Monday, November 15, 2010

State's Title IV-E Financial Participation Rate at $250 Through June 30, 2011

If you have not already heard, last June, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) raised the state's Title IV-E financial participation rate (FFP) from a maximum of $240 per month to a maximum of $250 per month though June 30, 2011. (See Family, Children, and Adult Services Procedure Letter No. 195, June 18, 2010. Procedure Letter 196 announced the maximum state adoption maintenance subsidy would be $250 per month for the same period. June 30, 2011, marks the end of State Fiscal Year 2011.


The county agency must provide the non federal portion of any adoption assistance payment over $250. The non-federal financial participation rate for both the state and county remains at 31.66% until at least December 31, 2010. The federal financial participation rate is 68.34%.


Although, the increase in the state's FFP is modest to say the least, it appears that some county agencies have not gotten the word. Adoptive parents in need of an additional $10 per month, can request an amendment to their current adoption assistance agreements if they choose.


The state's FFP in Ohio is one of the lowest in the entire country. The opportunity of adoptive parents in Ohio to receive at all adequate Title IV-E adoption assistance payments for their special children rests entirely on their ability to negotiate agreements with county agencies based upon considerations of the overall needs of the child and the overall circumstances of the adoptive family. Federal and OAC rule 5101:2-49-01 support a negotiation process that considers:

the ordinary and special needs of the child projected over an extended period of
time and should cover anticipated needs, e.g., child care; AND


the adopting family's capacity to incorporate the child into their household in
relation to their lifestyle, standard of living and future plans, as well as
their overall capacity to meet the immediate and future needs (including
educational) of the child.

Ultimately, an adequate adoption assistance payment depends upon the adoptive parents' ability to secure an agreement with the county agency to contribute a certain level of matching funds (FFP) in secure a sufficient level of federal funding and bring the adoption assistance payment above $250 per month and closer to the child's appropriate foster home payment rate.

The Announcement of the state's FFP for Title IV-E adoption assistance rate may be found on the ODJFS web site. To find the foster care survey, go to the ODJFS web site at http://jfs.ohio.gov. Then, click on: Adoption, Site Index, eManuals, Family, Children and Adult Services Manual , FCASM Procedure Letters.

Friday, November 12, 2010

2010 Ohio County Foster Care Rates and Federal Financial Participation in Title IV-E Adoption Assistance

Family, Children, and Adult Services (FCASM) Procedure Letter No. 203, published on September 17, 2010 includes an attachment which reports as 2010 survey of foster care rates in Ohio Counties. The federal financial participation (FFP) rate for Title IV-E adoption assistance is based upon the individual child's appropriate foster care rate. Specifically, FFP is available up to the Family, Children, and Adult Services (FCASM) Procedure Letter No. 203, published on September 17, 2010 includes an attachment which reports as 2010 survey of foster care rates in Ohio Counties. The federal financial participation (FFP) rate for Title IV-E adoption assistance is based upon the individual child's appropriate foster care rate. Specifically, FFP is available up to the rate the child would receive if he or she were in a foster home suitable to the child's level of care. The current FFP rate, at least under December 31, 2010, is 68.34%.



To find the foster care survey, go to the ODJFS web site at http://jfs.ohio.gov/. Then, click on
Adoption, Site Index, eManuals, Family, Children and Adult Services Manual , FCASM Procedure Letters. NOTE: The survey does make it clear whether the published foster care rates include monthly payments on behalf of children whose care is provided by outside foster care service agencies under contract with the county agency. Contracting with outside sfoster care services providers has been a long term and expanding trend in Ohio. Often these providers support homes for children with higher, specialized levels of care and children receive relatively higher levels of monthly support. In examining the survey, the adoptive parent should ask if the published rates include foster homes provided through outside service providers.


Knowing the range of county foster care rates can aid adoptive parents in the negotiation of adoption assistance agreements.


FFP functions as kind of a practical ceiling on adoption assistance payment rates because anything amount over the foster home rate must be paid entirely from County funds. Needless to say, county agencies are reluctant to agree to such an arrangement. The foster home rate with respect to FFP in adoption assistance refers to the level of foster care the child would receive today were he or she in a foster home rather than in an adoptive setting.
Just as foster home rates are subject to change based on the child's age and level of care, so does available FFP with respect to adoption assistance.



For example, let's suppose the adoptive parents negotiate an initial adoption assistance agreement of $450 based upon their three year old child's foster care rate of $500 per month. By the time, the child reaches the age of eight, he has been diagnosed with serious developmental and emotional problems. Given his age and level of care, were he placed in an appropriate foster home, the monthly payment would be $1,000 because he would be regarded as a child with a specialized level of care. If the adoptive parents, in experiencing these changes, decide to request an amendment in the initial adoption assistance agreement and an increase in the monthly adoption assistance payment to better reflect the child's current needs and family circumstances, the potential FFP would be $1,000 per month. The county agency is not required to negotiate an revised agreement for $1,000, but federal financial participation is available for an amended adoption assistance agreement up to $1,000 a month.



It shouldbe noted that with respect to federal financial participation in adoption assistance, the applicable foster rate is the level of support the child receives or would receive in a foster home. It makes no diffetrence whether it is a so called "agency home" or one provided through a service provider under contract with the agency.


Section 8.1E of the federal Child Welfare Policy Manual asks and answers the following question.
1. Question: Under the title IV-E foster care program may the title IV-E State agency contract for some child foster care functions (administrative or otherwise) and still be eligible for Federal financial participation (FFP), as long as the State agency retains responsibility for the placement and care of the child?

Answer: Yes. Under title IV-E, such functions as training, recruiting or licensing of foster homes for which the State contracts with private agencies are defined as allowable costs for the proper administration of the State plan and may be claimed for purposes of Federal financial participation (FFP). Responsibility for the placement and care of the foster child, however, must remain with the State agency.

•Source/Date: ACYF-CB-PIQ-82-07 (8/25/82)
•Legal and Related References: Social Security Act - section 474 (a)(3)(B)

If FFP is avaialble for foster service providers under contract with county agencies, then it is obviously the rate of available FFP in the negotiation of adoption assistance agreements. If a child in a therapeutic foster home provided under through Elysian Fields Foster Care Services under contract with Buckeye County is receiving $1,600 per month, then FFP is available for an adoption assistance payment of up to $1,600 per month.