The income information of the child and family reported on the Foster Care Assistance Application in IMPACT is used to determine a child’s initial eligibility for Title IV-E foster care assistance. When the family reports having no total income, the child’s caseworker who completes the Foster Care Assistance Application must provide an explanation of how the family’s monthly living expenses, including housing, food and clothing, are being met.

Explanations may include citing income or non-monetary assistance with living expenses received from the following sources:

• Federal, state, or local government benefits
• Part-time or odd jobs
• Other people who live inside or outside the home

The caseworker must ask the parent for monthly income amounts received from these sources and must list these amounts as income on the Foster Care Assistance Application. If the parent says he or she earns money from working part-time or odd jobs, the caseworker must ask for an average monthly earnings amount.

Determining Subsistence

The foster care eligibility specialist must ensure that every Foster Care Assistance Application listing no family income addresses the family’s manner of subsistence. If an eligibility specialist receives an application with no family income listed and the manner of the subsistence is not addressed, the eligibility specialist must use information from the following sources to do so:

• The TIERS system.
• The OAG child support system.
• The Wire Third Party Query (WTPY) system, used only for children in DFPS conservatorship. See 1515 Notifications to SSA and Use of the Wire Third Party Query System.
• The Data Broker system, when applicable.
• The caseworker’s affidavit.

If family income is identified through inquiries in these systems, the eligibility specialist must update the Foster Care Assistance Application to show these income amounts and process the application.

Unable to Determine Family’s Subsistence

If the eligibility specialist cannot address the family’s manner of subsistence using the above databases, the eligibility specialist must do the following:

• Contact the child’s caseworker to request additional needed information.
• Use the information provided by the child’s caseworker to address the family’s manner of subsistence.
• Certify the child for Title IV-E provided that all other IV-E requirements are met.

If the eligibility specialist initially determines a child is eligible for state-paid funds and the caseworker provides additional information, the eligibility specialist must re-evaluate the child for IV-E eligibility.

If there is documentation indicating that the parent(s) worked or they refused to provide income information or their income could not be verified through any means, the Foster Care Eligibility Specialists mark the check box on the FC application to deny Title IV-E eligibility.