6.__Duration of guardianship subsidy.__Under the program, assistance may be provided for a period of time based on the special needs of a child.__Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the duration of the subsidy may continue until the termination of the permanency guardianship or until the permanency guardian is no longer supporting the child, at which time the guardianship subsidy ceases.__If the child has need of educational benefits or has a physical, mental or emotional handicap, the guardianship subsidy may continue until the child has attained 21 years of age if the child, the parents and the department agree that the need for care and support exists.

7.__Administration of program.__Applications for the program may be submitted by a prospective permanency guardian.__A written agreement between the family entering into the program and the department must precede the order under section 4038-C creating the permanency guardianship, except that an application may be filed subsequent to the creation of the permanency guardianship if there were facts relevant to the child's eligibility that were not presented at the time of the request for the subsidy or if the child was eligible for participation in the program at the time of placement and the permanency guardian was not apprised of the program.

8.__Annual redetermination required.__If the subsidy continues for more than one year, the need for the subsidy must be annually redetermined. The subsidy continues regardless of the state in which the permanency guardian resides, or the state to which the permanency guardian moves, if the family continues to be eligible based on the annual redetermination of need.

9.__Death of permanency guardian.__Upon the death of all persons serving as permanency guardian for a child, the subsidy under the program may be transferred to a new legal guardian if the child continues to be eligible for the guardianship subsidy pursuant to the terms of the most recent agreement with the permanency guardian. The department shall enter into a new agreement with the new legal guardian.

10.__Adoption of rules.__The department shall adopt rules for the program consistent with this section.__Those rules are routine technical rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.

Sec. 7. 22 MRSA §4052, sub-§2-A, ķA, as amended by PL 2003, c. 408, §7, is further amended to read: