State Eyes More Flexibility In Federal Foster Care Spending

Federal law mandates how states spend federal money on foster care systems and adoption support. Millar said the waiver would give Georgia more breathing room in how it spends that money. 

“It gives us the opportunity down the road if we want to take advantage of this to get more flexibility on how we spend the federal dollar,” Millar said, adding the state can opt out of the waiver anytime.

Melissa Carter of Emory’s Barton Child and Law and Policy Center, however, said now is not a great time to seek the waiver, even though 2014 is the last year states can apply.

Carter said that’s because the amount of money is fixed based on the size of the state’s foster care system, which the state has cut by about 5,000 kids over the past few years. As a result, current federal funding levels are low.

“What they do is block grant us in at the rate we currently have for IV-E funding,” Carter said. “And Georgia, because of our strategic efforts to reduce our foster care population, is at the lowest level of IV-E funding that we’ve had historically, so it’s a really poor time to lock us in.”

The Division of Family and Children Services says about 7,700 children are currently in state care.

Millar says action on the possible waiver could come during the legislative session in the form a proposal on how to spend the federal funding.