P.L. 110-351: Child Welfare Services for Tribal Children

1. P.L. 110-351: Child Welfare Services for Tribal Children David Simmons, Director of Government Affairs and Advocacy Terry L. Cross, Executive Director NICWA 503-222-4044, ext. 119 desimmons@nicwa.org

2. New Funding and Services P.L. 110-351 (Section 301) provides new funding to support a variety of services for tribal children under tribal jurisdiction, including foster care, adoption and guardianship placements, and independent living services.

3. Why is 110-351 Important? • 110-351 can help tribes meet placement needs as they rise (open ended entitlement). • Can provide opportunities to shift non-IV-E funds to services that prevent removal. • Provides training and administration funding that other sources don’t. • Strengthen ICWA authority and relationships with state agencies.

4. Treatment/mental health services Child protection services Family or in home services What IV-E Does Not Pay

5. Allows for tribes, tribal organizations and tribal consortium to operate IV-E. (effective October 1, 2009). Can operate through agreement or direct funding Can apply anytime after effective date for reimbursement. Key Provisions of 110-351

6. Overview • Within the Title IV-E program there are 3 different components: maintenance, administrative and training. • Each have different policy, administrative and fiscal requirements. • In order to successfully apply for and operate the program you will need to have addressed each of these areas.

7. Reimbursement Maintenance FMAP x Penetration Rate x Maintenance Payment = federal reimbursement FMAP: Federal Medical Asst. Payment Penetration Rate: % of total # of children in care that are IV-E eligible Example: 75% x 80% x $400 = $240

8. Reimbursement Administration Eligible Admin. Costs x Penetration Rate x 50% (IV-E Admin. match rate) = federal reimbursement Admin. costs are determined by time study with staff performing IV-E services - % of staff salary or other direct costs related to IV-E activities Example: $1000 x 80% x 50% = $400

9. Reimbursement Training Eligible training costs x penetration rate x 75% (IV-E training match rate) = federal reimbursement Training costs are direct costs of training specific to IV-E activities. Training for social work staff and care providers. IV-E training match rates are graduated for training of other personnel involved in IV-E. Example: $2000 x 80% x 75% = $1200

10. Key Provisions of 110-351 • States must negotiate in good faith if tribe requests an agreement. • Eligibility for tribal children is based in part upon the child’s family meeting an income eligibility standard (must have been eligible for AFDC under 1996 standards). • Tribes define their service area and population.

11. Key Provisions of 110-351 • Tribes can develop their own Federal Medical Assistance Payment rate (FMAP) rather than having to use the state’s rate. • FMAP is based upon the per capita income of the tribal area population and determines the amount of federal match payments that tribes receive for foster care payments (maintenance payments to caregivers).

12. Key Provisions of 110-351 • As an incentive to states to continue agreements with tribes, they can use the tribe’s FMAP instead of their own. Many states provide some of the non-federal match to tribes in agreements and this would decrease the amount states would need to provide.

13. Key Provisions of 110-351 Any Indian child currently receiving Title IV-E benefits will not have their benefits terminated as a result of this legislation, regardless of whether an existing tribal-state agreement remains in force.

14. Key Provisions of 110-351 • Tribes can utilize their own foster care standards as long as they are reasonably in accord with standards developed by national organizations (NICWA has approved standards). • Tribes and states may waive non-safety licensing standards for relative care providers on a case-by-case basis (see Section 104) and IV-E agencies must provide due diligence to identify and provide notice to adult relatives when a relative child is placed into care (see Section 103).

15. Key Provisions of 110-351 • Must provide evidence of no uncorrected significant or material exceptions under Federal grants or contracts related to the administration of social services for 3 years prior to application. • Non-Federal Match Payments – tribes can use several sources, both cash and in-kind, for meeting the non-federal match requirements. • Cash sources can include tribal, state, federal (638 and self governance funds) and private (charitable organization).

16. Key Provisions of 110-351 • Nunc pro tunc (now for then) tribal court orders and affidavits can be used to make children eligible for IV-E where a previous court order did not address the “contrary to the welfare” requirement. • This is valid for 12 months after the tribal IV-E plan takes effect.

17. Key Provisions of 110-351 • Tribes can receive Chafee Independent Living funds directly through an application to DHHS or through an agreement with a state. • States are required to negotiate in good faith with tribes requesting agreements.

18. Minimum Requirements Tribal court Tribal child welfare services agency Fiscal management Data collection and reporting Foster care recruitment and licensing Assessing Current Capacity

19. Assessing Current Capacity Understanding the data: • How many children are placed in out of home care on an annual basis? • How many of these might be IV-E eligible (penetration rate)? • How would the distribution of tribal revenues to families and children affect their eligibility?

20. Assessing Current Capacity Understanding the data: • What do you estimate the Federal Medical Assistance Payment rate would be in our service area? • How much federal funding might you be able to secure in administrative and training reimbursements? • How many tribal foster care, adoptive and guardianship homes are currently licensed?

21. Assessing Current Capacity Relationships: • Have you identified collaboration partners (i.e. states, counties, tribal and private agencies)? • Do key leaders, staff and partners understand the challenges and benefits of IV-E? • Do they understand their roles and are they on board with your plan?

22. Assessing Current Capacity Programmatic Assessment: • Service delivery system (array of services and capacity). • Program procedures (guide work). • Personnel (fiscal, social work, court and management). • Data collection capabilities (hardware, software, support and training).

23. Assessing Current Capacity Fiscal Assessment: • Income eligibility determinations (could also be done by CW agency). • Cost allocation capacity. • Coordination of matching funds. • Reporting

24. Assessing Current Capacity Policy Assessment: • Tribal juvenile codes • Court procedures • Agreements/contracts with partners • Foster care, adoptive and guardianship home licensing standards

25. Assessing Current Capacity Training Assessment: • Training needs of care providers, social workers, court personnel and others. • Training resources (trainers, curriculum, etc.)

26. Assessing Current Capacity Evaluation: • Data system design that captures both federal data requirements and tribal management data. • Process for regular program level evaluation and corrective action. • Process for participating in federal reviews.

27. IV-E Decision-Making Matrix • Scope and Intent • Developed by NICWA with support from Casey Family Programs in 2009/2010 • Designed primarily for tribes interested in pursuing direct funding • To help tribes measure their readiness for operating IV-E • Provides information on key issues related to program infrastructure and requirements

28. IV-E Decision-Making Matrix • Suggested Process • Develop a tribal IV-E study team (e.g. tribal leadership, child welfare, court, fiscal, licensing, and other key service providers and/or community members) • Use Decision Making Matrix, Fiscal Calculator, and other TA resources to learn more about the IV-E program (utilize regional office ACF staff) • Develop a TA plan to address needs and strategies for meeting needs • Become familiar with TA providers and how they can best meet your needs (e.g. peer-to-peer, consultants, Indian organizations, and ACF network)

29. IV-E Decision-Making Matrix Format • Organized by identified key domain areas (10 plus a final section on additional considerations) • Each of the 10 domain areas contain • key federal program requirement areas • opportunities contained within the requirements • discussion regarding practice and policy implications and approaches • available resources, where applicable Disclaimer: The “Tribal Title IV-E Decision Making Matrix” is not an exhaustive list of all IV-E program requirements.

30. NICWA IV-E Fiscal Calculator Format • Excel Workbook including 12 interconnected spreadsheets • Estimates potential reimbursement based on available data • Conforms to federal program requirements • Requires on-site TA (available from NICWA on a fee for services or collaborative funding basis) Disclaimer: The “Tribal Title IV-E Fiscal Calculator” is for estimation only and it accuracy is dependent on available data.

31. Other Resources in 110-351 • Section 302 of the bill – $3 million of new funding for technical assistance and one-time start up grants each year for tribes (effective October 7, 2008). • TA for tribes operating IV-B or IV-E programs. • Start up grants for tribes seeking to apply for IV-E (two years maximum - up to $300,000 per year).

32. www.nicwa.org National Indian Child Welfare Association Let us put our minds together and see what kind of life we can build for our children - Sitting Bull