The Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA, 108 Stat. 3518),as amended, requires the racial and ethnic diversity of families waiting to adopt be reflective of the racial and ethnic diversity of the children waiting to be adopted. In Ohio, the percentage of waiting African-American families is substantially less than the percentage of waiting African-American children. Ohio Administrative Code rule 5101:9-6-57 amplifies MEPA, as amended and therefore, meets federal compliance. The Program Improvement Plan (PIP) submitted by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) to the United States Department of Health and Human Services requires an increase in the recruitment and approval of African-American adoptive families.
To enable the state to meet this PIP goal, ODJFS has reviewed FACSIS information on open adoption resources that do not have a child placed in their home for the purposes of adoption. Based on point in time data, ODJFS has determined the difference between the percent of waiting approved African-American families in each county and the percentage of African-American children in that same county who were legally available for adoption.
The Office for Children and Families has approved the allocation of $538,000 to specific public children service agencies (PCSAs) which have been identified by ODJFS as most able to assist in compliance with MEPA and the PIP goals. The six PCSAs are listed in the chart below. These PCSAs are being asked to increase the number of available African-American families in order to achieve parity with the percent of their waiting African-American children. The level of each PCSA s allocation was influenced by the total families required to achieve parity and the total available dollars.
Comparison of Percentage of African American Children and Waiting African American Families
| PCSA | Total Waiting Children | AA Waiting Children | Percent AA Children Waiting | Total Waiting Families | AA Families Waiting | Percent of AA Families | Numerical Parity | Number of AA Families Required To Reach Parity | Dollar Award |
|---|
| Cuyahoga | 1057 | 818 | 77% | 288 | 150 | 52% | 223 | 73 | $146,000 |
| Franklin | 225 | 123 | 55% | 322 | 119 | 37% | 176 | 57 | $114,000 |
| Summit | 204 | 107 | 52% | 194 | 51 | 26% | 102 | 51 | $102,000 |
| Hamilton | 218 | 160 | 73% | 112 | 45 | 40% | 82 | 37 | $74,000 |
| Montgomery | 146 | 91 | 62% | 105 | 38 | 36% | 65 | 27 | $54,000 |
| Stark | 239 | 97 | 41% | 111 | 21 | 19% | 45 | 24 | $48,000 |
The next to last column indicates the number of additional families the agency should attain to meet the MEPA requirement. However, because some families will drop out and others will become unavailable as they finalize adoptions, the number of families needing to be recruited is likely to be larger than the numbers shown above.
The allocation will be available for the period July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2006. Claims against the allocation must be reported on the JFS 02820 The Children Services Monthly Financial Statement, and all claims against the allocation must be completed no later than the submission of the JFS 02820 for June, 2006 costs. Funding under the allocation can only be used to contract with an individual (personal services contractor) or another third party entity for the purpose of producing two-parent African-American approved adoptive applicants, or single parent African-American approved adoptive applicants whose income is less than 120% of the state median income standard scaled to family size. Allocation funds cannot be used to cover PCSA staff time, nor the development of recruitment campaigns, or the purchase of other recruitment materials, unless such campaigns or materials are specifically targeted to seeking the participation of two-parent adoptive families.
By October 31, 2005, and quarterly thereafter, participating PCSA(s) must submit an "Outcomes and Progress Report" to the Office for Children and Families, addressing the following topics:
1. A description of the contract(s) funded through the Adoption Allocation;
2. Results of the contract(s) including the number and names of TANF eligible approved home studies;
The outcomes/progress reports are to be mailed to the following address:
Rhonda Abban
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
Adoption Services Section
255 East Main Street 3rd Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Questions concerning this administrative procedure manual transmittal letter may be directed to the local fiscal supervisor or to the Bureau of County Finance at (614) 752-9194.