Related Practices
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In addition to our work in the Medicaid area, we advise and represent States in both matching grant and block grant public assistance programs, including those governed by Title IV of the Social Security Act:
- Title IV-A (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families)
- Title IV-B (Child and Family Services)
- Title IV-D (Child Support and Paternity Establishment)
- Title IV-E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance)
In the TANF program, we help States navigate the rules governing maintenance of effort, cost allocation, obligation of funds, and work participation, and have represented States in challenging penalties levied against their TANF grants. We have worked with a number of States on issues related to child welfare activities eligible for federal financial participation under Title IV-E. We are frequently called upon to address issues in which various programs may overlap, such as the proper distribution of costs in a Cost Allocation Plan; TANF penalties associated with administration of a separate program (child support enforcement); or Medicaid reimbursement of services provided to children who are eligible for Title IV-E assistance. We also have an extensive history in working with States on administration of the federal Food Stamp program.
Representative Matters
- We represented eleven States that were incurring repeated penalties for errors in their Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) submissions. After a Departmental Appeals Board Presiding Officer found that the AFCARS penalty scheme was not authorized by statute, HHS withdrew the penalties.
- We assisted a State in avoiding a penalty arising out of an audit of its Income and Eligibility Verification System.
- We defended New York City in a suit challenging application of its cash assistance eligibility review procedures to applicants for food stamps. The principal issue was decided in favor of the City on summary judgment, and the remainder of the case settled.
- We represented the State of Nebraska before the Departmental Appeals Board, federal district court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals in an appeal related to its allocation of child welfare worker training costs directly to Title IV-E. The court rulings held that HHS could not rely on Administration for Children and Families policy statements that require allocation of training costs among all child welfare programs in evaluating the State’s cost allocation plan.
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