[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 115 (Thursday, June 15, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31478-31483]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-14711]



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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Child Welfare Waiver Demonstrations Pursuant to Section 1130 of 
the Social Security Act (the Act); Titles IV-E and IV-B of the Act; 
Public Law 103-432

AGENCY: Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), ACF, 
DHHS.

ACTION: Public notice.

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SUMMARY: This public notice announces that the Department of Health and 
Human Services (Department) is seeking proposals on child welfare 
demonstration projects and informs interested parties of (1) the 
principles the Department will consider in exercising its discretion to 
approve or disapprove demonstration projects under the authority in 
section 1130 (b) (of Part A of title XI) of the Social Security Act, 
added by Pub. L. 103-432; (2) the procedures the Department expects 
States to employ in involving the public in the development of proposed 
demonstration projects under section 1130; and (3) the procedures the 
Department will follow in receiving demonstration proposals. The 
principles and procedures described in the public notice are being 
provided for the information of interested parties and are not legally 
binding on the Department. This notice does not create any right or 
benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity, by 
any person or entity, against the United States, its agencies or 
instrumentalities, the States, or any other person.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael W. Ambrose, Children's Bureau, 
Administration on Children, Youth and Families, HHS at (202) 205-8740.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

Demonstration Proposals Pursuant to Section 1130 of the Social Security 
Act--General Policies and Procedures

    Under section 1130, the Department of Health and Human Services is 
given authority to permit as many as ten States to conduct 
demonstration projects which involve the waiver of certain requirements 
of titles IV-B and IV-E, the sections of the Social Security Act which 
govern foster care, adoption assistance, independent living, child 
welfare services, family preservation and support, and related expenses 
for program administration, training, and automated systems.
    The Department desires to facilitate the testing of new approaches 
to the delivery of a broad range of child welfare services. Such 
demonstrations can provide valuable knowledge that will help lead to 
improvements in the delivery, effectiveness and efficiency of services. 
The Department is committed to both a thorough and an expeditious 
review of State requests to conduct such demonstrations.
    In exercising her discretionary authority, the Secretary has 
developed a number of policies and procedures for reviewing proposals. 
In order to ensure a sound, expeditious and open decision-making 
process, the Department will be guided by the policies and procedures 
described in this statement in accepting and reviewing proposals 
submitted pursuant to Section 1130.

II. Background

    The child welfare system is in a period of great crisis and great 
challenge. Current social and economic forces are placing enormous 
pressures and stresses on children and families and on the 
professionals and agencies that serve them. Rising rates of child and 
family poverty, a greater number of teen pregnancies, the substance 
abuse and AIDS epidemics and the increasing levels of interpersonal and 
community violence have resulted in a loss of family strength and unity 
and increasing multiple challenges to very fragile families. These 
issues have resulted in increasing caseloads, consisting of much more 
complex family problems. Community and State agencies with limited 
resources are struggling to address these issues.
    New, creative efforts are needed to stimulate meaningful changes in 
the delivery of child welfare services and foster more effective 
methods of service delivery to children and families. Throughout the 
country, local and State child welfare agency administrators are 
developing innovative responses to these circumstances. Knowledgeable 
child welfare professionals are developing new solutions to these 
challenges even when faced with insufficient resources. In order to 
meet the existing service needs of families with diminishing resources, 
more flexibility is needed in devising service programs.
    In addition, a wide range of efforts is underway to foster more 
effective working relationships among Federal, State and local 
governments which will strengthen Federal-State partnerships in 
developing a responsive child welfare service delivery system. This new 
partnership is an integral part of several programs administered by the 
Administration for Children and Families (ACF). For example, the Family 
Preservation and Support Services program (Subpart 2 of title IV-B of 
the Social Security Act) provides funds to assist States in assessing 
the needs of children and families, re-examining the States' systems 
for meeting such needs, and developing a five-year plan for the 
implementation of family preservation and support services and for the 
accomplishment of systems change. The Family Preservation and Support 
planning process is designed to involve all the stakeholders and other 
appropriate parties in an effort to improve services for children and 
families.
    Another aspect of the Family Preservation and Support effort 
provides funds for State Courts to assess their role in responding to 
the needs of children and families, and develop improvement plans based 
on these self-assessments. The Statewide Automated Child Welfare 
Information System (SACWIS) provides funds, at the rate of 75 percent 
Federal share, for the development or expansion of child welfare 
information systems which will help States link child welfare program 
data and operations with other programs, especially AFDC and child 
abuse and neglect programs.
    Another key example of the Department's efforts to foster more 
effective working relationships is the development of a new outcomes-
based approach to child welfare monitoring. Several States have agreed 
to participate with ACF in the conduct of monitoring pilot tests during 
fiscal year 1995.

General Considerations

Principles

    The implementation of the Child Welfare Waiver Demonstration 
Project will be guided by the principles [[Page 31479]] enumerated 
below. Projects conducted under this waiver authority must according to 
statute:
     Be consistent with the purposes of titles IV-B and IV-E 
of the Social Security Act in providing child welfare services, 
including foster care and adoption, that is:

--Assure the safety of children and protect the rights of children and 
their families; and
--Ensure permanency for children through intensive family preservation 
and support or through reunification or adoption efforts;

     Be cost neutral to the federal government for the 
duration of the project period; and
     Ensure that benefit eligibility to a qualified child or 
family will not be impaired.
    In addition, the demonstration project should also be guided by the 
following principles:
     Focus on improving outcomes for children and families and 
the efficacy with which services are provided;
     Be open to public scrutiny at the local, State and 
Federal levels, and be based upon broad consultation and full 
opportunity for public comment;
     Provide services in which the level of State intrusion 
into family life is consistent with the seriousness of the risks to 
family members;
     Comply with appropriate civil rights statutes and 
regulations; and
     Present a policy-relevant hypothesis that is testable by 
a well-designed evaluation plan.

Objectives

    In implementing the waiver demonstrations, the Administration for 
Children and Families proposes to encourage States to test programmatic 
hypotheses which accomplish certain service delivery program goals. 
Some of the general objectives to be considered by the States in 
developing their demonstration projects may include the following:
     Development of family focused, strengths-based, 
community-based service delivery networks that enhance the child-
rearing abilities of families to enable them to remain safely together 
in their homes whenever possible;
     Better results for children and families, such as: Better 
assuring the safety and protection of children; enhancing and enriching 
child development; strengthening family functioning and averting family 
crises; providing early intervention to avoid out-of-home placement; 
reducing the time that children are separated from their families; 
speeding the process by which children who cannot return home are freed 
for adoption and adopted; or preparing young people in foster care for 
independent living;
     Knowledge which, when confirmed by rigorous evaluation, 
can be employed by other States and Federal policymakers to improve 
outcomes for children and families or increase efficiency or both;
     Innovation and State demonstrations of the benefits 
available from thoughtful initiatives developed at the State or local 
level; and
     Information and experience on which to base legislative 
changes.
    Also, in the testing of new program approaches to the delivery of 
child welfare services, the Department will consider proposals which 
involve parallel projects of title IV-A (AFDC) waivers. Associated 
title IV-A waiver requests must be included in the proposal for titles 
IV-B and E waivers. However, cost neutrality must be measured for 
titles IV-B and E separately from the cost neutrality calculations 
associated with other waivers.
    While the Department expects to review a range of proposals, it may 
disapprove or limit proposals on policy grounds or because the proposal 
creates potential constitutional problems or violations of civil rights 
laws or equal protection requirements. The Department seeks proposals 
which enhance the quality of and access to services. Within this 
overall policy framework, the Department is prepared to:

--Grant waivers to test the same or related policy innovations in 
multiple States (replication is a valid mechanism by which changes can 
be assessed); and
--Approve waiver demonstration projects ranging in scale from 
reasonably small to statewide.

    Because this waiver authority must be limited to ten States, the 
Department will give preference to proposals which would test policy 
alternatives which are unique; which differ in their approach to 
serving families and children; and which differ in significant ways 
from other proposals. However, the Department encourages States which 
may be planning to propose demonstration projects which are similar to 
each other, to consider collaborating on the design of the projects and 
their evaluations, to produce a test of the same demonstration project 
in diverse settings.
Provisions Not Subject To Waiver

    Section 1130 (b)(1) excludes certain provisions of titles IV-E and 
IV-B from waiver. They are:
    A. Certain protections for children in foster care and their 
families, formerly required by section 427 of the Social Security Act 
(now section 422(b)(9), which will become effective April 1, 1996, will 
make those protections an element of a State's Child Welfare Services 
State Plan). These protections are fully explained in section 475 of 
the Act. This excludes from waiver: (1) All the protections having to 
do with periodic reviews of the status and progress of foster care 
cases; (2) dispositional hearings to determine or confirm the future 
plan for the child and to determine whether an independent living plan 
is needed for older children in care; (3) requirements that certain 
information be contained in a child's case plan; (4) protections for 
the child such as requirements that the placement be the most family-
like setting and in close proximity to the parents' home; and (5) 
protections for the family such as procedural safeguards to assure that 
parental rights are respected.1

    \1\While the documentation often associated with section 427 
protections is not a statutory requirement, and therefore needs no 
waiver, some States may be interested in proposing alternative, less 
burdensome methods of assuring compliance with the law. The 
Department would entertain such alternative methods, even if no 
formal waiver is required.
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    B. Section 479 which establishes the Adoption and Foster Care Data 
collection requirements.
    C. Any provision of title IV-E to the extent that a waiver would 
impair the entitlement of any qualified child or family to benefits 
including the provisions of sections 471 (a)(8) and (12) which provide 
for confidentiality and fair hearings, respectively.
    All other provisions are available to be waived. (See Appendix I 
for a brief listing of possible waivable provisions. This listing 
should be considered only as a list of possible suggestions and not an 
all-encompassing list of possible waivers.)

III. Duration

    Section 1130 (d) of the Social Security Act limits the duration of 
the waiver demonstration to not more than five years. The Department 
will consider demonstrations with a duration of less than five years, 
and will work with States to:
     Approve waivers of sufficient duration to give new 
approaches a fair test. The duration of waiver approval should be 
commensurate with the magnitude and complexity of the 
[[Page 31480]] project. For example, a large-scale statewide program 
may require the full five years. Smaller projects, for example a one-to 
several county demonstration effort, may demonstrate their 
effectiveness and utility in a shorter timeframe;
     Provide reasonable time for the preparation of meaningful 
evaluation results of the demonstration project; and
     Determine a reasonable start date for the project 
recognizing that new approaches often involve considerable start-up 
time.
    Prior to final approval, negotiated agreements will be established 
between the State and the Department which include provisions to 
cancel/suspend/modify the demonstration project: (1) If it is 
determined that, in the conduct of the project, appropriate and 
sufficient services cannot be provided to eligible participants or the 
safety and protection of children would be jeopardized; or (2) for any 
other reason deemed adequate and sufficient for suspension/cancellation 
by the State or the Department.

IV. Evaluation

    Section 1130 (f) requires that each State authorized to conduct a 
waiver demonstration project obtain an evaluation by an independent 
contractor to assess the effectiveness of the project. The evaluation 
plan, at a minimum, must provide for:
    (1) A comparison of outcomes for children and families, and groups 
of children and families, under the project and such outcomes under an 
existing State plan or plans, for purposes of assessing the 
effectiveness of the project in achieving program goals; and
    (2) A comparison of methods of service delivery under the project 
and such methods under a State plan or plans, with respect to 
efficiency, economy and any other appropriate measures of program 
management.
    Section 1130 (e)(1) requires the proposal to describe both the 
children and families who would be served by the waiver demonstration 
project and the services which would be provided. The Department is 
committed to testing a range of program strategies. The Department 
encourages, where appropriate, that the proposal provide for random 
assignment of children and families to groups served under the project 
and control groups, but is open to various other evaluation techniques. 
For example, in a proposed demonstration effort that would necessarily 
affect 100% of the population to be served, a random assignment 
methodology would not be appropriate.
    The Department is also eager to ensure that the evaluation process 
be as unintrusive as possible to the clients in terms of implementing 
and operating the approach to be demonstrated, while ensuring that 
critical lessons are learned from the demonstration effort.
    If the State proposes an alternative to random assignment, the 
proposal must include a justification explaining why random assignment 
is not appropriate and how the alternative methodology will meet 
evaluation needs.
    The evaluation design must include a clear statement of the 
evaluation questions.
    The State demonstration project managers must meet with Department 
staff within 30 days after project approval to finalize the evaluation 
design and reporting schedule and make changes, as necessary. In 
general, the Department will require an evaluation update report at 12 
months; an Interim Evaluation Report to be submitted within 30 months 
after project start-up; another update report at 48 months; and a Final 
Evaluation Report to be submitted 90 days after the project ends.
    The costs of the required independent evaluation of each State's 
demonstration project will be excluded from the cost-neutrality 
calculation. In addition, the costs for the development of the proposal 
and the evaluation design as well as the costs of the evaluation 
itself, may be charged to title IV-E administrative costs without cost 
allocation, so that States may claim a full fifty percent of these 
costs as title IV-E administrative costs.
    Subject to the availability of funding, a national contract will be 
awarded to collect information from the approved demonstration 
projects; produce annual reports for the Department and the general 
public; collect, analyze and report the results of each demonstration 
project; and prepare a national summary of the Child Welfare Waiver 
Demonstrations at the completion of the project period. All approved 
applicants must provide an assurance that they will agree to cooperate 
and collaborate in this evaluation effort. Periodic meetings between 
the national contractor and the ten evaluators will be held in order to 
coordinate the evaluation of the waiver demonstration project. It is 
anticipated that there will be one coordination meeting annually in 
addition to the other required meetings indicated in this Public 
Notice.
V. Cost Neutrality

    Section 1130 (g) requires that the waiver demonstration project be 
cost-neutral, that is, the total amount of federal funds used to 
support the demonstration project, over the approved project period, 
will not exceed the amount of federal funds that would have been 
expended by the State under the State plans approved under Parts B and 
E of title IV if the waiver demonstration project were not conducted. 
The Department will monitor demonstration projects, as outlined in this 
section and elsewhere in this Announcement, to track interim results 
and spending, and to assure federal cost neutrality, where needed, as 
the demonstration project progresses. The Department will work with a 
State to maintain cost neutrality throughout the period of the 
demonstration project, by modifying the project or taking other 
appropriate action.
    The Department will allow States to project cost neutrality over 
the life of a demonstration project, rather than on a year by-year 
basis, since many demonstrations involve making ``up-front'' 
investments in order to achieve out-year savings. The Department will 
set a cap on the total ``up-front'' federal dollar amount associated 
with any demonstration project. The determination of cost-neutrality 
will be completed before the demonstration project begins, and fiscal 
effects will be carefully monitored, along with other project results, 
as the demonstration project progresses and the State submits the 
required fiscal and programmatic reports.
    Waivers will not be granted if the Department determines that up-
front costs present too great a risk to the maintenance of cost 
neutrality over the life of the project. Should added federal costs 
attributable to the demonstration project exceed projections or a cap 
on up-front costs, continuation of the demonstration project will be 
conditioned on modification of the project or other action that will 
maintain federal cost neutrality.
    The Department encourages, where appropriate, the use of random 
assignment of individuals for evaluation and as a method for 
determining the fiscal effects of the demonstration project but 
recognizes that this method may not be appropriate for certain 
demonstration projects. In randomly assigning individuals to 
experimental and control groups, the costs associated with the control 
group (foster care rates and administrative costs) become the baseline 
for cost neutrality (i.e., the average cost for a control group case is 
assumed to be the amount that would have been spent on each 
experimental case). If an alternative method is proposed, then other 
methods of measuring cost neutrality should be used. In the proposal, 
States should [[Page 31481]] outline the projected costs for the 
demonstration project and detail:

--The method by which current costs have been derived, and their basis;
--The method for projecting costs of the demonstration, and for 
projecting the costs which would have been incurred in the absence of a 
demonstration, and their bases;
--Any factors the State may propose for adjusting cost estimates over 
the life of the demonstration project, and their bases; and
--The method the State proposes for measuring costs during the 
demonstration, including actual costs of the demonstration, and the 
frequency, nature, and specific cost elements of proposed fiscal 
reports.

    The Department recognizes the difficulty of projecting and 
measuring title IV-E and title IV-B expenditures, and is open to 
methodology(ies) the State(s) may propose. However, the Department 
favors random assignment, where appropriate, as the methodology for the 
evaluation component, and as a method for determining the fiscal 
effects of a demonstration as well. The Department will work with 
States in measuring actual fiscal experience against cost projections. 
Fiscal reports on the demonstration project will be due on a quarterly 
or at least a semi-annual basis.
    States may be required to conform, within a reasonable period of 
time, relevant aspects of the demonstrations to changes in Federal 
legislation.

VI. Technical Assistance

    Pre-approval technical assistance will be provided by Children's 
Bureau staff or Regional Office staff to any State which requests 
assistance in applying for a waiver demonstration project. Pre-approval 
consultation with the State can include answering specific questions, 
providing assistance with cost neutrality and cost allocation issues, 
reviewing draft proposals and referring States to sources of non-
federal assistance for the formulation of evaluation plans.
    Federal staff will not participate in determining the basic nature 
of a State's demonstration project, but will provide assistance related 
to preparing a proposal. The Department will provide technical 
assistance to all interested States, upon request, in order to speed 
approvals and improve the quality of the review process.
    After approval, Federally-provided third-party technical assistance 
will be available, to a limited extent, to support approved 
demonstration projects. In addition, the Department will consider 
proposals from interested States for other partnership roles which the 
Department might assume (the conduct of a targeted program review, for 
example) and which would be memorialized in the waiver approval 
document.
    The Department is committed to minimizing the administrative burden 
on the States, and the processing time for waiver proposals.

VII. Proposal Review

    The proposals will be evaluated by a panel of federal officials, 
who will also consider any comments received from outside experts and 
the general public. Regional Office staff will be asked to complete an 
independent review of proposals submitted by States in their respective 
Regions; these reviews will be included in the final decision-making 
process. If the review discloses questions or issues with a proposal, 
Regional Office staff will be asked to contact the State for more 
information or to resolve the problem so that the process can continue. 
The State(s) will be permitted a reasonable period of time to address 
the issues raised by the review.

Deadlines

    Deadlines are established to provide a fair and orderly process for 
review and approval. It is anticipated that proposals will be received 
on a ``rolling'' basis. The deadline for the initial set of proposals, 
Round One, is July 31, 1995. Proposals received by that date will be 
reviewed first and will be given priority for consideration. However, 
if there are not ten proposals in Round One, or there are not ten 
proposals approved after completion of the review, then additional 
proposals will be accepted and considered for approval. Additional 
proposals will be received any time after the initial due date until 
September 30, 1995 (Round Two). If the Department has not already 
approved ten child welfare waiver demonstration projects, additional 
proposals will be reviewed quarterly until ten proposals are approved. 
Once ten projects have been approved, all States will be notified and 
all proposals not approved will be returned.
    Approvals will be announced as decisions are made. If a State can 
make a compelling argument for an expedited review, the Department will 
try to accommodate such a request.
    If necessary, an agreement can be negotiated between the State and 
the Department to start the demonstration project at some date in the 
future. For example, if some action of the State legislature is 
required as an integral element of a demonstration, the five year 
period for that demonstration would not start until the legislature had 
acted.
    Public comments will be solicited in the course of the review 
process. (See Section VIII.) The States will be asked to demonstrate 
that their proposals are based on broad consultation, such as focus 
groups and public forums, or legislative hearings.

VIII. State Notice Procedures

    The Department recognizes that individuals who may be affected by a 
demonstration project have a legitimate interest in learning about 
proposed projects and having input into the decision-making process 
prior to the time a proposal is approved by the Department. The 
Department requires that States provide notification to the public that 
a waiver demonstration effort is being proposed.
    A process that facilitates public involvement and input promotes 
sound decision-making. There are many ways that States can provide for 
such input. In order to allow for public input into the proposal, the 
Department will accept any process that:
     Includes the holding of one or more public hearings, at 
which the most recent working proposal is described and made available 
to the public, and time is provided during which comments can be 
received; or
     Uses a commission or other similar process, where 
meetings are open to members of the public, in the development of the 
proposal; or
     Results from enactment of a proposal by the State 
legislature prior to submission of the demonstration proposal, where 
the legislature holds one or more public hearings and the outline of 
such proposal is contained in the legislative enactment; or
     Provides for formal notice and comment in accordance with 
the State's administrative procedures act; provided that such notice 
must be given at least 30 days prior to submission; or
     Includes notice of the intent to submit a demonstration 
proposal in newspapers of general circulation, and provides a mechanism 
for receiving a copy of the working proposal and an opportunity, which 
shall not be less than 30 days, to comment on the proposal; or
     Includes any other similar process for public input that 
would afford an interested party the opportunity to learn about the 
contents of the proposal, and to comment on its contents.
    The State shall include in the demonstration proposal it submits to 
the Department a description of the process that was used in the State 
to obtain [[Page 31482]] public input. If the Department determines 
that the process was inadequate to meet the standards set forth above, 
the State can resolve the inadequacy by posting a notice in the 
newspaper of widest circulation in each city with a population of 
100,000 or more, or in the newspaper of widest circulation in the State 
if there is no city with a population of 100,000, indicating that a 
demonstration proposal has been submitted. Such notice shall describe 
the major elements of the proposed demonstration and any changes in 
benefits, payments, responsibilities, or provider selection requested 
in the proposal. The notice shall indicate how an interested person can 
obtain copies of the proposal and shall specify that written comments 
will be accepted by the State for a period of thirty days. If a State 
follows such a procedure, the State should respond to requests for 
copies of the proposal within seven days. The State should maintain a 
record of all comments received through this process.
    The States must advise the public that comments regarding the 
proposed child welfare demonstration project can be made directly to 
ACF. Written comments can be submitted to Michael W. Ambrose, 
Children's Bureau, ACF, PO Box 1182, Washington, DC 20013.
    All HHS commitments with respect to times for responding to 
demonstration proposals shall be delayed until this process in 
completed.

IX. Proposal Requirements

    Any State seeking to conduct a waiver demonstration must submit a 
proposal which, at a minimum, must include:
    (a) A description of the proposed project with an explanation of 
its purpose (for example, if the project is intended to overcome 
barriers to services, a statement to that effect, a description of the 
barriers, and a description of the process that will be used to 
overcome the barriers to service provision).
    (b) Demographic information, including the geographic area(s) in 
which the proposed project will be conducted; and a description and an 
estimate of the number of children or families who would be served by 
the proposed project.
    (c) A description of the services which will be provided by the 
proposed project.
    (d) A copy of letters of agreement between the State and any 
county, municipality, foundation, private agency or any other 
governmental organization that is to be a participant in the waiver 
demonstration project.
    (e) A statement of the period during which the proposed project 
will be conducted.
    (f) A discussion of the benefits that are expected from the project 
as compared to the continuation of current service delivery activities, 
including a statement of the State's vision or overall purpose for the 
waiver demonstration; a statement explaining how the State expects 
service provision will be improved for children and families or any 
anticipated changes in the service delivery mechanism(s); and a 
statement explaining what goals/purposes/aims/outcomes the State 
expects to realize at the end of the demonstration effort and how 
service provision will have changed for children and families.
    (g) An estimate of the costs or savings of the project, along with 
a description of the basis and methodology for cost estimates or 
projections and the proposed method for measuring actual costs.
    (h) A statement of program requirements for which waivers will be 
needed to permit the proposed project to be conducted.
    (i) A description of the proposed evaluation design.
    (j) A description of the State's efforts to encourage and support 
linkages and coordination among existing planning bodies, for example, 
the family preservation/family support planning or an Empowerment Zone/
Enterprise Community (EZ/EC) planning body to be involved in the 
monitoring, oversight or support of the proposed waiver demonstration.
    (k) A description of any similar project already underway in the 
State that is supported by State or foundation funds and/or a statement 
on the State's ability to successfully implement the waiver 
demonstration project.
    (l) A specific proposal, if any is needed, to waive provisions of 
title IV-A (AFDC) in order to support or enhance the efforts of the 
title IV-B or IV-E waiver demonstration. (In any event, cost neutrality 
must be maintained for title IV-B and E funds separately from title IV-
A funds.)

X. Federal Notice

    The Department intends to publish a periodic summary in the Federal 
Register of all new and pending proposals submitted pursuant to section 
1130. The notice will indicate that the Department accepts written 
comments regarding all child welfare waiver demonstration project 
proposals.
    The Department will maintain a list of organizations that have 
requested notice that a demonstration proposal has been received and 
will notify such organizations when a proposal is received.

XI. Comments

    The Department will not approve or disapprove a proposal for at 
least 30 days after the proposal has been received, in order to receive 
and consider comments. The Department will attempt, if feasible, to 
acknowledge receipt of all comments, but the Department will not 
provide written responses to comments.

XII. Federal Role

    Because of the special nature of this effort and the critical 
national implications, the overall management of the waiver 
demonstration project will be the responsibility of the Children's 
Bureau in Washington, DC. ACF Regional Office staff will have the 
principal responsibility for on-site liaison.
    State program managers for the demonstration projects will be 
required annually to attend a four day meeting in Washington, DC, to be 
held in conjunction with the Children's Bureau National Child Welfare 
Conference, to discuss the demonstration projects' developments and 
progress. The cost of attendance will be excluded from the cost-
neutrality calculation, and will be chargeable to title IV-E 
administrative costs without cost allocation.

XIII. Administrative Record

    The Department will maintain an administrative record which will 
generally consist of: The formal demonstration application from the 
State; correspondence sent to the State regarding issues/problems with 
the application and the State's response; public and Congressional 
comments sent to the Department and any Department responses; the 
Department's decision memorandum regarding the granting or denial of a 
proposal; and the final terms and conditions, and waivers, sent to the 
State and the State acceptance of them.

XIV. Sub-State Demonstration

    When a demonstration is to be implemented in only part of a State, 
the State will be required to provide information on the likely 
demographic composition of populations subject to and not subject to 
the demonstration in the State. When relevant, the Department will 
require that the evaluation component of a project address the impact 
of the project on particular subgroups of the population. 
[[Page 31483]] 

XV. Implementation Reviews

    As part of the terms and conditions of any demonstration proposal 
that is granted, the Department may require periodic assessments of how 
the project is being implemented. The Department will review, and when 
appropriate investigate, documented complaints that a State is failing 
to comply with requirements specified in the terms and conditions and 
implementing waivers of any approved demonstration.

XVI. Legal Effect

    This notice is intended to inform the public and the States 
regarding procedures the Department ordinarily will follow in 
exercising the Secretary's discretionary authority with respect to 
State demonstration proposals under section 1130. This notice does not 
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at 
law or equity, by any person or entity, against the United States, its 
agencies or instrumentalities, the States, or any other person.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Numbers 93.645, 
Child Services--State Grants; 93.658, Foster Care Maintenance; 
93.659, Adoption Assistance)

    Dated: June 12, 1995.
Mary Jo Bane,
Assistant Secretary for Children and Families.
Appendix I

    This is a list of program ideas that have been suggested by 
States or others in response to the Department's requests for 
suggestions. They are listed only as a means of outlining, for 
States interested in proposing a child welfare waiver demonstration 
project, the broad range of possible demonstrations that the 
Department would consider. Whether these sample ideas would be cost-
neutral would depend, of course, on how a State proposes to 
implement them. Similarly, the method of implementation could affect 
whether a waiver demonstration project would meet the statutory 
requirement that it not ``impair the entitlement of any qualified 
child or family to benefits under a State'' title IV-E Plan.
    This list should not be regarded as limiting a State in any way 
in conceiving demonstration ideas.
     To meet the need for specialized foster care, and to 
reduce the amount spent on institutional care, train AFDC recipients 
or other low income persons to be professional, paid foster parents 
for specialized foster home placements; ensure appropriate licensing 
and possibly provide housing subsidies or homeownership assistance 
to assure the stability of the specialized foster home as a long-
term resource.
     Broaden the use of title IV-E to fund services for 
children, their parents, and foster families, and to fund preventive 
services for families at risk, with the expectation that total time 
in out-of-home care would be reduced, and in some cases foster 
placements could be avoided.
     Provide better services at lower cost by, where 
appropriate, returning children, especially adolescents, from out-
of-State institutional placements. Such a demonstration might 
include both foster care youth and youth who are in the juvenile 
justice system. The expectation is that placing them in community-
based specialized family foster homes, or community-based group 
homes, will reduce the total time in out-of-home care.
     Provide subsidized guardianship or other arrangements 
which would allow children to stay or be placed in a familial 
setting that is more cost-effective than continuing them in foster 
care.
     For older adolescents in independent living, allow 
title IV-E funds to be used for the cost of an apartment for a 
period of time before the youth leaves foster care, and a short 
period thereafter, to achieve more stable placements for youth.
     Expand the availability of in-home respite care for 
foster families, with the expectation that administrative costs, 
including the costs of recruiting foster families, will be 
controlled, and more stable placements will result in shortened 
stays in out-of home care.
     Provide State-funded parental visitation for parents 
whose children are in institutional care, including the costs of 
telephone calls, transportation, and other expenses associated with 
maintaining or improving contact. The expectation is that more 
contact between parents/families and children in care can shorten 
stays in institutional placements.
     Enter into agreements with private providers to test a 
managed care concept, with clearly specified and measurable outcomes 
to be achieved for each family, at a fixed cost negotiated in 
advance, with the expectation that fiscal incentives would produce a 
better result with no increase in cost.
     Enter into agreements with Indian Tribes to permit 
full access to all aspects of title IV-E funding, with the 
expectation that services for tribal children and families will 
improve, while State costs of providing or managing those services 
will decline.
     Where court processes are unduly delaying adoptions, 
enter into agreements with courts to fund adoption-related work as 
if it were an administrative cost under title IV-E, with the 
expectation that the courts would then be able to speed adoptions, 
producing permanency for children earlier, and reducing foster care 
and case management costs.
     Seek a waiver of some provision(s) of title IV-A 
(AFDC), possibly in combination with a title IV-E or IV-B waiver, 
which might help achieve child welfare objectives. For example, a 
waiver which allowed a State to continue AFDC payments (in whole or 
in part) for a period of time, for a family from which the children 
had been removed, but where reunification is the goal and the loss 
of AFDC benefits would likely result in homelessness, thus 
frustrating reunification efforts.

[FR Doc. 95-14711 Filed 6-14-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P