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as established under Emergency Assistance for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) criteria:

• Initial TANF Family Foster Care (FFC) for expenses when a child first enters family foster care • Initial TANF Specialized Foster Care (SFC) State Approved Per Diem Waiver for expenses when a child is first placed in SFC and who requires a State Office written waiver for per diem.

*See Appendix C for AFDC State plan excerpt.

The Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) shall:

Ensure that a child meets all AFDC criteria to be Title IV-E eligible. The following must exist in the removal home to meet the AFDC Relatedness criteria for Title IV- E purposes:

• The child must be under the age of 18; • The child was living with a specified relative in the removal home; • A child must meet AFDC eligibility criteria in the month in which either a voluntary placement agreement (VPA) is entered into, or a court order is initiated to remove the children from the home. For the purpose of meeting the living with a specified relative prior to removal from the home requirement, one of the two situations will apply: o The child was living with the parent or specified relative, and was AFDC eligible in that home in the month of the voluntary placement agreement or initiation of court proceedings; or o The child had been living with the parent or specified relative within six months of the voluntary placement agreement or the initiation of the court proceedings, and the child would have been AFDC eligible in that month if s/he had still been living in that home. • The child must have been deprived of the care, guidance, or support of one or both parents, married or unmarried, if paternity is established, and deprivation must exist in the eligibility month; and • The child must be a United States citizen or a lawfully admitted qualified immigrant to be Title IV-E eligible. o Verify the citizenship or immigration status of any child in foster care under the responsibility of the State, without regard to whether foster care maintenance payments are made on behalf of the child. o Ensure child meets the definition of “qualified immigrant” as defined in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) to be eligible for foster care maintenance or adoption assistance, (except children receiving adoption assistance pursuant to agreements signed before August 22, 1996, who may continue to receive such assistance.

*See Appendix D – Child Welfare Policy Manual Policy Number 9.6 for the Aid to Families