ARS § 8-521.03

8-521.03 - Extended foster care comprehensive service model; extended foster care success coaching program; quality review committee; reporting requirements; fund; definitions 8-521.03. Extended foster care comprehensive service model; extended foster care success coaching program; quality review committee; reporting requirements; fund; definitions A. Within ten days after September 26, 2025, the department shall prepare a scope of work for an extended foster care comprehensive service model that includes supportive services and required case management provided by contracted community providers for young adults who participate in the extended foster care program. The extended foster care comprehensive service model scope of work shall include: 1. Weekly engagement with each young adult. 2. Life skills training. 3. Mental and physical health and well-being. 4. Relational permanency. 5. Education and enrollment assistance. 6. Assistance with accessing safe housing attainment and stability for young adults. 7. Career and employment planning and readiness. 8. Assistance with accessing transportation services for young adults. 9. Flexible funding to support the unique needs of the young adult, including educational services and job training or workforce development. B. The extended foster care comprehensive service model shall include an extended foster care success coaching program for young adults in the extended foster care program. Each extended foster care success coach shall have a caseload of not more than twenty young adults. The extended foster care success coaching program shall be based on a practice that is youth driven and shall do the following: 1. Promote permanent connections. 2. Support the development of an educational foundation and skill set that enables young adults to gain and maintain employment to support their financial needs. 3. Assist young adults to reside in safe, stable and secure housing. 4. Link young adults to appropriate services that address physical and behavioral health needs. 5. Build skills for developing personal agency. 6. Ensure that young adults have the cognitive and social-emotional competencies essential to survival. C. The department shall supervise and monitor the success of the extended foster care success coaching program. D. Each extended foster care success coach shall: 1. Successfully complete a department-administered foster care success coach training program. 2. Possess a bachelor's or associate's degree or have equivalent credits equal to an associate's degree. In lieu of a degree or credits, an extended foster care success coach may possess skills that the coach acquired through alternative routes such as relevant job training, community college attendance, military service or an apprenticeship. 3. Have experience working with youth or young adults. 4. Exhibit the belief that all young adults have the capacity to be successful in life. E. The extended foster care success coaching program shall: 1. Operate from an evidence-based framework. 2. Ensure that the young adults served are aware of their rights to normalcy. 3. Assist young adults to advocate with caregivers to experience activities and opportunities that meet individual interests. 4. Support caregivers in identifying root causes of behaviors that present barriers to transition and provide opportunities that assist young adults in healing and addressing underlying trauma. 5. Develop feedback that allows young adults to communicate their needs and satisfaction with provided services. 6. Deliver interventions that are tailored to each young adult's strengths and experiences. F. The department shall solicit agencies to administer the extended foster care comprehensive service model within thirty days after September 26, 2025 and select an agency within ninety days after September 26, 2025. The department shall implement the extended foster care comprehensive service model within one hundred fifty days after September 26, 2025. G. The department shall establish an extended foster care quality review committee within the department consisting of department staff members. The committee shall confirm that a young adult who participates in the extended foster care program meets all of the following: 1. The eligibility criteria. 2. Has connections to supportive adults who are actively involved in the young adult's life. 3. Has a person-centered case and transition plan that supports the young adult's identified goals and future planning. 4. Is acquiring individualized skills to develop the tools that are needed to thrive outside of the extended foster care program. H. On or before November 1 of each year, the department shall submit to the joint legislative budget committee, the senate health and human services committee, or its successor committee, and the house of representatives health and human services committee, or its successor committee, a report on the extended foster care comprehensive service model. The report shall include data and statistics on: 1. The support and services to be offered by the extended foster care comprehensive service model. 2. The extended foster care program's eligibility requirements. 3. The young adult's program responsibilities. 4. Case and transition planning opportunities. 5. Health insurance coverage for young adults in the extended foster care program. 6. Educational opportunities for young adults in the extended foster care program. 7. Opportunities for mentors through the extended foster care program. 8. Transportation services for young adults in the extended foster care program, including obtaining a driver license. 9. Housing, including semisupervised living arrangements if those arrangements best meet the young adult's needs. I. The department shall provide to the joint legislative budget committee a quarterly report that includes all of the following: 1. The number of young adults served in the extended foster care comprehensive service model. 2. The young adult's participation in regular reviews with extended foster care staff. 3. Other performance measures as updated by the extended foster care quality review committee and as determined by the chairperson of the joint legislative budget committee. J. The extended foster care comprehensive service model fund is established consisting of legislative appropriations. The department shall administer the fund. Monies in the fund are continuously appropriated and are exempt from the provisions of section 35-190 relating to lapsing of appropriations. The department shall use monies in the fund for the purposes prescribed in this section. K. For the purposes of this section: 1. "Department" means the department of child safety. 2. "Young adult" means a person who is at least seventeen and one-half years of age and under twenty-one years of age and who participates or will participate in the extended foster care program established pursuant to section 8-521.02.