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Title IV-E Waiver demonstration project
Overview
The Title IV-E Waiver Project is a federally approved demonstration project
that provides states the authority to design and test a wide range of new approaches
to the delivery of child welfare services in order to improve outcomes for children.
The demonstrations are intended to provide valuable knowledge leading to improvements
in the delivery, effectiveness and efficiency of services to children and families
at risk.
Oregon's five year demonstration project uses existing Title IV-E dollars flexibly
to develop new programs and services or enhance existing service programs which
prevent or reduce foster care. The waiver will benefit children in the care
and custody of the CAF and their families and assist in the implementation of
System of Care.
Examples:
Frequently asked questions
Q. What is the mission of Oregon's
Waiver?
To lead the nation in demonstrating a broad range of exceptional solutions
and services for preventing or reducing foster care through the efficient use
of title IV-E dollars and collaboration with our community partners.
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Q. What are Oregon's goals in implementing
the Waiver?
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Focus on improving outcomes for children and families and the efficacy
with which services are provided.
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Be open to public scrutiny at the local, State and Federal levels, and
obtain broad consultation and full opportunity for public comment.
- Provide services in which the level of State intrusion into family life
is consistent with the seriousness of the risks to family members;
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Comply with appropriate civil rights statutes and regulations.
- Present a new, policy-relevant hypothesis that is testable by a well-designed
evaluation plan.
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Test new concepts, in the context of a solid evaluation plan, which could
lead to broader program reforms.
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Q. When was Oregon's IV-E Waiver implemented?
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The Department of Health and Human Services approved Oregon's IV-E Waiver
on October 31, 1996.
- mplementation of Oregon's project began on July 1, 1997.
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In June 1999, the Department of Health and Human Services approved an
assisted guardianship option.
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Implementation of Oregon's Guardianhip Assistance Program began in September
1999.
- Extension of Oregon's IV-E Waiver for an additional five years on April
1, 2004.
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Q. What benefits are derived from the Waiver?
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Provides more flexibility in developing programs and services focused
on preventing or reducing foster care or reducing the length of stay.
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Assists in the agency's implementation of a needs-based service delivery
System of Care planning model or interdisciplinary approach to assessing
the strengths of the family and meeting the needs of individual children.
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Provides a venue for involving community partners in the development of
family focused, community based network service delivery projects.
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Reduction of foster care costs with the investment in services.
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Q. How does the Waiver work?
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Branch field offices collaborate with their community partners in developing
written Social Service Plans that best meet the needs of the children and
families the community serves.
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Social Service Plans must be designed to prevent foster care by enabling
families to remain safely together in their homes or designed to enable
the child in foster care to safely return the child to the family home.
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Branch Social Service Change plan proposals are carefully evaluated and
subjected to several decision points in the planning and budgetary arenas.
Administrative approval is necessary before implementation of the individual
branch projects may begin.
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Q. What does cost neutrality mean?
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Oregon's Demonstration project must be cost neutral, that is, the total
amount of Federal funds used to support the Demonstration, for the approved
project period, will not exceed the amount of Federal funds that would
have been expended by the State under the traditional IV-E foster care
program. There is no new money.
- Branch offices must achieve cost neutrality within the State's two year
budget cycle.
- Branches can achieve cost neutrality on their project by assuring:
- Foster care reduced by at least 4 months per child;
- The service project costs are no more than $1,000.00 per child.
- There is a high rate of successful outcomes with the service.
- Branches may use the Waiver Cost Neutrality
Calculation (PDF) in
determining whether their proposed project will meet the cost neutrality
criteria.
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Q. What are the evaluation requirements?
Each State must obtain an evaluation by an independent contractor to assess
the effectiveness of the project.
The evaluation consists of process, outcome and cost-benefit components. The
State is using a comparison group design. The comparison group for the outcome
evaluation is a group of branches that is neither operating under the state's
system reform effort nor allowed to use IV-E dollars flexibly (with the exception
of guardianship assistance.)
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Contact
For more information on the IV-E Waiver Demonstration Project contact Cheri
Emahiser at (503) 945-6681
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