18 Miss. Code. R. 6-1-E-I
Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS)/ Division of Family and Children's Services (DFCS) has been designated to administer or supervise the administration of the Title IV-E State Plan. DFCS also administers or supervises the administration of the State Child Welfare Services Plan under Subpart 1 of Title IV-B of the Social Security Act.
With direction from the youth court, DFCS has the responsibility for placing children in Resource Homes or child care institutions. Payments are made for each child whose placement and care in a Resource Home or child care institution is the responsibility of DFCS, which administers the approved State Title IV-E plan, or any other public agency with whom the DFCS has made an agreement, which is still in effect.
The Title IV-E Program, authorized by Title IV, Part E of the Social Security Act, provides funds to states for maintaining certain children in foster care or in adoptive families. It also provides funds for the administration of the program and for the training of staff who work with the children. Children classified as Title IV-E eligible must have some relationship to the general Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program under Title IV, Part A of the Social Security Act and must meet certain other criteria outlined in this Section.
Other funds used for board payments are Title IV-B, (Subpart 1), Child Welfare Service (CWS) or through local funds. Local funds are available when a child has income available to cover all or part of the monthly board payment. Local funds are used in conjunction with Title IV-E and CWS funds. Medicaid is funded through Title XIX.
For purposes of title XIX, any child with respect to whom foster care maintenance payments are made under this section is deemed to be a dependent child as defined in section 406 (as in effect as of July 16, 1996) and deemed to be a recipient of aid to families with dependent children under part A of this title (as so in effect). For purposes of subtitle I of title XX, any child with respect to whom foster care maintenance payments are made under this section is deemed to be a minor child in a needy family under a State program funded under part A of this title and is deemed to be a recipient of assistance under such part. (42 U.S.C. 672 § 472(h)(1)
The Title IV-E program is coordinated at the local level with the programs at the State or local level assisted under Titles IV-A, IV-B and XX of the Act and under all appropriate provisions of Federal law. The Title IV-E plan for foster care and adoption assistance payments is in effect in all political subdivisions of the State and is mandatory upon those political subdivisions administering it.
Payments:
* Foster care maintenance payments for a child in foster care may cover the cost of (and the cost of providing) the following:
* food,
* clothing,
* shelter,
* daily supervision,
* school supplies,
* a child's personal incidentals,
* liability insurance with respect to the child,
* reasonable travel to the child's home for visitation with family, or other caretakers
* reasonable travel for the child to remain in the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement.
Local travel associated with providing the items listed above is also an allowable expense. In the case of child care institutions, such items must include the reasonable costs of administration and operation of such institutions as are necessarily required to provide the items described in the preceding sentences. (See Social Security Act, Sec. 472 (b)(1) & (2))
Title IV-E benefits are an individual entitlement for certain children in out-of-home placement. There are two major categories of IV-E status Eligibility and Reimbursability.
Eligibility is determined in accordance with a voluntary placement agreement or a judicial determination. The "contrary to the welfare" determination must be made in the first court ruling that sanctions (even temporarily) the removal of a child from home. If the determination regarding "contrary to the welfare" is not made in the first court ruling pertaining to removal from the home, the child will not be eligible for Title IV-E foster care maintenance payments for the duration of that stay in foster care. (42 U.S.C. 672 § 472(a) (2) (A)(ii)); 45 CFR § 1356.21(b)(1)(ii)
Eligibility is determined when the child enters an out-of-home placement. A child is Title IV-E eligible if the basic criteria are met when the child entered care. Eligibility for foster care funding and Medicaid is an ongoing process which involves:
Reimbursability is determined on a monthly basis. The reimbursability criteria must be met for the state to receive federal support for the child. An assessment of several Title IV-E criteria is required to determine whether the child is federally reimbursable in any particular month. The child must be eligible to be reimbursable. However, once eligibility is established, a child may lose and regain reimbursability depending on changes in the circumstances of placement.
Foster board payments may be made to Resource Homes, group homes, emergency homes, or other facilities licensed by the agency for the purpose of providing foster care.
Administrative costs associated with a child who is potentially eligible for benefits under Title IV-E State Plan and at imminent risk of removal from the home, shall be considered for expenditure only if (a) reasonable efforts are being made to prevent the need for, or if necessary to pursue, removal of the child from the home and (b) a determination or re-determination has occurred not less often than every 6 months as to whether the child remains at imminent risk of removal from the home.
There are several criteria which a child must meet to be eligible for Title IV-E benefits. The eligibility conditions are summarized first, followed by a detailed discussion. The key factor of Title IV-E eligibility is the correct wording of the court order.
A removal of a child from the home must occur through either a written voluntary placement agreement, binding on all parties to the agreement, entered into by a parent or other legal guardian which leads to a physical or constructive removal (i.e., a non-physical or paper removal of custody) of the child from the home, or through a judicial order for a physical or constructive removal of the child from a parent or specified relative. (42 U.S.C. 672 § 472(a)(2)(A)(i-ii))
A removal has not occurred in situations where legal custody is removed from the parent or specified relative but the child remains with the same specified relative in that home under supervision by the MDHS/DFCS. A child is considered constructively removed on the date of the first judicial order removing custody, even temporarily, from the parent or appropriate specified relative or the date that the voluntary placement agreement is signed by all relevant parties. 45 CFR 1356.21(k)
18 Miss. Code. R. 6-1-E-I