Frequently Asked Questions

This document provides frequently asked questions about the AFCARS final rule.

Scholarships and tuition waivers may be available to youth who were adopted from foster care.

The NOFO provides the following guidance under Program Services (pp. 6—8):
Projects may include any or all of the six eligible services described below. Within each, CB encourages innovation. The examples below show types of services that recipients could provide. You may propose other services within these categories.

Evidence-Based Clinical Services

• Assessment and diagnosis of mental health conditions
• Individual, group, and family therapy, including cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and play therapy
• Occupational therapy to help children with sensory issues
• Emergency mental health services for children in crisis

Foster Parent Training and Curricula

These services help foster families and potential adoptive families to understand the needs of children who have experienced trauma, such as the following:

• The changes in children’s bodies, brains, behaviors, and belief systems that come with experiencing trauma
• The need to build nurturing, trusting relationships with safe boundaries with trusted adults
• The need to address the whole child and their unique needs
• The need to correct behavior by focusing on the behavior, not the child

Volunteer Support Services for Foster Parents

These services provide direct support for foster parents and caregivers. Examples include the following:

• Respite care to give foster parents time to meet their own needs and engage in self-care
• Matching foster parents with mentors or support groups with experience caring for children with complex needs
• Organizing volunteers to help with transportation for children to appointments, meals for the family, or the collection of donations of clothing, toys, and other supplies
• Resilience-building programs that help foster parents manage the challenges they face

Positive Biological and Birth Family Engagement

These services help support biological family reunification, where possible. Examples include the following:

• Building supportive relationships between the child, foster family, and biological family
• Connecting biological families to concrete, economic, and other available supports within the community
• Managing regular communication, which may include phone calls, emails, and visits as well as coordinating family therapy or other supports, case planning and decision-making, and coparenting.

Enrichment Activities for Children

These services provide opportunities for creative expression and building social skills. Examples include the following:

• Art or music therapy to allow children to express themselves, which can help them to reduce stress and process their emotions and experiences in a safe, supportive environment
• Outdoor activities, such as hiking, gardening, and nature walks, which can help children connect with nature and find a sense of peace and calm
• Sports and exercise to help children release energy, relieve stress, and build self-confidence
• Mindfulness practices, such as meditation, breathing exercises, and yoga, to develop self-awareness and self-regulation skills

Trauma-Informed Systems Work

This work coordinates community services to prevent, identify, and address trauma. Examples include the following:

• Building networks of local child-serving systems. These include health care, education, social services, juvenile justice, and community organizations. Collaborations develop systems that are more responsive, compassionate, and effective.
  • Specific focus areas might include standardized screening and assessments, measurement-driven case planning, treatment referral processes, changes to data systems, and more.
• Training to better understand, recognize, and intervene with the impacts of trauma.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) does not provide direct guidance or instruction in the development of an applicant’s project design or on the writing of their applications. Applicants should use their best judgment in determining whether they are able to meet the requirements contained in the NOFO, in determining whether they are able to develop an application they believe to be responsive to the NOFO, and in designing and writing their applications. Applications will be reviewed and evaluated by objective review panels using the criteria described in the NOFO. Review panels will use the NOFO as the principal guidance available to them in the same way that it is the principal guidance for applicants.

State child abuse and neglect reporting laws do not specify the age at which a child can be left home alone. Information about the age at which it is considered appropriate to leave a child alone may exist elsewhere in your local, county or State policies or ordinances that address this special topic.

Many states accept anonymous reports of alleged child abuse and neglect. Reporting suspected child abuse and neglect is everyone's responsibility. If you have any concerns about a child’s welfare, you should contact the appropriate authorities in the state where the child resides. Each state has trained professionals who can evaluate the situation and determine whether intervention and services are needed. Most states have a toll-free number to call to report suspected abuse. Child Welfare Information Gateway, a service of the Children's Bureau, provides a list of state child abuse reporting numbers.

The NOFO provides the following guidance under the heading "There are a few things you need to do before you can apply" (p. 11):

• Only nonprofits may apply. (For more information on faith-based organizations, see p. 42.)
• Only those with demonstrated experience working with children in foster care who have experienced severe trauma can apply.
• Individuals, including sole proprietorships, or foreign entities are not eligible.
• The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) will determine your eligibility by reviewing your proof of nonprofit status, the project narrative’s Experience section, and the letter of support from your child welfare agency.

The NOFO also provides the following guidance under Program Services, Subawards (p. 9): Recipients may transfer part of the work to other organizations through subawards. The prime recipient must take the following steps :

• Keep a substantive role in the project. A substantive role means conducting activities or providing services integral to the project. Conducting subrecipient monitoring activities alone is not a substantive role.
• Make sure all subrecipients have the following characteristics:
  • Are nonprofits
  • Are not individuals, including sole proprietorships, or foreign entities
  • Have demonstrated experience working with children in foster care who have experienced trauma
• Make sure that subrecipients have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and an active System for Award Management (SAM.gov) registration.

ACF does not provide direct guidance or instruction in the development of an applicant’s project design or on the writing of their applications. Applicants should use their best judgment in determining whether they are able to meet the requirements contained in the NOFO, whether they are able to develop an application they believe to be responsive to the NOFO, and in designing and writing their applications. Applications will be reviewed and evaluated by objective review panels using the criteria described in the Merit Review Criteria section of the NOFO, which aligns with the requirements listed in the Format and Application Components sections. The review panels will use the NOFO as the principal guidance available to them in the same way that it is the principal guidance for applicants.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) does not provide information on the number of potential applicants. ACF also does not direct guidance or instruction in the development of an applicant’s project design or on the writing of their applications. Applicants should use their best judgment in determining whether they are able to meet the requirements contained in the NOFO, in determining whether they are able to develop an application they believe to be responsive to the NOFO, and in designing and writing their applications. Applications will be reviewed and evaluated by objective review panels using the criteria described in the Merit Review Criteria section of the NOFO, which aligns with the requirements listed in the Format and Application Components sections. The review panels will use the NOFO as the principal guidance available to them in the same way that it is the principal guidance for applicants.

The NOFO provides the following guidance under Program Services (p. 6):

Recipients must provide trauma-informed services for children in the foster care system. Services must focus on children with complex needs who have experienced trauma.

The Program Summary in the NOFO states the following (p. 3):

CB seeks trauma-informed interventions to address trauma in children and youth with complex mental, behavioral, and health conditions. Funding supports projects to implement interventions that are culturally and developmentally responsive, achieve demonstrable improvements in well-being for children and youth, and share lessons learned.

ACF does not provide direct guidance or instruction in the development of an applicant’s project design or on the writing of their applications. Applicants should use their best judgment in determining whether they are able to meet the requirements contained in the NOFO, in determining whether they are able to develop an application they believe to be responsive to the NOFO, and in designing and writing their applications. Applications will be reviewed and evaluated by objective review panels using the criteria described in the Merit Review Criteria section of the NOFO, which aligns with the requirements listed in the Format and Application Components sections. The review panels will use the NOFO as the principal guidance available to them in the same way that it is the principal guidance for applicants.

Child Welfare Information Gateway, a service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, offers a web section that outlines the steps of the search process.