chapter 259A and is described by any of the following:

   1. a. Is age seventeen and is in a court-ordered placement under chapter 232 under the care and custody of the department of human services or juvenile court services.
   2. b. Is age seventeen and has been placed in the state training school or the Iowa juvenile home pursuant to a court order entered under chapter 232 under the care and custody of the department of human services.

   3. c. Is age eighteen through twenty-three and is described by any of the following:

      1. (1) On the date the person reached age eighteen or during the thirty calendar days preceding or succeeding that date, the person was in a licensed foster care placement pursuant to a court order entered under chapter 232 under the care and custody of the department of human services or juvenile court services.
      2. (2) On the date the person reached age eighteen or during the thirty calendar days preceding or succeeding that date, the person was under a court order under chapter 232 to live with a relative or other suitable person.
      3. (3) The person was in a licensed foster care placement pursuant to an order entered under chapter 232 prior to being legally adopted after reaching age sixteen.
      4. (4) On the date the person reached age eighteen or during the thirty calendar days preceding or succeeding that date, the person was placed in the state training school or the Iowa juvenile home pursuant to a court order entered under chapter 232 under the care and custody of the department of human services.

3. 3. The program requirements shall include but are not limited to all of the following:

   1. a. Program assistance shall cover a program participant’s expenses associated with attending an approved postsecondary education or training program in this state. The expenses shall include tuition and fees, books and supplies, child care, transportation, housing, and other expenses approved by the commission. If a participant is attending on less than a full-time basis, assistance provisions shall be designed to cover tuition and fees and books and supplies, and assistance for other expenses shall be prorated to reflect the hours enrolled.
   2. b. If the approved education or training program is more than one year in length, the program assistance may be renewed. To renew the assistance, the participant must annually reapply for the program and meet the academic progress standards of the postsecondary educational institution or make satisfactory progress toward completion of the training program.
   3. c. A person shall be less than age twenty-three upon both the date of the person’s initial application for the program and the start date of the education or training program for which the assistance is provided. Eligibility for program assistance shall end upon the participant reaching age twenty-four.
   4. d. Assistance under the program shall not be provided for expenses that are paid for by other programs for which funding is available to assist the participant.
   5. e. The commission shall implement assistance provisions in a manner to ensure that the total amount of assistance provided under the program remains within the funding available for the program.
4. 4. An all Iowa opportunity foster care grant fund is created in the state treasury as a separate fund under the control of the commission. The fund shall consist of any moneys appropriated to the commission for purposes of the program and any other moneys available to and obtained or accepted by the commission for placement in the fund. All moneys in the fund are appropriated to the commission to be used for grants for students meeting the requirements of this section. Notwithstanding section 8.33, any balance in the fund on June 30 of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund of the state, but shall be transferred to the all Iowa opportunity scholarship fund established pursuant to section 261.87 to be used for purposes of the all Iowa opportunity scholarship program.

NEW subsection 4

2007 Acts, ch 214, §25; 2009 Acts, ch 177, §25; 2011 Acts, ch 36, §2; 2016 Acts, ch 1132, §9, 19

Referred to in §261.2