Annual Report on State TANF and MOE Programs

Annual Report on State TANF and MOE Programs - 2005
Ohio

Provide the following information for EACH PROGRAM (according to the nature of the benefit or service provided) for which the State claims MOE expenditures. Complete and submit this report in accordance with the attached instructions.

1) Name of Benefit or Service Program

The Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services (ODADAS)
Separate State Program (SSP)

As the single state authority for substance abuse in Ohio, ODADAS supervises the delivery of alcohol and other drug addiction prevention and treatment services for Ohio’s indigent populations. Services are provided by Department-certified private, not-for-profit providers. Using state and federal funds provided through ODADAS as well as local funding, county level Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Boards and Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services (ADAS) Boards plan for and purchase services from providers.

Appropriation Line Item 038-401 (TANF Treatment)
TANF Maintenance-of-Effort (MOE) funds were used to purchase treatment services (medical) including, individual and group counseling, assessment, drug screening, case management, methadone maintenance, intensive outpatient, crisis intervention, medical somatic and ambulatory detoxification services. TANF MOE funds were also used to provide residential detoxification and treatment services, hospital detoxification services and other client specific community services including referral and information, intervention and outreach services.

Appropriation Line Item 038-401 (TANF Prevention)
An emphasis was placed on youth mentoring programs by Ohio’s General Assembly in establishing this State Separate Program (SSP). Mentoring is a social relationship that can lead to an increase in youth self esteem, which allows youth to embrace resiliency skills, promote self-empowerment and enable them to cope successfully with the environmental stresses which tempt them to use alcohol, tobacco and other drugs and/or to become involved in violence or juvenile crime and school failure. Research has demonstrated that mentoring relationships assist youth, especially those considered at-risk for using alcohol and other drugs, in making healthy decisions about substance use. TANF MOE funds were used to support youth mentoring activities statewide to eligible recipients. Other alcohol and other drug addiction prevention services, where eligible clients were identified as recipients, were paid for using TANF MOE funds.

Serving eligible individuals in alcohol and drug treatment using TANF MOE funds has been an effective way to help clients focus on treatment first, at least temporarily, without being subject to TANF work requirements and time limits thus eliminating one of the greatest barriers to gainful, permanent employment. Treatment and prevention programs serving low-income individuals collaborated with ODADAS and their local ADAMHS/ADAS Boards to secure TANF MOE funding for these clients. The ultimate purpose of this program is to reduce dependency, reduce out-of-wedlock pregnancies, protect vulnerable children, reduce out-of-home foster care placements for children at risk of being abused as a result of guardian substance abuse, develop employment opportunities including more effective work programs and promote family stability.

5. Description of Work Activities (Complete only if this program is a separate State program):

Eligible families receiving alcohol and other drug addiction services under this State Separate Program are not subject to work requirements. Participants may, however, be subject to work requirements if they are receiving “assistance” under the TANF program. Extensive coordination between county administered employment services and alcohol and other drug addiction providers played a vital role in both identifying substance abuse as an issue for those seeking employment and finding employment for those clients who successfully participated in treatment.

7. Total State MOE Expenditures under the Program for the Fiscal Year: $4,087,700

8. Total Number of Families Served under the Program with MOE Funds: 6,047 (clients)

This last figure represents (check one):

9. Financial Eligibility Criteria for Receiving MOE-funded Program Benefits or Services:

ODADAS emphasized the target population for these funds to local Boards. Unlike federal TANF funds, State MOE funds can be used for medical services as long as the recipient is not Medicaid eligible. For example, Level 1 services from ODADAS’ Clinical Protocols for Levels of Care includes individual and group counseling, assessment, drug screening, case management, methadone maintenance, intensive outpatient, crisis intervention, medical somatic and ambulatory detoxification services. Therefore, while the use of these funds is primarily at the discretion of each ADAMHS/ADAS Board, it makes sense that a priority be set for non-Medicaid eligible clients in need of treatment services. A likely scenario may be parents of a child eligible for Medicaid through the Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Treatment for the parents could be made available through the TANF MOE funds. There is undoubtedly another population of families that live between 150% of poverty, which is the CHIP threshold, and 200% of poverty that could also receive treatment services through TANF MOE funds.

As established in temporary law through Ohio’s SFY 2000-2001 biennial budget, families at or below 200% of the federal poverty index are eligible to receive services paid for through the SSP.

A “family is defined as an assistance group containing a minor child who resides with a custodial parent, legal guardian, legal custodian or specified relative caring for the child or a woman who is at least six months pregnant.

NOTE: Families involved in child welfare/protective services, i.e., H.B. 484, where the child has temporarily been removed from the guardian remain eligible for TANF MOE funding as long as substance abuse treatment is included in the family’s reunification plan formulated by the Public Children Services Agency. Families enrolled in OWF are eligible for funding for a six-month time period. Families not enrolled in OWF remain eligible as long as the treatment is a part of the reunification plan.

ADAMHS and ADAS Boards work with contract service providers to establish income eligibility guidelines. These guidelines must be published by the ADAMHS/ADAS Boards and made available to any program audit. Calculation of family gross annual income must be documented and kept on file with client service records subject to audit. To prevent monthly eligibility “churning”, a family’s eligibility is good for one year from the time of determination.

Several “proxies” also exist that serve as satisfactory documentation of program eligibility. Families whose children are enrolled in CHIP are automatically eligible for services funded through the ODADAS SSP. Individuals eligible for Medicaid under any of Ohio’s enrollment categories and their family members are automatically eligible for services funded through the ODADAS SSP.

Services for a client needing alcohol and other drug addiction treatment are reimbursable through TANF MOE funds if the client belongs to a family as defined by Ohio’s TANF Program Plan and meets any one of the following income based conditions:

1) The client or a member of the client’s family is enrolled in Ohio Works First (OWF),
or
2) The client or a member of the client’s family is eligible for Disability (Cash) Assistance or Food Stamps,
or
3) The client or a member of the client’s family is eligible for Medicaid under ADC, Healthy Start or CHIP,
or
4) The client or client’s family is at or below 200% of the federal poverty index as determined by an ADAMHS/ADAS Board standardized income test.

10. Prior Program Authorization: Was this program authorized and allowable under prior law? (check one)

11. Total Program Expenditures in FY 1995: _________________________
(NOTE: provide only if response on question 10 is No)

This certifies that all families for which the State claims MOE expenditures for the fiscal year meet the State's criteria for "eligible families."

NAME: Laurie McCool
TITLE: Section Chief, Bureau of Research and Evaluation
Office of Research, Assessment, and Accountability