Glossary
Below are definitions of the terms and acronyms used in this handbook.
Administrative expenditures
Administrative expenditures are expenditures that are necessary for the proper and efficient administration of the Title IV-E plan.
County staff
County staff provide or support Title IV-E services.
FFP
The percentage rate for federal financial participation (FFP) determines the amount of federal matching funds for certain state expenditures.
FMAP, Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP)
The federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) rate is the specific FFP rate that determines federal matching funds for a state’s Medicaid program and payments for Foster Care Maintenance and Adoption Assistance. The FMAP applied is based on when a state pays an expense, regardless of when the service that generated the expense was provided.
The FMAP is federally determined by the secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services based on a formula involving the average income per person in the state and the nation as a whole. The FMAP is calculated annually and is in effect for a federal fiscal year, October through September.
FMAP is the federal rate used to determine expenditures for foster care maintenance (child care). The rate is set by the federal government and changes each year, in October.
General Support Activities
General support activities are the costs necessary to properly and efficiently administer the Title IV-E program for which reimbursement is being sought.
Legal Expenses
Legal expenses are the costs of preparing for and participating in judicial determinations for cases filed by DFPS to carry out applicable provisions of Title IV‑E of the Social Security Act. Some of these costs may appear in the administrative section of a county contract or in a legal expenses contract.
Legal Contract
A legal contract is a contract with a county governmental entity for reimbursement for the allowable Title IV-E expenses described generally in 5000 Legal Contracts.
Title IV-E Population Rate
Each county’s quarterly Title IV-E population rate is determined in accordance with DFPS’s federally approved methodology for cost allocation. The percentage each county allocates to the administration of Title IV-E Foster Care Assistance is computed by dividing the county’s* total number of children (ages 0-17) who are eligible for Title IV-E Foster Care Assistance and live in a Title IV-E eligible (licensed) foster care placement or living arrangement by the total number of children (ages 0-17) in DFPS conservatorship, excluding the children in conservatorship whose living arrangement is categorized as “return home.”
The total number of Title IV-E eligible children is based on the average for each of the three months in a federal quarter. The reimbursement rate for Title IV-E Foster Care Administration is used to determine reimbursement expenditures incurred in each federal quarter: October-December, January-March, April-June, and July-September.
* County means the child’s county of conservatorship, rather than the county where the child resides.
Training Expenditures
Training expenditures are the costs of training personnel employed with the county, or volunteers who provide services to children in foster care, foster parents, or child welfare boards.