Wisconsin Title IV-E Foster Care and Adoption Assistance Program

Title IV-E is a subpart of Title IV of the federal Social Security Act. This program provides federal reimbursement to states for the costs of children placed in foster homes or other types of out-of-home care under a court order or voluntary placement agreement. Title IV-E benefits are an individual entitlement for qualified children who have been removed from their homes and represent the most significant source of federal funding allocated to support state and local child welfare programs and the children and families served by these local programs.

There are two major concepts, within the Title IV-E program, that determines whether federal reimbursement can be claimed for a child: Eligibility & Reimbursability. Some children in care are:

  • Not eligible
  • Eligible but not reimbursable
  • Both eligible and reimbursable

A child must be eligible to be reimbursable. The determination of IV-E eligibility and reimbursability for the child allows the state to claim federal IV-E reimbursement for the child’s maintenance costs. The IV-E eligibility also allows the state to receive federal IV-E reimbursement for administrative and training costs associated with the child.

IV-E Policy

Policy and Guidance regarding the Wisconsin Title IV-E Program.

IV-E Administrative Claiming and Reimbursement Program

The Division of Safety and Permanence has contracts with counties and universities to pass through federal Title IV-E reimbursement based on expenses incurred by the contract agencies. Currently, IV-E funds are available as a pass through for the following programs:

Tribal IV-E

The Department of Children and Families (DCF) will negotiate in good faith with any Indian tribe, tribal organization, or tribal consortium that requests to develop an agreement with the State to administer all or part of a Title IV-E program on behalf of Indian children under the authority of a tribe, a tribal organization, or tribal consortium.

The scope of specific agreements may include claiming for administrative costs, foster care maintenance, guardianship, or adoption assistance payments on behalf of children who are placed in State or tribally licensed foster family homes. DCF will also coordinate with any Tribe interested in a direct Tribal/Federal IV-E agreement to ensure tribal access to resources for administration, training, and data collection available under title IV-E.

Title IV-E Child Welfare Stipends Program

Title IV-E Child Welfare Stipends Program

The Department of Children and Families (DCF) Title IV-E Child Welfare Stipends Program provides funds claimed through title IV-E to four different public universities within Wisconsin. These universities are: UW-Eau Claire, UW-Green Bay, UW-Madison, and UW-Milwaukee. The purpose of the program is to strengthen Wisconsin’s public and tribal child welfare workforce by producing social workers with both undergraduate and graduate professional degrees in Social Work with specializations in public child welfare. The funds that are provided to each university can be used as reimbursement for student costs such as tuition, books, and other educational expenses.

For more information or if you have questions email Wisconsin Title IV-E