When a foster family home care provider is receiving foster care benefits for a child in county 1 and then moves to county 2, county 1 remains responsible for paying benefits to the foster care provider. Does county 1 pay the county 1 rate or the county 2 rate?

Host county is defined as the county in which the majority of an agency’s foster family homes or group home facilities are located. If the program has facilities in more than one county, the host county shall be that of the facility where the greatest number of children are placed. (MPP §11-400(h)

When an AFDC-FC child is placed in a different county than the county with payment responsibility, the responsible county shall pay the host county’s rate.

This rule shall also apply in counties with specialized care rates, except if the host county has no specialized care rate and the responsible county does have such a rate, the county responsible for payment shall pay its own rate. (§11-401.4)

County 1 pays the county 2 rate. MPP §11-401.4 is a poorly worded regulation and read in concert with MPP §11-400(h) has led several judges to conclude that county 1 should pay the county 1 rate. Host county as used in MPP§ 11-401.4 means the county in which the foster family home care provider and child reside. Thus if the foster care provider and child move from county 1, that county remains responsible for paying foster care benefits, but pays the county 2 rate because the foster care provider and child reside in county 2.