Ohio Administrative Code|Rule 5101:2-47-12 | Title IV-E foster care maintenance (FCM): Initial determination of program eligibility and reimbursability.

                                                
(A) The FCM initial program eligibility
		  shall be determined in the statewide automated child welfare information system
		  (SACWIS) by the Title IV-E agency representative within sixty days of the time
		  the agency receives legal responsibility for the care and placement/custody of
		  the child. If the eligibility determination was made in error the FCM
		  eligibility determination can be corrected.
(B)  FCM program eligibility remains for
		  a child for whom the responsibility for care and placement/custody has been
		  transferred from another public or private agency to the Title IV-E agency. FCM
		  program eligibility shall be determined once per removal episode based on the
		  original court order which removed the child from a specified
		  relative.
(C) A child shall be considered FCM program eligible if, at the
		  time the child enters care:
(1) The Title IV-E agency
			 has legal responsibility for the care and placement/custody of the child as
			 described in rule 5101:2-47-13 of the Administrative Code; and
(2) The child met the aid
			 to dependent children (ADC)-relatedness requirements as described in rule
			 5101:2-47-14 of the Administrative Code except when:
(a) A child's placement is with a parent in a
				substance use disorder (SUD) residential facility, as defined in rule
				5101:2-1-01 of the Administrative Code, in which case ADC-relatedness is not
				required. 
(b) A child who is a candidate for Title IV-E prevention
				services as described in rule 5101:2-45-02 of the Administrative Code is in the
				home of a kinship caregiver, as defined in section 5101.85 of the Revised Code,
				for more than six-months, the ADC requirement of living with a specified
				relative within the last six months is not required. 
(D)  A Title IV-E agency may complete a
		  FCM eligibility determination in SACWIS later than sixty days of the
		  child's entry into the legal responsibility for the care and
		  placement/custody of the agency if the Title IV-E agency documents that there
		  were extenuating circumstances preventing completion within the sixty day
		  period.
(E) Once FCM initial eligibility is
		  established, the child remains program eligible for the entire custody episode
		  through the end of the month of the child's eighteenth birthday. The
		  following exceptions may occur:
(1) FCM eligibility may
			 continue beyond his or her eighteenth birthday if there is documentation from
			 the educational provider that the child is a full-time student reasonably
			 expected to complete high school or equivalent level of vocational or technical
			 training prior to his or her nineteenth birthday.
(2) If the child, who was
			 placed with a parent in a SUD residential facility, is no longer placed with
			 the parent and is in any other placement type, eligibility that excluded
			 ADC-relatedness shall be reviewed for continuing eligibility.
(F)  The child is no longer program eligible for FCM when any of
		  the following occur:
(1) At the end of the
			 month of the child's eighteenth birthday except as stated in paragraph (E)
			 of this rule.
(2) The child entered
			 care as a result of a JFS 01645 "Agreement for Temporary Custody of
			 Child" pursuant to rules 5101:2-42-06 and 5101:2-42-08 of the
			 Administrative Code and the agency failed to acquire a best interest statement
			 in accordance with rules 5101:2-42-08 and 5101:2-47-13 of the Administrative
			 Code from the juvenile court. Eligibility ends at the end of the thirtieth day
			 of the executed JFS 01645.
(3) The child entered care as a result of
			 a JFS 01666 "Permanent Surrender of Child" pursuant to rules
			 5101:2-42-09 and 5101:2-47-13 of the Administrative Code and the agency failed
			 to acquire a judicial determination of best interest and reasonable efforts in
			 accordance with rules 5101:2-39-01, 5101:2-47-13 and 5101:2-47-22 of the
			 Administrative Code. Eligibility ends at the end of the one hundred eightieth
			 day of the executed JFS 01666.
(4)  The Title IV-E agency's legal
			 responsibility for the child ends. Eligibility ends at the end of the day legal
			 responsibility ends. Any subsequent removal of the child from his home
			 constitutes a new removal episode and will require a new program eligibility
			 determination in accordance with this rule.
(5) The child is no
			 longer placed with a parent in a SUD residential facility, unless the child
			 meets the ADC-relatedness eligibility criteria.
(6) The child dies. Eligibility ends on
			 the date of death.
(G) A new FCM eligibility determination in SACWIS shall be
		  completed when any of the following occur:
(1) The Title IV-E
			 agency's responsibility for the child terminates and the child reenters
			 care through court action or via a JFS 01645 or a JFS 01666 at a later
			 date.
(2) A trial home visit
			 exceeds six months and has not been authorized by the court, or exceeds the
			 time period the court has deemed appropriate and the child is subsequently
			 returned to foster care. The month the child is returned to foster care is the
			 month in which eligibility shall be determined.
(3) A child who was
			 initially determined ineligible based on not meeting ADC-relatedness and is now
			 placed with a parent in SUD residential facility becomes program eligible by
			 excluding the ADC- relatedness factors.
(H)  FCM initial program reimbursability shall be determined for
		  a child who is FCM program eligible at the time the child entered care. A FCM
		  program eligible child shall be reimbursable when both of the following
		  apply:
(1) The child's
			 countable income is less than the cost of care paid by the agency.
(2) The child is placed
			 in a setting which is licensed, certified or approved, by ODJFS or another
			 state agency with such authority as outlined in rule 5101:2-47-16 of the
			 Administrative Code.
(I) The child is no longer program reimbursable for FCM when any
		  of the following occur:
(1) Reasonable efforts to
			 finalize the permanency plan are not met in accordance with rule 5101:2-47-22
			 of the Administrative Code.
(2) The child is not
			 placed in a setting that is licensed, certified or approved, as outlined in
			 rule 5101:2-47-16 of the Administrative Code.
(J) If a child is eligible for both supplemental security income
		  (SSI) and FCM benefits, the Title IV-E agency may choose to do one of the
		  following based on the child's cost of care:
(1) Receive both benefits
			 concurrently. If the Title IV-E agency chooses to receive both benefits, the
			 FCM payment (including both non-federal and federal dollars) is considered
			 income for the determination of SSI eligibility and reduces the amount of the
			 SSI payment dollar for dollar. If the FCM payment is in excess of the SSI
			 payment, the child will not receive a SSI payment.
(2) The Title IV-E agency
			 may pay for the placement cost with local (non-federal) dollars, which are not
			 considered income for SSI eligibility, and receive the SSI benefit for
			 reimbursement of the placement cost.
(K) If the child receives any type of income or resources while
		  in the legal responsibility of care and placement /custody of a Title IV-E
		  agency, that income or resource shall be entered into SACWIS.


Last updated October 1, 2021 at 8:42 AM