Since federal fiscal year (FFY) 2010, the title IV-E Adoption Assistance program has provided expanded eligibility provisions for any child who meets the criteria for an “applicable child” as defined in section 473(e) of the Social Security Act (the Act). Use of the applicable-child eligibility provisions (section 473(a)(2)(A)(ii) of the Act) tends to result in more children being determined as eligible for title IV-E since it delinks eligibility for the title IV-E Adoption Assistance program from the requirements of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, among other changes. (See Program Instruction [PI] ACYF-CB-PI-09-10, dated August 26, 2009, for more details on the applicable-child eligibility criteria.) The increased eligibility allows states to receive additional federal funding for adoption, thereby allowing them to reduce the level of nonfederal funds they use for these services. The reduction in nonfederal spending is referred to as “adoption savings.”

Federal law (section 473(a)(8) of the Act) requires title IV-E agencies to spend an amount equal to any savings they achieve as a result of applying the differing program eligibility criteria to applicable children for other child welfare service activities permitted under titles IV-B or IV-E of the Act. The amount of adoption savings is calculated based on the title IV-E Adoption Assistance program claims made on behalf of those children who, absent the applicable-child eligibility criteria, would not have been determined eligible for title IV-E Adoption Assistance. The savings are generally equal to the federal share of these claims since, in most instances, that amount would otherwise have been paid from nonfederal title IV-E agency funds. A portion of the expenditures of adoption savings funds must be used for specified services.

To implement the adoption savings requirements, the Children’s Bureau (CB) issued PIs providing detailed guidance on the calculation, expenditure, and reporting of adoption savings and developed a new annual reporting form (CB-496 Part 4) to collect the information. See PIs ACYF-CB-PI-15-06 and ACYF-CB-PI-21-08 for details on these instructions.

Title IV-E agencies—as of FFY 2015—are required to calculate and report annually their adoption savings, the methodology used to calculate the savings, how savings are spent, and on what services. In calculating adoption savings, title IV-E agencies must use a methodology specified by CB or may propose an alternative for approval. The methodology developed and issued by CB is referred to as “the CB Method.” This method can be applied either to a sample of cases or to the full universe of cases if the agency was able to access actual figures for needed information without conducting a special review. The statute also requires that the annual adoption savings information reported by state and tribal title IV-E agencies be posted on the CB website.

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