Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive Payments

 

The objective of the Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentives program is to provide incentives to States and eligible Tribes to increase annually the number of children in foster care who find permanent homes through adoption or legal guardianship.

Active 93.603 Administration For Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services A - Formula Grants Not applicable.
Social Security Act, Title IV, Part E, Section 473A and 479B
as amended. Applications are not required. States (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa) and tribes that have an approved title IV-E plan and that submit data to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) are eligible to receive payments. The Children's Bureau (CB) shall determine an agency's eligibility for funding based on foster care, adoption and guardianship data reported to AFCARS. AFCARS data must be reported and accepted by CB no later than May 15 of the fiscal year subsequent to the fiscal year in which the adoptions or guardianships were finalized (i.e., the "earning year"). Beneficiaries are those children and families eligible under Title IV-B and Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, as amended. An approved title IV-E plan is required to be eligible for funding. Except for ? 75.202, the guidance in subpart C of this part does not apply to the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance Program (Title IV-E of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 670-679c) Preapplication coordination is not applicable. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. Except for ?75.202, the guidance in supbart C of this part does not apply to the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance Program(Title IV-E of the Act, 42.U.S.C. 670-679c) . Applications are not required. States (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa) and tribes that have an approved Title IV-E plan and that submit data to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) are eligible to receive payments. Incentive payments will be issued annually, in the fiscal year subsequent to the earning year. Payment will be based on AFCARS data submitted no later than May 15 of the fiscal year following the earning year. AFCARS data must be accepted and approved by the Children's Bureau. Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive awards are generally made in August or September each year. Post award, the Division of Payment Management will establish an account from which a recipient may draw down award funds. AFCARS data submissions must be received no later than May 15 of each year to be considered for incentive payments. Not applicable. Appeals may take place in accordance with 45 CFR Part 16, subject to the limitations of the Appendix A. Not applicable. Not applicable. State and tribal agencies receiving incentive payments must spend the funds for services (including post-adoption services) and activities allowable under Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act (the Act). Payments must be used to supplement and not supplant Federal or non-Federal funds for services under title IV-B or IV-E of the Act (see section 473A(f) of the Act). Not applicable. 45 CFR Part 75 Subpart F applies to this program. All records are required to be maintained in accordance with 45 CFR 75.361-365. Statutory Formula: Title IV Chapter 7 Part E Subpart Sections 424, 434, and 474 Public Law Social Security Act . The Children's Bureau (CB) shall determine the number of foster child adoptions, foster child guardianships, pre-adolescent (age 9 - 13) adoptions and guardianships, and older child (age 14 and over) adoptions and guardianships eligible to earn incentive payments, based on data reported by each agency to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), and accepted by CB no later than May 15 of the fiscal year subsequent to the fiscal year in which the adoptions were finalized (i.e., the "earning year"). Incentive funds may not be used as non-Federal (i.e., state, local or tribal) matching funds for Federal financial participation. Payments must be used to supplement and not supplant Federal or non-Federal funds for services under title IV-B or IV-E of the Act (see section 473A(f) of the Act). Amounts expended by a state or tribe in accordance with the preceding sentence shall be disregarded in determining state or tribal expenditures for purposes of Federal matching payments under Sections 424, 434, and 474 of the Social Security Act.

Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. Payments to a Title IV-E agency in a fiscal year will remain available for use by the Title IV-E agency for 36 months. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: Lump. Contact Children's Bureau Regional Program Managers Linda Viales
330 C Street, SW, Room 3509B
Washington, DC 20201 US
linda.viales@acf.hhs.gov
Phone: (202)205-5783 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb. 75-1536-0-1-506 (Formula Grants) FY 22$55,547,000.00; FY 23 est $117,992,262.00; FY 24 est $75,000,000.00; FY 21$51,460,238.00; FY 20$75,000,000.00; FY 19$74,742,000.00; FY 18$75,000,000.00; FY 17$37,824,982.00; FY 16$37,943,000.00; - FY 2022 earning year totals are not available at this time; prior year earnings are typically calculated by the end of September of the following fiscal year. For FY 2021 earning year (the most recent available), 47 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico earned incentive payments that ranged from $79,000 to $11,752,500 with an average award amount of $1,133,622. The following Program Instruction (PI) applies to this program: ACYF-CB-PI-15-08, issued July 8, 2015. Not applicable.