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Effective: 10/15/2024

G3.1 Title IV-E Determination

Legal Authority

Introduction


Title IV-E provides for federal payments to the states for foster care maintenance and adoption assistance payments made on behalf of certain eligible children. There are two (2) major components of Title IV-E: eligibility and reimbursability.

Title IV-E eligibility is determined by the Children’s Benefits Worker (CBW) in the region that has family case responsibility. When a child is placed in another region, the Title IV-E case is maintained in the region that has family case responsibility. Failure of the SSW to comply with providing the necessary requirements will lead to the child losing benefits.​



Practice Guidance

  • ​The judicial determination for Title IV-E eligibility requires that the results in the child's removal coincide with (i.e. occur at the same time as) the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS/Cabinet) action to physically or constructively remove the child unless the court order specifies an alternative timeframe for removal. 
  • If a court makes a judicial determination that is contrary to the child's welfare to remain at home (without specifying an alternative timeframe) and the child does remain at home and no removal occurs, the requirement for removal is not met and the child is ineligible for Title IV-E.


Procedure

The SSW:

  1. Notifies the children’s benefits worker (CBW) on the day that the agency assumes legal responsibility for the supervision and care of a child;
  2. ​Within ten (10) working days:
    1. ​Completes the DSS-1260 Title IV-E and Child Support Referral in TWIST;
    2. Submits the DSS-1259 Benefits Action Transmittal and all documents listed on it to the CBW;
  3. Notifies the CBW within ten (10) working days of any changes in:
    1. ​Placement;
    2. Custody status;
    3. Termination of parental rights (TPR) status; or
    4. Aid for dependent children (AFDC) relatedness, including:
      1. ​Deprivation of the care and support of one or both parents;
      2. Need (resources and income, including receipt of Social Security Income (SSI) benefits); or
      3. Age (A child loses eligibility and reimbursability at the beginning of the month following his eighteenth (18th) birthday, unless he is enrolled full-time in high school or any equivalent course of study, and can be reasonably expected to graduate prior to the his nineteenth (19th)birthday. When the child meets this expectation, reimbursement may continue until the beginning of the month following the child’s graduation);
  4. ​Ensures that:
    1. ​The wording of the court order states that continuation in the home is contrary to the welfare of the child. This wording is required for the child to be Title IV-E eligible as outlined in this SOP; 
    2. The court certifies that, within the last twelve (12) months, reasonable efforts are being made to finalize a permanency plan or that reasonable efforts to reunify the child and family are not required (must be made at least every twelve (12) months or eligibility will cease); or
    3. The court that orders voluntary commitment contains the appropriate judicial determination within one-hundred eighty (180) days from when the child was removed.


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Documents

Revisions