Authority: Title 63.1, Chapters 3, 10, 10.1, 11, 11.1, 12.1, and 18, Code of Virginia; P.L. 101-126, P.L. 100-294, P.L. 101-226, P.L. 105-89, as amended.

A.1. Out of the amount for Financial Assistance for Child and Youth Services, $575,000 from the general fund and $400,000 from nongeneral funds the first year and $575,000 from the general fund and $400,000 from nongeneral funds the second year shall be provided for the purchase of services for victims of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect prevention activities as stated in §§ 63.1-248.7 C and 63.1-319, Code of Virginia, in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Board of Social Services.

2. Out of the amount for Financial Assistance for Child and Youth Services, increased revenues from Chapter 887, Acts of Assembly of 1993, estimated at $541,578 the first year and $541,578 the second year, shall be appropriated for services to victims of domestic violence.

B.1. Expenditures meeting the criteria of Title IV-E of the Social Security Act shall be fully reimbursed. The Commissioner shall ensure that local social service boards obtain reimbursement for all children eligible for Title IV-E coverage.

2. Out of the amount for Financial Assistance for Child and Youth Services, $300,000 the first year and $300,000 the second year from the general fund shall be allocated to the Pendleton and Chesapeake Childcare Programs.

C. This appropriation includes $180,200 from the general fund and $99,800 from nongeneral funds the first year and $180,200 from the general fund and $99,800 from nongeneral funds the second year to continue respite care for foster parents.

D. The Commissioner, in cooperation with the Department of Planning and Budget, shall establish a reasonable, automatic adjustment for inflation each year to be applied to the room and board maximum rates paid to foster parents. However, this provision shall apply only in fiscal years when salary increases are provided for state employees.

E. Out of this appropriation shall be provided $100,000 the first year from the general fund and $100,000 the second year from the general fund for Volunteer Emergency Families for Children to expand its shelter care network for abused, neglected, runaway, homeless, and at-risk children throughout Virginia.

F. The Department of Social Services shall develop additional performance measures for the adoption subsidy program to measure, over a fiscal year, the percentage of foster care children with a goal of adoption who are placed in adoptive homes and, of those, the average number of months since the termination of parental rights and the average number of months since the goal of adoption was established.

G. The Department of Social Services, in cooperation with the Department of Planning and Budget, shall study staffing needs in the foster care and adoption programs. The results of the study shall be used in preparing any amendments, if necessary, to the Department's budget for the second year of the biennium. The results of the study shall be reported to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees by October 1, 1998.

H. The Department of Social Services shall develop a Memorandum of Understanding with the Comprehensive Health Investment Project (CHIP) of Virginia to pilot the use of foster care prevention funding in Southwest Virginia. Additional funding which may be available through this effort to Southwest Virginia CHIP projects cannot be used to supplant existing resources for those projects.

I. The Department of Planning and Budget shall transfer to this Item $60,000 $30,000 of the amount included in Item 572 in the second year for child advocacy centers. The Department of Social Services shall provide the funding as seed grants to local organizations to develop the centers to work with abused children.

J. The Department of Social Services (DSS) and the State Executive Council (SEC) of the Comprehensive Services Act (CSA) shall negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding Title IV-E coverage of services for Title IV-E eligible children that were previously funded under the Comprehensive Services Act. In developing the MOU, the SEC and DSS shall consult the Department of Medical Assistance Services regarding the impact of the MOU on Medicaid coverage of such services. The Department of Planning and Budget (DPB) shall review the terms of the MOU to assure they are precise enough to govern any transfer of appropriation from CSA to DSS. Pursuant to the MOU, funds may be transferred to the Department of Social Services from the Comprehensive Services Act appropriation, upon documentation that demonstrates reduction in CSA costs and transfer of charges to DSS for such services. If DPB determines that savings should result from the difference between the state matching ratio required for Title IV-E and the state share of CSA expenditures, DPB shall unallot the appropriate amount of general fund savings. Such unallotted funds shall be made available only if needed to fund unavoidable deficits in either CSA or DSS foster care and adoptions. Otherwise they shall revert to the general fund of the state treasury.