Land

This appeal raises the issue of whether indigent children who did not reside with their parent or other legal guardian for more than six months prior to the date that the department of children and family services (DCFS) petitioned to officially remove them from custody of the parent or guardian can establish the “AFDC linkage” needed to qualify for federal foster care payments under former section 672 of title 42 of the United States Code. Each of the children involved here had been abandoned by his or her biological parents to the care of relatives more than six months prior to the date that DCFS filed a petition to remove from parental custody and place with a foster family. In each case, the petitions were granted and the children formally placed in the custody of the relatives who had been voluntarily assuming their care prior to the petition. Each of the children was receiving benefits under the federal Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) program through payment to the relative with whom they were residing at the time the petition to remove from parental custody was filed. In addition, each of the children would have been eligible for AFDC benefits had…