Effective Dates of Provisions

Effective October 1, 2008

The Adoption Incentives Program is reauthorized, revised and expanded, effective October 1, 2008, through September 30, 2013;
States now have option to provide kinship guardianship assistance payments to certain Title IV-E eligible children and receive matching federal funds;
HHS is authorized to award competitive, matching grants to State, local, or Tribal child welfare agencies, and private non-profit organizations for the purpose of helping children who are in or are at-risk of entering into foster care reconnect with family members through: (1) kinship navigator programs; (2) efforts to find biological family and reestablish relationships; (3) family group decision-making meetings; or, (4) residential family treatment programs. $15 million is appropriated each year for the family connection grants for October 1, 2008, through September 30, 2013. $5 million of the appropriated funds in each year are reserved for grants to implement kinship navigator programs;
State Title IV-E agencies can now claim the costs of short-term training of: relative guardians; private child welfare agency staff providing services to children receiving Title IV-E assistance; child abuse and neglect court personnel; agency, child or parent attorneys; guardians ad litem; and, court appointed special advocates. The federal financial participation (FFP) rate of federal reimbursement for such training costs changes each year over a five-year period. For the period October 7, 2008, through September 30, 2009, inclusive, the FFP rate for such training costs changes is 55%;
HHS required to provide technical assistance and implementation services to Tribes seeking to operate Title IV-B and IV-E programs or enter into cooperative agreements with States under the new provisions of the Act. HHS is also authorized to make one-time grants of up to $300,000 to Tribes that apply for funding to assist in developing a Title IV-E plan to implement a Title IV-E program directly.
A new Title IV-E state plan requirement has been added that Title IV-E agencies exercise due diligence to identify and notify all adult relatives of a child within 30 days of the child's removal, of the relatives' options to become a placement resource for the child;
A new Title IV-E state plan requirement has been added for states to provide assurances that each child receiving a Title IV-E foster care, adoption or guardianship payment is a full-time elementary or secondary school student, or is incapable of attending school due to a documented medical condition;
A new Title IV-E state plan requirement is added that Title IV-E agencies must make reasonable efforts to place siblings removed from their home in the same foster care, adoption or guardianship placement, or facilitate visitation or ongoing contacts with those that cannot be placed together, unless it is contrary to the safety or well-being of any of the siblings to do so;
A new Title IV-E plan requirement is added that Title IV-E agencies must inform prospective adoptive parents of the federal adoption tax credit available to support the adoption of special needs children;
The Title IV-E agency is expressly permitted to waive on a case-by-case basis a non-safety licensing standard for a relative foster family home;
The case plan provisions are amended with an additional requirement for a plan to ensure the educational stability of the child in foster care;
The definition of a Title IV-E has been amended for the "foster care maintenance payment to include the cost of reasonable travel for the child to remain in the same school he or she was attending prior to placement in foster care;
A Title IV-B state plan requirement is created that States and Tribes, in coordination with the State Medicaid agency, must develop a plan for ongoing oversight and coordination of health care services for children in foster care, including mental health and dental health needs;
A new Title IV-E operational requirement that during the 90-day period prior to the youth's emancipation, the caseworker must develop a personalized transition plan as directed by the youth;
HHS now has the authority to conduct comparisons and make disclosures to States of information for the purposes of the Title IV-B and IV-E programs using the Federal Parent Locator Service; and
Children who have special needs but who are not citizens or residents of the U.S. and were either adopted in another country or brought to this country for the purposes of adoption are categorically ineligible for adoption assistance, except if the child meets the eligibility criteria after the disruption of the international adoption.

Effective October 1, 2009

Subject to HHS approval, Tribes are permitted to operate Title IV-E programs.
A child with special needs who is "an applicable child" (defined below) is eligible for Title IV-E adoption assistance payments under the following revised eligibility criteria if the child: 1) at the time of the initiation of adoption proceedings the child was in the care of a public or private child placement agency by way of a voluntary placement, voluntary relinquishment or a court-ordered removal with a judicial determination that remaining at home would be contrary to the child's welfare; 2) meets the disability or medical requirements of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program; 3) was residing with a minor parent in foster care (who was placed in foster care by way of a voluntary placement, voluntary relinquishment or court-ordered removal); or, 4) was eligible for adoption assistance in a previous adoption in which the adoptive parents have died or had their parental rights terminated. These revisions to Title IV-E adoption assistance eligibility criteria are phased-in from October 1, 2009, through September 30, 2018, based on whether the child is defined as "an applicable child," which primarily relates to the age of the child in the year the agreement is entered into. The revised eligibility rules apply for children who turn 16 or older during the 12 month period running from October 1, 2009, through September 30, 2010, and for whom an adoption assistance agreement is entered into that same year; then each subsequent year the age to apply the revised program rules decreases by two years (e.g. , children who turn 14 or older during the 12 month period running from October 1, 2010, through September 30, 2011, and children who turn 12 or older during the 12 month period running October 1, 2011, through September 30, 2012) until children of any age may be eligible according to the revised criteria during the period October 1, 2017, through September 30, 2018. Notwithstanding this phase-in timetable, effective October 1, 2009, the revised eligibility criteria also apply to a child who has been in foster care for 60 consecutive months (5 years) or is a sibling to a child who is eligible due to his age or length in foster care. During the age-tiered phase-in period of the new eligibility criteria, existing eligibility criteria continue to remain in effect for all other children. A State is required to spend an amount equal to any savings in State expenditures under Title IV-E as a result of applying the new program rules to applicable children for a fiscal year for services permitted under Title IV-B or IV-E.
The Title IV-E reimbursement rate for the costs of short-term training of: relative guardians; private child welfare agency staff providing services to children receiving Title IV-E assistance; child abuse and neglect court personnel; agency, child or parent attorneys; guardians ad litem; and, court appointed special advocates is 60%.

Effective October 1, 2010

States and Tribes are permitted to continue title IV-E payments to children in foster care, or an individual adopted or in kinship guardianship (if a Title IV-E assistance agreement became effective after the child turned age 16) who has not attained 19, 20, or 21 years old when the youth meets prescribed conditions for continued payments. The conditions for continued Title IV-E payments apply to youth over age 18 and require the youth to be completing secondary school (or equivalent), enrolled in post-secondary or vocational school, participating in a program or activity that promotes or removes barriers to employment, employed 80 hours a month, or to be incapable of any of these due to a documented medical condition. Title IV-E reimbursement also becomes available with regard to such children who are in foster care in a supervised independent living settings, consistent with conditions HHS establishes in regulations.
New Title IV-E adoption assistance eligibility criteria now applicable to children who turn 14 or older during the 12 month period October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011.
Title IV-E reimbursement rate for the costs of short-term training of: relative guardians; private child welfare agency staff providing services to children receiving title IV-E assistance; child abuse and neglect court personnel; agency, child or parent attorneys; guardians ad litem; and, court appointed special advocates is 65%.
By October 7, 2010, HHS must submit a report to Congress on children placed in relative foster family homes and the use of licensing waivers.

Effective October 1, 2011

New Title IV-E adoption assistance eligibility criteria now applicable to children who turn 12 or older during the 12 month period October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012.
Title IV-E reimbursement rate for the costs of short-term training of: relative guardians; private child welfare agency staff providing services to children receiving Title IV-E assistance; child abuse and neglect court personnel; agency, child or parent attorneys; guardians ad litem; and, court appointed special advocates is 70%.

Effective October 1, 2012

New Title IV-E adoption assistance eligibility criteria now applicable to children who turn 10 or older during the 12 month period October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2013.
Title IV-E reimbursement rate for the costs of short-term training of: relative guardians; private child welfare agency staff providing services to children receiving Title IV-E assistance; child abuse and neglect court personnel; agency, child or parent attorneys; guardians ad litem; and, court appointed special advocates is 75%. The reimbursement rate for such training costs will remain at this level.

Effective October 1, 2013

New Title IV-E adoption assistance eligibility criteria now applicable to children who turn 8 or older during the 12 month period October 1, 2013 through September 30, 2014.

Effective October 1, 2014

New Title IV-E adoption assistance eligibility criteria now applicable to children who turn 6 or older during the 12 month period October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2015.

Effective October 1, 2015

New Title IV-E adoption assistance eligibility criteria now applicable to children who turn 4 or older during the 12 month period October 1, 2015 through September 30, 2016.

Effective October 1, 2016

New Title IV-E adoption assistance eligibility criteria now applicable to children who turn 2 or older during the 12 month period October 1, 2016 through September 30, 2017.

Effective October 1, 2017

New Title IV-E adoption assistance eligibility criteria now applicable to children age birth or older during the 12 month period October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018.