(A)       The Ohio department of job and family services (ODJFS) issues the state adoption incentive allocation to public children services agencies (PCSAs) to support adoption activities.

(B)       This allocation consists of one hundred per cent state funds. The maximum amount of state funds allocated for incentives is one and a half million dollars.

(C)       ODJFS communicates the funding period of performance and liquidation periodsperiod through the county finance information system (CFIS). The PCSA can incur services throughcounty must expend funds by the end of thefunding period of performance and disburse and report expenditures no later than the end of the liquidation period.

(D)       ODJFS uses the following methodology to distribute available funds for this allocation:

(1)       The office of families and children (OFC) pulls finalized adoption data from the statewide automated child welfare information system (SACWIS) for each county on the first business day after July thirty-first.

(2)       OFC uses the average number of finalized adoptions over a prior three year period to determine the baseline for each county.

(3)       For each finalized adoption over a county's established baseline, ODJFS issues:

(a)       An incentive payment for the target population ages nine to seventeen at six thousand five hundred dollars per child; and

(b)       An incentive payment for children under age nine at three thousand two hundred fifty dollars per child.

(4)       If incentive amounts achieved in paragraph (D)(3) of this rule are less than one and a half million dollars, ODJFS distributes the remaining funds as additional incentives as follows:

(a)       ODJFS pulls data from SACWIS for the prior state fiscal year (SFY) to identify the total population of children available for adoption during the year for each county agency. "Available for adoption" means any child in permanent custody at any point during the SFY;

(b)       ODJFS divides the total number of children finalized during the SFY by the total population of children available for adoption during the same SFY for each county agency to arrive at a county specific percentage;

(i)         ODJFS sums all county percentages as described in paragraph (D)(4)(b) of this rule to arrive at an aggregate statewide figure;

(ii)        ODJFS divides each county's specific percentage by the total aggregate statewide figure to arrive at a county percentage to the total; and

(iii)       ODJFS multiplies the remaining balance of funds by each county's percentage to arrive at an additional allocation amount per county.

(E)       ODJFS issues this allocation as an advance to the PCSA by the end of August of each year. ODJFS will recapture unspent funds as part of the quarterly reconciliation.

(F)(E)  Beginning with SFY 2017, incentive funds must be expended at one hundred per cent of the adoption incentive allocation achieved and will not be used to draw down additional Title IV-E adoption administrative funds.

(G)(F)  PCSAs shall reinvest adoption incentive payments to support adoption activities during the SFY.

(H)(G) The PCSA shall report allowable expenditures as described in rule 5101:9-7-29 of the Administrative Code.

(I)(H)   The definitions, requirements, and responsibilities contained in rule 5101:9-6-50 of the Administrative Code are applicable to this rule.

Effective: 7/13/2018

Certification: CERTIFIED ELECTRONICALLY

Date: 07/03/2018

Promulgated Under: 111.15

Statutory Authority: 5101.02, 5101.10

Rule Amplifies: 5101.02, 5101.10

Prior Effective Dates: 09/25/2015, 07/24/2016