Florida Department of Children and Families receives $750K Child Abuse and Neglect Discretionary Activities grant from the Administration for Children and Families

Title IV-e prevention accelerator grants - the Florida Department Of Children And Families (dcf), office of child and family well-being, requests $750,000 to establish and validate the end-to-end operational pathway necessary to achieve sustainable title IV-e prevention claiming and federal reimbursement for healthy families Florida (hff). Florida has an approved title IV-e prevention plan and established prevention services, but prior efforts have not yet produced successful federal reimbursement. Fragmented documentation, inconsistent referral and eligibility processes, provider readiness gaps, and disconnected data flows continue to prevent eligible prevention activity from consistently generating supportable title IV-e claims. Florida will use this time-limited investment to strengthen and standardize statewide referral, documentation, fidelity, data, and claiming processes. Specialized title IV-e prevention claiming and reimbursement expertise will help dcf address barriers identified through prior claiming efforts, translate federal requirements into an operational statewide claiming model, validate the model through end-to-end testing and initial claim submission, and transfer the resulting capacity to dcf for ongoing operation. Implementation will leverage existing dcf functions, community-based care lead agencies, hff affiliates, and other stakeholders rather than create a separate grant-dependent delivery system, piloting the model in circuit 13 (hillsborough county) before expanding statewide. By month 12, Florida will complete end-to-end testing of standardized claiming processes and achieve at least 95 percent completeness for required title IV-e prevention data fields. By month 15, dcf will submit a claim using the validated statewide process. By month 18, validated claiming and reimbursement procedures will transition into routine dcf operations, establishing sustainable infrastructure for ongoing federal reimbursement, future expansion to additional clearinghouse-rated services, and advancement of Florida's home for every child pip goal a. Purpose and need the Florida Department Of Children And Families, office of child and family well-being, is committed to strengthening Florida’s child welfare prevention continuum through the implementation of evidence-based services that improve child safety, strengthen families, and reduce the likelihood of child maltreatment and unnecessary foster care placements. Although Florida has made significant investments in prevention initiatives and maintains an approved title IV-e prevention plan, the state currently lacks the standardized operational, fiscal, and data infrastructure necessary to fully operationalize, sustain and claim federal reimbursement for eligible title IV-e prevention services. Dcf intends to pilot this initiative in circuit 13 (hillsborough county) before expanding statewide, using the pilot to validate referral, documentation, and claiming processes under real operating conditions and to refine the model prior to broader rollout. At present, implementation of title IV-e prevention plan services, including healthy families Florida, varies across the state due to differences in provider capacity, workforce training, technical assistance, implementation support, fidelity monitoring, referral pathways, and performance measurement. These variations are compounded by the absence of a unified statewide implementation framework that connects service delivery to title IV-e prevention claiming requirements. As a result, even when eligible services are being delivered, Florida is unable to consistently document, track, and claim federal reimbursement due to gaps in standardized procedures, eligibility determination processes, documentation requirements, and data system integration. In addition, Florida does not currently have fully operationalized referral pathways or integrated data systems that connect child welfare case management, community-based care lead agencies, and prevention service providers.