Effective October 30, 1998, foster children are eligible for coverage as family members under Option C.

To qualify for coverage as a foster child, the child must meet the following requirements:

The child must live with the insured employee, annuitant, or compensationer;

The parent-child relationship (as defined in § 870.101) must be with the insured employee, annuitant, or compensationer, not the biological parent;

The employee, annuitant, or compensationer must be the primary source of financial support for the child; and

The employee, annuitant, or compensationer must expect to raise the child to adulthood.

A child placed in an insured individual's home by a welfare or social service agency under an agreement by which the agency retains control of the child or pays for maintenance does not qualify as a foster child.

An insured individual wishing to cover a foster child must sign a certification stating that the child meets all the requirements and that he/she will notify the employing office or retirement system if the child marries, moves out of the home, or stops being financially dependent on the employee, annuitant, or compensationer.

The employing office or retirement system must keep the signed certification in the insured individual's file, along with other life insurance forms.

A foster child who moves out of the insured individual's home to live with a biological parent loses eligibility and cannot again be covered as a foster child unless:

The biological parent dies;

The biological parent is imprisoned;

The biological parent becomes unable to care for the child due to a disability; or

The employee, annuitant, or compensationer obtains a court order taking parental responsibility away from the biological parent.