Once an initial determination is made for an eligibility application, there are some changes that can affect the amount of money the state can claim for the child.
If a child meets all of the AFDC and court language criteria at the initial determination, the child is considered “eligible” for Title IV-E during that determination period. Determining eligibility is the first step in the state’s required Title IV-E activities. Once a child is found initially eligible, then other factors are considered to determine the type and level of federal reimbursement that may be claimed on behalf of the child. No federal claiming is permitted for children who do not meet the initial eligibility criteria.
The only time a child, who was initially found to be eligible, can be made ineligible is if there is a review of the case record or information is obtained at a later time and it did NOT support the child’s initial eligibility. If this occurs, the correct information needs to be entered and the initial eligibility will be changed to ineligible. If an eligible child has correctly been determined eligible and is denied, the FCM should work with the help desk to check into a larger system problem.
A person’s eligibility status can change within the same determination period. These status changes affect the amount of money Indiana receives, and retroactively has received, for working with the child. In MaGIK, the worker will be able to see the old eligibility statuses but not why these statuses changed.
For example, Susie is removed from her home and placed with an unlicensed, non-relative resource. At the point of removal, the CEU worker determines Susie to be on the eligible-ish track. When she is placed, Susie’s eligibility status will be ‘No Admin’ because of being placed with an unlicensed resource. As the non-relative resource applies for a license, Susie’s status remains ‘No Admin’ while the application is pending. When the license application gets approved, Susie’s eligibility status changes to ‘eligible’ with a short time of being ‘Claim Admin’.
Only the first eligibility determination is not automated in MaGIK. Every subsequent status change is automatically calculated by the application.
ELIGIBLE: The child remains in care, is IV-E eligible, and the state may claim both admin and maintenance costs on behalf of the child
CLAIM ADMIN: the child remains in care, is IV-E eligible, and the state may claim admin costs only on behalf of the child. The state can claim IV-E administrative funds for:
Children placed with relatives, who apply to be licensed as a foster family home for up to 12 months
Children transitioning from a non-reimbursable setting to a reimbursable setting for one calendar month
Children who are Title IV-E Candidates if reasonable efforts are being made to prevent the removal and the State determines at least once every 6 months that the child remains at imminent risk of removal.
NO ADMIN: Child remains in care and is IV-E eligible, but currently maintenance and admin cannot be claimed
INELIGIBLE: Child was determined ineligible for IV-E at the beginning of the removal episode and is not reimbursable
CLOSED: Child’s episode of care or wardship has ended, and DCS no longer has P&C responsibility for the child. A child can have no gaps in status – “closed” status will act as a filler if needed.
Examples of reimbursability rules in Casebook
When children turn 20 on the first of the month of their of their birthday they will flip to the No Admin status.
The IV-E and Collaborative Care reimbursability rules for older youth employment and education requirement to only affect reimbursability starting on July 1, 2012. If a child turned 18 or 19 before that date, they would be No Admin. Starting July 1, 2012 they might be No Admin for the additional reason of missing the appropriate employment or educational requirement.
The 21st birthday of a child in an open removal episode is not fully reimbursable.