In Many Cases, the Title IV-E Foster Care Maintenance Rate My Include Additional IV-E Related Items in Addition to the Foster Care Board Rate

Summary

In many cases, the maximum amount of Title IV-E adoption assistance that may be negotiated is higher than the monthly foster care board rate because the actual Title IV-E foster care maintenance payment may also include such additional IV-E related costs as an annual clothing allowance and an annual allowance for personal incidentals.  When negotiating adoption assistance check and see if the county agency includes costs in addition to the foster care board payment as part of its overall IV-E foster care maintenance payment rate.  

The Foster Care Maintenance Payment and the Maximum Amount of Adoption Assistance

Federal adoption assistance law has always held that federal financial participation is available for adoption assistance payments up to the child’s family foster care maintenance payment rate.  In Ohio, the current federal share of adoption assistance and foster care maintenance is 63.07% of the monthly payment.  In negotiating adoption assistance agreements, county agencies are not required to match the child’s family foster care maintenance payment rate.  Rather, the foster care maintenance payment rate functions as practical ceiling on adoption assistance payments.

Over the years, it appears that what may be counted in calculating the foster care maintenance payment has been forgotten.  The monthly foster care maintenance board rate is not necessarily the entire foster care maintenance payment.  Consider the previous Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) rule 5101:2-49-05.  The language has been replaced by more current versions of the rule, but the policy is still valid.  Paragraph (E) of the previous version of OAC 5101:2-49-05 states

To determine the amount the FCM payment would have been if the child had been placed in a foster home operated by the PCSA, the PCSA shall

(1)   Determine the monthly foster care board rate in effect for a foster home of the PCSA completing the AA agreement at the time the most current agreement or modification/amendment to an existing agreement is signed.

(2)   Determine the amount of any special, exceptional or intensive needs difficulty of care payments, clothing payments, school supplies, and other allowable FCM payments which are not part of the daily or monthly foster care board rate, if the same payments are equally available to a Title IV-E and non-Title IV-E child. . . . .   The annual payment shall be divided by twelve and the quotient added to the monthly foster care board rate as described in paragraph (E)(1) of this rule.

What does this mean?  Annual clothing allowances and annual allowances for personal incidentals are common additions to monthly foster care board payments in many Ohio counties.  

Suppose a child’s monthly foster care board payment is $700 per month.  Under the Title IV-E foster care maintenance program the county agency also provides a clothing allowance of $800 per year and an annual allowance for personal incidentals of $600.   

In order to calculate the foster care maintenance payment that establishes the maximum amount the monthly adoption assistance that can be negotiated, one would divide the $800 annual clothing allowance by 12 ($800/12= $66.67).  Then, divide the $600 annual allowance for personal incidentals by 12 ($600/12 = $50).  Then take the $700 monthly foster board rate and add $66.67, plus $50.  The monthly foster care maintenance payment would be $816.67.

$816.67 would be the maximum monthly adoption assistance payment that could be negotiated, instead of $700.  I cited the annual clothing allowance and annual allowance for personal incidentals as examples of costs that could be added to the foster care board rate because they appear to be the most common ones claimed for federal reimbursement under Title IV-E by Ohio county agencies.

Ohio Administrative Code rule (OAC) 5101:2-47-01 lists other items that are potentially eligible for federal reimbursement as foster care maintenance expenses.  Under paragraph (F)

Foster care maintenance costs include the following:

(1) Food.

(2) Clothing.

(3) Shelter.

(4) Daily supervision?

(5) School supplies.

(6) Personal incidentals.

Child care and other costs may be added to the foster board rate to calculate the foster care maintenance payment, which sets the maximum adoption assistance payment.  Some counties cover everything under a single foster care payment including personal incidentals and a clothing allowance.  In other counties, child care may be paid  from a fund other than IV-E.  Adoptive parents should explore the Title IV-E foster care maintenance costs other than the foster board rate that are available and may be claimed for federal reimbursement under IV-E.  

Ask about items such as annual clothing allowance, the annual allowance for personal incidentals, child care and other additional costs that comprise the total foster care maintenance payment.  Adding $100 or more to the maximum adoption assistance payment can help the parents negotiate a higher adoption assistance rate.

Contact me at tpohanlon@gmail.com with additional questions.  This element of federal policy has been forgotten for a number of years.  You are likely to encounter resistance from the county agency.  I have found no evidence that the federal policy outlined in old OAC 5101:2-49-05 has been changed.  It comes down to a matter of what the county agency claims as federally reimbursable under the Title IV-E foster care maintenance program.