Rule 5180:5-50-03 | Title IV-E foster care maintenance (FCM) program eligibility and reimbursability of bridges.
(A) Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 675(8) and section 5101.1411 of the Revised Code, a Title IV-E agency can extend foster care maintenance (FCM) payments, administration, and training payments for an emancipated young adult age eighteen but less than age twenty-one through funding provided in accordance with the federal "Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008" ("the Act").
(B) Title IV-E FCM program eligibility and reimbursability is to be determined in Ohio's comprehensive child welfare information system (CCWIS) by the Title IV-E agency representative within thirty calendar days of either of the following:
(1) Voluntary participation agreement (VPA) effective date;
(2) Best interest ruling date.
(C) The criteria for a determination of Title IV-E FCM program eligibility includes all of the following:
(1) A participant is to be considered Title IV-E FCM program eligible if, at the time eligibility is being determined:
(a) An emancipated young adult is program eligible and has signed a VPA pursuant to rule 5180:5-50-02 of the Administrative Code; and
(b) An emancipated young adult met the aid to families with dependent children (AFDC) eligibility requirements per section 472(a)(3) of the "Act."
(2) When Title IV-E FCM eligibility is established, a participant remains program eligible for the current custody episode. A new FCM eligibility determination in CCWIS is to be completed at any time a participant exits and reenters the program by signing a new VPA.
(3) A participant may be redetermined as eligible through the end of the month of their twenty-first birthday.
(4) A participant is no longer Title IV-E FCM program eligible when any of the following occur:
(a) A participant has been terminated from bridges pursuant to rule 5180:5-50-02 of the Administrative Code;
(b) The Title IV-E agency failed to acquire a best interest statement from the juvenile court within one hundred and eighty calendar days of a signed VPA in accordance with section 5101.1412 of the Revised Code; or
(c) At the end of the month of a participant's twenty-first birthday.
(D) Title IV-E FCM program reimbursability is to be determined in Ohio's comprehensive child welfare information system (CCWIS) by the Title IV-E agency representative within thirty calendar days of any of the following:
(1) Annual reasonable efforts ruling date; or
(2) The date a participant is no longer residing in an approved supervised independent living setting.
(E) The following outlines the determination of Title IV-E FCM program reimbursability:
(1) Title IV-E program reimbursability is to be determined for a participant who is Title IV-E FCM program eligible at the time all parties signed the VPA. A Title IV-E FCM program eligible participant is to be reimbursable when both of the following apply:
(a) A participant's countable income is less than the cost of care paid by the Title IV-E agency.
(b) A participant is residing in an approved supervised independent living setting, pursuant to rule 5180:5-50-01 of the Administrative Code and in accordance with section 5101.1411 of the Revised Code.
(2) A participant is no longer program reimbursable for Title IV-E when either of the following occur:
(a) Reasonable efforts to finalize the permanency plan are not met in accordance with section 472(a)(2)(A)(ii) of the "Act" and 45 C.F.R. 1356.21(b)(2)(2012).
(b) A bridges participant is not residing in an approved supervised independent living setting, as outlined in paragraph (G) of this rule.
(F) Title IV-E FCM reimbursement may be claimed for payments made toward an approved supervised independent living setting while a participant is in one of the following types of leave, if the leave does not exceed fourteen calendar days and a participant returns to the same living setting they were in prior to the leave:
(1) Whereabouts unknown;
(2) Hospital; or
(3) Vacation.
(G) Participants who are otherwise Title IV-E FCM program eligible are not program reimbursable during their period of residence in the following living settings:
(1) Incarceration facilities;
(2) The home of a participant's removal parent(s) or guardian(s); and
(3) Housing that is deemed uninhabitable through completion of a bridges safety check pursuant to paragraph (G) of rule 5180:5-50-01 of the Administrative Code.
Last updated July 15, 2025 at 1:25 PM
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