Utah Title IV-E Foster Care Eligibility Review

Utah Title IV-E
Foster Care Eligibility Review
For the period
October 1, 2004 to March 31, 2005

Introduction

The Utah Department of Human Services, Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) staff, in partnership with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) staff from the Central and Regional Offices, conducted a IV-E Foster Care Eligibility Review, in Salt Lake City, September 12 through 15, 2005.

The purpose of the Title IV-E Foster Care Eligibility Review was to evaluate the accuracy by the state in claiming Federal Financial Participation (FFP) and assure that appropriate maintenance payments were made on behalf of eligible children placed in eligible homes and institutions.

Scope of the Review

The Utah Title IV-E Eligibility Review encompassed all Title IV-E foster care cases in the state during the period of October 1, 2004 through March 31, 2005. A computerized statistical sample of eighty-eight cases (eighty cases are to be reviewed, however an over-sample of eight cases are added, subject to any case disqualification) was drawn from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data, which was transmitted by the state agency to ACF. ACF then provided a statistical sampling frame that consists of individual children who received at least one Title IV-E foster care maintenance payment during the six-month period noted previously. For each case, the child's file was reviewed for documentation which supported the determination of Title IV-E eligibility and that the home, foster care home and/or institution in which the child was placed, was licensed during the period under review./p>

Case Record Summary

The eligibility review of eighty cases was Utah's Primary Review and of the sampling frame one case was determined to be ineligible for Title IV-E maintenance payments and one case was determined to be a non-error case because the disallowance was determined to be outside the period under review. For primary reviews "the acceptable population ineligibility case rate threshold is . . . "less than 10 percent (four or fewer ineligible cases)." The Utah Department of Human Services, Division of Child and Family Services has been determined to be in substantial compliance with Title IV-E requirements. Specific information on the error case and the non-error case, is as follows:

Case One - Case ID 030165928

Error Case - Best Interest Language/Ineligible for custody episode.

The overpayment amount is $2,052 during the period of March 4, 2005 until August 31, 2005. The federal regulation requires that judicial determinations be made per 45 CFR 1356.71(d)(1)(i).

Case Two - Case ID 030497833

Non-Error Case -- Foster Care Provider is conditionally licensed outside the period-under-review. The overpayment amount is $2,741for May and June during the period May 7, 2004 until June 30, 2004. The federal regulation requires that the provider be determined by the state to designate full licensure per Title 45 CFR 1356.71(d)(1)(iv).

THE TOTAL DISALLOWED AMOUNT FOR MAINTENANCE IS $4,793.

The IV-E Eligibility Review Team also made comments that will provide further insights into the process and findings. These comments are located in The Appendix section of the Summary of Issues.