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3000 Introduction to Program

3100 Purpose

Title IV-E Finance Handbook for County Contracts August 2009

Title IV-E funding was established to enable each state to provide, in appropriate cases:

  ·  foster care and transitional independent living for children who otherwise would have been eligible for assistance from Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC), as the AFDC program existed on July 16, 1996; and

  ·  adoption assistance for children with special needs.

3200 Program Introduction

Title IV-E Finance Handbook for County Contracts August 2009

The Children’s Bureau, within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), administers the Title IV-E foster care program.

The original provisions of Title IV-E of the Social Security Act were passed in 1981. The provisions provide federal financial participation (FFP) to states to partially offset the costs of the maintenance and administrative activities associated with the provision of foster care.

Federal reimbursement is provided at different rates for:

  ·  foster care maintenance payments, including the costs of shelter, food, and clothing;

  ·  administrative costs necessary for the proper and efficient placement of the child, including case management, eligibility determination, and court preparation; and

  ·  administration of the state plan for training staff and foster parents.

The federal financial participation (FFP) rate for foster care maintenance payments is equal to each state’s federal medical assistance percentage rate (FMAP). The FFP for Title IV-E administrative activities is 50 percent. The FFP for Title IV-E eligible training expenditures is 75 percent.

DFPS is the only state agency that administers Title IV-E in Texas.

In addition to authorizing federal reimbursement for state foster care programs, Title IV-E covers state programs for adoption assistance, adoption incentive payments through the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA), and foster care independence through the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program.

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