PAYMENT TO STATES

Sec. 424. [42 U.S.C. 624] (a) From the sums appropriated therefor and the allotment under this subpart, subject to the conditions set forth in this section, the Secretary shall from time to time pay to each State that has a plan developed in accordance with section 422 an amount equal to 75 per centum of the total sum expended under the plan (including the cost of administration of the plan) in meeting the costs of State, district, county, or other local child welfare services.

(b) The method of computing and making payments under this section shall be as follows:

(1) The Secretary shall, prior to the beginning of each period for which a payment is to be made, estimate the amount to be paid to the State for such period under the provisions of this section.

(2) From the allotment available therefor, the Secretary shall pay the amount so estimated, reduced or increased, as the case may be, by any sum (not previously adjusted under this section) by which he finds that his estimate of the amount to be paid the State for any prior period under this section was greater or less than the amount which should have been paid to the State for such prior period under this section.

(c) Limitation on Use of Federal Funds for Child Care, Foster Care Maintenance Payments, or Adoption Assistance Payments.—The total amount of Federal payments under this subpart for a fiscal year beginning after September 30, 2007, that may be used by a State for expenditures for child care, foster care maintenance payments, or adoption assistance payments shall not exceed the total amount of such payments for fiscal year 2005 that were so used by the State.

(d) Limitation on Use by States of Non-Federal Funds for Foster Care Maintenance Payments to Match Federal Funds.—For any fiscal year beginning after September 30, 2007, State expenditures of non-Federal funds for foster care maintenance payments shall not be considered to be expenditures under the State plan developed under this subpart for the fiscal year to the extent that the total of such expenditures for the fiscal year exceeds the total of such expenditures under the State plan developed under this subpart for fiscal year 2005.

(e)[66] Limitation on Reimbursement for Administrative Costs.—A payment may not be made to a State under this section with respect to expenditures during a fiscal year for administrative costs, to the extent that the total amount of the expenditures exceeds 10 percent of the total expenditures of the State during the fiscal year for activities funded from amounts provided under this subpart.

(e)(1) The Secretary may not make a payment to a State under this subpart for a period in fiscal year 2008, unless the State has provided to the Secretary data which shows, for fiscal year 2007—

(A) the percentage of children in foster care under the responsibility of the State who were visited on a monthly basis by the caseworker handling the case of the child; and

(B) the percentage of the visits that occurred in the residence of the child.

(2)(A) Based on the data provided by a State pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary, in consultation with the State, shall establish, not later than June 30, 2008, an outline of the steps to be taken to ensure, by October 1, 2011, that at least 90 percent of the children in foster care under the responsibility of the State are visited by their caseworkers on a monthly basis, and that the majority of the visits occur in the residence of the child. The outline shall include target percentages to be reached each fiscal year, and should include a description of how the steps will be implemented. The steps may include activities designed to improve caseworker retention, recruitment, training, and ability to access the benefits of technology.

(B) Beginning October 1, 2008, if the Secretary determines that a State has not made the requisite progress in meeting the goal described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, then the percentage that shall apply for purposes of subsection (a) of this section for the period involved shall be the percentage set forth in such subsection (a) reduced by—

(i) 1, if the number of full percentage points by which the State fell short of the target percentage established for the State for the period pursuant to such subparagraph is less than 10;

(ii) 3, if the number of full percentage points by which the State fell short, as described in clause (i), is not less than 10 and less than 20; or

(iii) 5, if the number of full percentage points by which the State fell short, as described in clause (i), is not less than 20.

---

^[66]  P.L. 109-288, §6(e)(1), added paragraph (e), applicable to expenditures made on or after October 1, 2007..