All relative foster caregivers will be paid

A new state law has just made my job a whole lot easier. Kids no longer need to be Title IV-E eligible in order for there relative caregivers to be paid. These are children who are wards of the State of Oregon...I know what you were thinking.

Title IV-E refers to the section of the Social Security Act that administers federal funds that partially reimburses the costs of kids in foster care.

I am a IV-E specialist, if you have not figured that out yet. A typical IV-E eligible child comes from a single parent home where the family was receiving a welfare grant, or would have been eligible to receive such grant had they applied.

Up until now, when a non IV-E eligible child went into relative foster care, I had to prepare a denial letter for relatives to explain why we could not pay them foster care $$. I would refer them to Self Sufficiency to apply for a non-needy relative caretaker grant, about half of what foster care pays.

I still have a job. We still need to optomize the federal funds...and we have a federal audit coming up.

It's just my stomach was always in knots when I had to explain to them why we could not pay them.

The dreaded part of my job is gone!