Items that have been deleted can be seen by clicking the Deleted link. 8.3A.9b TITLE IV-E, Foster Care Maintenance Payments Program, Reasonable efforts, to prevent a removal 1. Question: Does the initial "reasonable efforts to prevent removal" determination affect the child's initial eligibility for title IV-E foster care payments, or does this determination constitute FFP criteria for claiming foster care maintenance payments? Show History Answer: Pursuant to the regulations at section 1356.21(b) (1) (ii), judicial determinations regarding reasonable efforts to prevent removal must be made in accordance with the criteria and time frames specified therein, or the child is not eligible under the title IV-E foster care maintenance payments program for the duration of that stay in foster care.
Answer: Pursuant to 45 CFR 1356.21 (b)(1)(i), the State agency must obtain a judicial determination that it either made or was not required to make reasonable efforts to prevent a child's removal from the home no later than 60 days from the date the child was removed from the home. However, the State agency may obtain such a determination earlier than 60 days from the date of removal.
Answer: The requirement for the State to make reasonable efforts to prevent removals is a fundamental protection under the Social Security Act and one of several criteria used in establishing title IV-E eligibility. From both a practice and an eligibility perspective, it is impossible for the State to provide efforts to prevent the removal of a child from home after the fact.
From a practice perspective, the removal of a child from the home, even temporarily, makes a profound impact on a family that cannot be undone. If the child is returned after services have been delivered, or even immediately, the State has reunified the family, not prevented a removal.
The statute requires that title IV-E eligibility be established at the time of a removal. If the State does not make reasonable efforts to prevent a removal or fails to obtain a judicial determination with respect to such efforts, the child can never become eligible for title IV-E funding for that entire foster care episode because there is no opportunity to establish eligibility at a later date.
Answer: Yes. We addressed this issue in the 1998 preamble to the Proposed Rule on Title IV-E Foster Care Eligibility Reviews and Child and Family Services State Plan Reviews (63 FR 50057, 50073). It states that "[w]hile we recognize that concern for the child's safety may preclude efforts to prevent removal, the court must make a reasonable efforts determination. Even when children are removed in emergency situations, the court must consider whether appropriate services were or should have been provided. When the court determines that it was reasonable for the agency to make no effort to provide services to prevent removal [or to return the child home] in light of exigent circumstances discovered through assessment of the family, such as the safety or protection of the child, there must be a judicial determination to that effect." Thus, if there is a judicial determination to the effect that efforts to prevent removal or reunify the family have not been made due to the immediate danger to the child, or that the lack of efforts is appropriate due to the particular circumstances of the case, the reasonable efforts requirements in 45 CFR 1356.21(b)(1) and (2) will be satisfied.
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