IV-E Review Project:
Overview of Key Tasks
The Title IV-E Foster Care Eligibility Reviews Project (IV-E Review Project) assists the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in administering the title IV-E foster care eligibility reviews (FC eligibility reviews). Specifically, the project manages the following activities:
- Recruiting peer reviewers for the FC eligibility reviews
- Designing and conducting training for peer reviewers participating in the FC eligibility reviews
- Supporting the Children's Bureau Regional Office staff in planning the FC eligibility reviews
- Providing support to the Children's Bureau Central and Regional Offices staff in post-review follow-up
- Assisting the Children's Bureau Central and Regional Office staff in tracking the status of the reviews
- Updating materials for the FC eligibility reviews
- Preparing reports on topics related to the FC eligibility reviews
- Revising the estimated national error rate and national erroneous payments for the title IV-E foster care program and providing analytic support to assist the Children's Bureau in reducing the error rate.
The project conducts ongoing recruitment efforts to identify peer reviewers to supplement the Federal team during the onsite component of the FC eligibility reviews and to assist State agencies in developing their Program Improvement Plans (PIPs).
The project conducts three 1-day peer reviewer trainings per year.
The project assists the Children's Bureau Regional Office staff in facilitating review planning conference calls, identifying peer reviewers to supplement the Federal Review Team, disseminating Review Information Packages, and managing the logistical arrangements for peer reviewers (travel, per diem, and honorarium).
The project assists the Federal staff in developing Final Reports and in preparing PIPs following the FC eligibility reviews.
The project tracks and reports on the status of the FC eligibility reviews and on State PIP activities and milestones.
The project updates guidance materials about the FC eligibility , including the Title IV-E Foster Care Eligibility Review Guide and Onsite Review Instrument and Instructions. The project also works with the appropriate Children's Bureau contractor to post the updated materials on the Children's Bureau Web site and Intranet.
The project prepares reports on estimated national erroneous payments and progress in reducing these, statutory or regulatory barriers to reduction of erroneous payments, State performance with respect to the error rate, and national IV-E monitoring activity on a monthly and annual basis.
The project tracks disallowances related to the FC eligibility reviews, and revises the national estimate of erroneous payments and payment error rate for the title IV-E foster care program in accordance with the OMB-approved methodology. The project also performs ongoing analysis and provides additional analytic support as needed to assist the Children's Bureau in understanding factors contributing to the error rate. The project monitors national and State progress related to reducing the erroneous payment rate, and works with the Children's Bureau to develop and implement a corrective action plan to reduce erroneous payments in accordance with the President's Management Agenda.
