Quick Links
Customer Centres
Section 17(3)(j) Foster Parents
THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION BOARD OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
RESOLUTION OF THE PANEL OF ADMINISTRATORS
January 12, 1999
Re: Section 17(3)(j) Foster Parents
WHEREAS:
Pursuant to Section 82 of the Workers Compensation Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 492 and amendments thereto (the "Act"), the Panel of Administrators (the "Panel") must approve and superintend the policies and direction of the Workers' Compensation Board (the "Board"), including policies respecting compensation, assessment, rehabilitation and occupational safety and health, and must review and approve the operating policies of the Board;
AND WHEREAS:
Pursuant to Section 17 of the Act, compensation is payable in fatal cases;
AND WHEREAS:
Pursuant to Section 17(3)(j) of the Act, compensation is payable, in certain circumstances, to a person who acts as a foster parent in taking care of and maintaining the dependent child of a deceased worker;
AND WHEREAS:
The Board's current definition of foster parent is provided in Policy Item #58.00 of the Rehabilitation Services and Claims Manual.
THE PANEL OF ADMINISTRATORS RESOLVES THAT:
- Policy Item #58.00 in the Rehabilitation Services and Claims Manual is amended as shown in the attached Appendix A.
- The amended Policy Item #58.00 is effective on April 1, 1999. The policy applies to all existing and new cases, but creates no entitlement to benefits prior to the effective date.
By the Workers' Compensation Board
Signed with Final Approval February 19, 1999
DON COTT
CHAIR, PANEL OF ADMINISTRATORS
Disclamer: Revision formatting (strikethrough) in this section is supported by Internet Explorer and Netscape Browser Versions 4.0 and higher, and may appear as ordinary text if viewed with older versions.
#58.00 FOSTER-PARENTS
Where the worker leaves no dependent widow or widower, or the widow or widower subsequently dies, and the Board considers it desirable to continue the existing household, and when a suitable person acts as a foster-parent in keeping up the household and taking care of and maintaining the children entitled to compensation, in a manner satisfactory to the Board, the same allowance shall be payable to the foster-parent and children as would have been payable to a widow or widower and children, and shall continue as long as the conditions continue.
A foster-parent means a person who rears as one of their own
family the child of another. Thus the natural parents cannot be the "foster-parents"
of their own child.
A foster parent means a person who assumes responsibility for the care and maintenance of a dependent child or children. For the purposes of Section 17(3)(j) of the Act, a foster parent may include a natural parent who did not have physical custody of the child or children at the time of the workplace fatality.
The allowance includes the lump sum payable to widows or widowers referred to in #55.10.
Similar rules apply in regard to deaths occurring prior to July 1, 1974, although the wording of the Act is slightly different.