These issuances are the Children’s Bureau’s primary means for communicating with grantees or potential grantees on a variety of matters, such as program activities and priorities, progress reports, research findings, funds available, related regulations, and proposed and pending federal legislation affecting human service programs. Information Memoranda may also provide program tools, models, and techniques that grantees may use for program development.
Disclaimer: Information Memoranda (IMs) provide information or recommendations to States, Tribes, grantees, and others on a variety of child welfare issues. IMs do not establish requirements or supersede existing laws or official guidance.
The purpose of this Information Memorandum is to inform state and tribal title IV-B and title IV-E agencies of a nationwide stay of the Designated Placements Final Rule and corresponding regulation at 45 CFR 1355.22.
The purpose of this Information Memorandum (IM) is to inform state and tribal title IV-B and title IV-E agencies of a final rule issued by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) that implements Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504).
This Information Memoranda (IM) provides State, Tribal and Territorial title IV-E agencies an updated Title IV-E Plan Pre-Print for the Foster Care Assistance, Adoption Assistance, Guardianship Assistance and Kinship Navigator programs.
The purpose of this Information Memorandum (IM) is to inform title IV-E agencies that a final rule was published amending the AFCARS regulations to require state title IV-E agencies to collect and report data elements related to the procedural protections of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA). This final rule was published in the Federal Register on December 5, 2024 (89 FR 96569).
This Information Memorandum (IM) notifies child welfare agencies about the release of updated nonregulatory guidance: Nonregulatory Guidance: Ensuring Educational Stability and Success for Students in Foster Care.
The purpose of this Information Memorandum (IM) is to inform title IV-E agencies of changes to PRWORA that permit citizens of “freely associated states” to be “qualified aliens” thereby, potentially eligible for title IV-E programs.
The purpose of this Information Memorandum (IM) is to remind title IV-E agencies that for all adoption assistance agreements entered into on or after July 1, 2024, eligibility for title IV-E adoption assistance must be determined using the “applicable child” eligibility criteria described in section 473(a)(2)(A)(ii) of the Act.
The purpose of this Information Memorandum (IM) is to inform title IV-B and title IV-E agencies that the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) published a final rule for Foster Care Legal Representation on May 10, 2024 (89 FR 34818). The final rule allows title IV-E agencies to claim FFP for administrative costs of legal and certain non-legal representation.
The purpose of this Information Memorandum (IM) is to inform title IV-E agencies that a NPRM was published proposing to amend the AFCARS regulations to require state title IV-E agencies to collect and report data elements related to the procedural protections of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA). This NPRM was published in the Federal Register on February 23, 2024 (89 FR 13652 ).
This Information Memorandum (IM) provides introductory information to title IV-E tribes that choose to develop and implement an automated Child Welfare Information System. This IM contains information about how an automated system can support a tribal title IV-E agency’s child welfare program, implementing and maintaining systems, title IV-E funding, and the Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS).