In accordance with Ohio Revised Code (ORC) Section 119.032, each state agency is required to review its rules a minimum of once every five years. The intent of the law is to ensure that rules are clearly written and that program requirements are accurate, up-to-date and clearly expressed. To the extent possible, unnecessary paperwork will be eliminated, and local agencies will be given increased flexibility. The purpose of a rule review is to determine whether a rule should be continued without amendment, be amended or be rescinded, taking into consideration each rule's scope and purpose. The following rules were recently reviewed and amended, with a proposed effective date of August 20, 2011.

Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) rule 5101:2-47-09 "Administrative Procedure: Case Record Requirements for Foster Care Maintenance," describes the case record requirements for Title IV-E foster care maintenance. The list of documents in paragraph (B)(2) and (B)(3 were revised to add clarity. Additional changes to the rule include deleting paragraph (B)(5) the citizenship documentation requirements which are referenced in rule 5101:2-33-29 of the Administrative Code. Language was also added to paragraph (C) regarding difficulty of care payments, repayment of ineligible reimbursements and documentation of reimbursements for clothing, graduation and personal incidentals.

OAC 5101:2-47-12 "Foster care maintenance: Initial determination of program eligibility and reimbursability," this rule outlines the requirements for initial eligibility determination for foster care maintenance. Effective April 1, 2010, a redetermination of ADC relatedness is not required. OAC 5101:2-47-21 will be rescinded and some of that language has been added to explain the age criteria when children are no longer program eligible.

OAC 5101:2-47-16 "Foster care maintenance program reimbursability: Reimbursable placement settings," this rule outlines the reimbursable placements for foster care maintenance. New language has been added to allow for reimbursement for alternative care providers that are licensed, certified or approved. Also, if the alternative care placement is 14 days or less and the child returns to the original placement this alternative care will not count as a placement change for the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis Reporting System (AFCARS). Language has been added to allow for reimbursement when a child is absent without leave (AWOL), in the hospital, on a trial home visit, camp or vacation, if the absence does not exceed 14 days and the child returns to the same placement. A child on leave for respite will not be reimbursed.

OAC 5101:2-47-21 "Foster Care Maintenance (FCM): Redetermination of Program Eligibility and Reimbursability," is being rescinded. Effective April 1, 2010 annual redetermination for Aid for Dependent Children (ADC) is no longer federally required.

OAC 5101:2-47-26.2 "Cost Report 'Agreed Upon Procedures' Engagement," describes the requirements for public and private agencies to complete a cost report annually. The rule revision date of the JFS 02911-I "Single Cost Report Instructions" was changed from July 2009 to July 2011. Paragraph (C) was revised to separate the requirements. Sentence two and three were moved to the new paragraph (D). Sentence four was moved to paragraph (E) and the last sentence and subparagraph were moved to paragraph (F).

INSTRUCTIONS:

The following chart shows what materials should be inserted into the Family, Children and Adult Services Manual (FCASM).