During a temporary absence Title IV-E payments can only be made to a foster care placement for the entire month if both of the following are true:

• The child is only absent from the placement for 14 days or less.
• The child returns to the same foster care provider at the end of the temporary absence.

The Role of the DFPS Eligibility Specialist

The caseworker’s supervisor notifies the foster care eligibility specialist when an approved temporary absence situation exceeds 14 days. The eligibility specialist monitors the situation until the end of the temporary absence and updates the child’s Title IV-E eligibility status as described below.

• If the temporary absence period was 14 days or less and the child returned to the same foster care provider, the specialist continues the child’s eligibility as Title IV-E through the entire month.
• If the temporary absence period was more than 14 days and the child was returned to the same foster care provider, the specialist changes the following:
  • The child’s selected eligibility to state-paid eligible effective the 15th day of the temporary absence.
  • The child’s selected eligibility back to Title IV-E, effective the date when the child is placed back with the same foster care provider.
• If the child was not returned to the same foster care provider at the end of the temporary absence, DFPS cannot use Title IV-E funds to pay the provider during the temporary absence. Instead, DFPS uses state-paid funds to pay the provider from the beginning of the temporary absence through the date the child is discharged from the provider’s care. To ensure that state-paid funds are used for that period, the specialist does the following:
• Changes the child’s selected eligibility to state-paid effective the first day of the temporary absence.
• Ends the child’s state-paid eligibility effective the date of discharge from the foster care provider.
• When applicable, adds Medical Assistance Only (MAO) eligibility for the period between the discharge and the subsequent paid foster care placement.
• Changes the child’s selected eligibility back to Title IV-E effective the date of placement with the subsequent paid foster care placement.

See:

4280 Temporary Absence from Paid Placement

4282 Payment Time Frames