HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 8

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011

INTRODUCED BY

Ray Begaye

FOR THE INDIAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT THE CHILDREN, YOUTH AND FAMILIES DEPARTMENT, THE HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT AND THE INDIAN AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT SUPPORT THE NAVAJO NATION IN DEVELOPING A NAVAJO NATION FOSTER CARE AND SUBSIDIZED ADOPTION PROGRAM PLAN PURSUANT TO

TITLE IV-E OF THE FEDERAL SOCIAL SECURITY ACT AND THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION STUDY THE FISCAL IMPACT OF IMPLEMENTING THAT PLAN.

     WHEREAS, the federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 was signed into law on October 7, 2008 as Public Law 110-351; and

     WHEREAS, Public Law 110-351 amends the federal Social Security Act to provide federally recognized Indian tribes with the option to operate a foster care and subsidized adoption program and seek federal reimbursement for a share of allowable tribal expenditures made pursuant to an approved plan; and

     WHEREAS, a tribe administering a foster care and subsidized adoption program must meet the same requirements as a state; and

     WHEREAS, federal law requires a written plan that designates a specific state agency to administer the program; that provides supporting documentation of the law or codes, regulation or policy in effect that complies with each of the plan requirements; that provides a description of the foster care maintenance program; that provides for the payment of foster care maintenance payments on behalf of each eligible child; and that provides for a program of adoption assistance subsidies and reimbursement of the nonrecurring costs of adoption for eligible children; and

     WHEREAS, tribes must comply with mandatory federal reporting of data to the adoption and foster care analysis and reporting system; and

     WHEREAS, the adoption and foster care analysis and reporting system requires case-level data on children in foster care under the placement and care of the federally recognized tribe, on children who were placed for adoption and on individuals who receive adoption assistance from the tribe; and

     WHEREAS, federal law requires tribes seeking reimbursement to identify and claim certain training and administrative costs for administrative expenditures necessary for the proper and efficient administration of the foster care and subsidized adoption program; and

     WHEREAS, federal law requires specified matching contributions for reimbursable expenditures and notes that tribes may receive federal funds specifically authorized by other federal statutes to be used as matching contributions for other federal programs, including foster care and subsidized adoption programs; and

     WHEREAS, unlike a state, tribes are able to use in-kind expenditures from certain third-party sources as a source of matching contributions for administrative and training costs for certain fiscal years; and

     WHEREAS, tribes are required to capture fiscal information and to submit to the federal administration for children and families shortly after each fiscal quarter a financial report of actual expenditures, such as payments for and the training and administrative costs of, the foster care and subsidized adoption program in order to receive reimbursement; and

     WHEREAS, the financial report must include necessary adjustments for additional claims or reduced claims for prior fiscal quarters; and

     WHEREAS, tribes must also provide to the federal administration for children and families a projection of estimated expenditures for the current fiscal year and the subsequent two fiscal years; and

     WHEREAS, federal law requires a public assistance cost allocation plan that must specifically identify how the tribe will allocate and claim administrative costs under Title IV of the Social Security Act; and

     WHEREAS, Public Law 110-351 authorizes the federal administration for children and families to award a one-time grant of up to three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) to a tribe for the purpose of plan development; and

     WHEREAS, a tribe receiving such a grant must develop and submit a plan for direct funding within twenty-four months of receipt of the grant or must repay the total grant amount; and

     WHEREAS, the Navajo Nation has applied for and received such a grant; and

     WHEREAS, the children, youth and families department is the state agency designated to administer the foster care and subsidized adoption program, and it has successfully managed and administered the program, as demonstrated by the successful completion of the first and second rounds of the federal child and family services reviews; and

      WHEREAS, the children, youth and families department is a vital resource that can assist the Navajo Nation in the development of a foster care and subsidized adoption program plan; and

     WHEREAS, the human services department is the designated administrator of the state medicaid plan, and categorical eligibility for medicaid is a plan requirement; and

     WHEREAS, the Indian affairs department is the lead coordinating agency for ensuring effective interagency and state-tribal government-to-government relations, and the department facilitates ways to increase and leverage state resources to benefit Native Americans and successfully promotes collaboration among national, tribal, state and local agencies, entities and organizations; and

     WHEREAS, cabinet-level agencies are subject to the State-Tribal Collaboration Act, signed into law on March 19, 2009; and

     WHEREAS, the Navajo Nation has approached the state for technical assistance and support in developing the foster care and subsidized adoption program;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the children, youth and families department, the human services department and the Indian affairs department be requested to identify key staff persons to provide technical assistance and support to the Navajo Nation in developing a foster care and subsidized adoption program plan and, in cooperation with the Navajo Nation, present on the progress of developing that plan before the appropriate interim committee by August 2011; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department of finance and administration, in cooperation with the children, youth and families department and the Navajo Nation, be requested to study the financial impact on the state of implementing that plan and present before the appropriate interim committee by November 2011; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretaries of children, youth and families, human services, Indian affairs and finance and administration and to the tribal leadership of the Navajo Nation.

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