Preface

This State Systems APD Guide was developed by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF), in cooperation with the Health Care Finance Administration (HCFA), to help States prepare Advance Planning Documents (APDs) and related documents for approval for Federal financial participation (FFP). It is intended to streamline the process by establishing certain discrete standards that State submissions must meet prior to approval and by limiting these standards to the most essential.

This document will be used by HHS staff as a standard for review. It should also be used by State personnel and their consultants and contractors working on systems subject to HHS' review, approval, and certification.

Comments were requested and received from both HHS central and regional office staff and were incorporated, wherever possible, in this guide. Yet, the true test of this manual is how well it supports the States during the systems life cycle and whether it remains relevant and useful. In this sense, the final test of this guide by the ultimate users (the States) remains.

HHS welcomes suggestions from those using this guide. Written comments may be sent to:

Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families
Director, Office of State Systems
Attn: OSS/SSPS
370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW
Washington, DC 20447-0001
Fax (202) 401-6400

Back to Table of Contents