Department of Health and Human Services
DEPARTMENTAL APPEALS BOARD
Appellate Division
SUBJECT: New York State
DATE: October 1, 1993 Department of
Social
Services Docket No. A-93-224 Decision No. 1442
DECISION
The New York State Department of Social Services (New York) appealed
a
determination by the Administration for Children and Families
(ACF)
disallowing $47,437,952 in claims for federal funds under title IV-E
of
the Social Security Act. 1/ Title IV-E provides funding for foster
care
maintenance payments on behalf of children who would otherwise
be
eligible for title IV-A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children).
This
case involves claims for the administrative costs incurred
for
protective services provided to children for whom there was
reasonable
cause to suspect abuse or maltreatment.
New York claimed these administrative costs pursuant to a
proposed
amendment to its cost allocation plan (CAP). The activities
for which
New York sought reimbursement pursuant to this amendment were
divided
into ten categories of activities typically performed by
Child
Protective Services workers. 2/ New York claimed these costs for
all
children who were the subject of a State Central Registry (SCR) abuse
or
maltreatment report and who had not been determined to be ineligible
for
title IV-E.
This CAP amendment and ACF's disallowances of similar title IV-E
claims
were considered by the Board in New York State Dept. of Social
Services,
DAB No. 1428 (1993). 3/ New York requested a summary decision
upholding
this disallowance based on that decision. Notice of Appeal
dated August
25, 1993. ACF agreed to the issuance of a summary
decision. Letter
from Counsel for ACF dated September 15, 1993.
In DAB No. 1428, the Board upheld DCA's determination that four of
the
protective services activities described by the CAP amendment were
not
allowable title IV-E activities. The Board concluded that these
four
activities were not identified in the regulations as
allowable
administrative activities and were not activities which were unique
to
title IV-E or which furthered its specific, limited purposes. DCA
found
that the remaining six activities were allocable to title IV-E
if
performed on behalf of candidates for title IV-E. As to these
six
activities, the Board upheld ACF's determination that New
York's
characterization of all children who were the subject of an SCR
report
as title IV-E candidates was not consistent with title IV-E,
the
regulations and ACF's policy announcement, ACYF-PA-87-05. Because
ACF
was willing to reduce the disallowances by the amount of costs that
New
York could document in a manner consistent with DCA's decision and
the
requirements of applicable authorities including ACYF-PA-87-05,
the
Board remanded that case to ACF to make that determination.
Conclusion
Accordingly, based on the analysis in DAB No. 1428 which we incorporate
in
its entirety here, we uphold ACF's disallowance in principle. We
remand
the disallowance to ACF so that it can determine which portion of
New York's
claims can be documented in a manner consistent with DCA's
decision and the
requirements of applicable authorities including
ACYF-PA-87-05. If New
York is dissatisfied with ACF's determination as
to allowable administrative
expenses, New York may appeal ACF's
determination to the Board within 30 days
of its issuance.
__________________________
Judith
A. Ballard
___________________________
Norval
D. (John) Settle
___________________________
Donald
F. Garrett
Presiding Board Member
1. New York appealed from ACF's letter of July 26,
1993 disallowing
$61,627,213 in title IV-E funds. The disallowance was
composed of
several categories of title IV-E costs: administrative costs
for
preventive services, administrative costs for protective services,
and
costs for maintenance payments. This decision concerns only one
portion
of the July 26, 1993 disallowance: administrative costs for
protective
services provided by local Social Services Districts in the amount
of
$47,437,952. These funds were claimed for the period April 1,
1992
through September 30, 1992 and for the period October 1, 1990
through
March 31, 1992. Enclosure I, Disallowance letter dated July 26,
1993.
The portions of the disallowance concerning protective
services
associated with Central Office administrative costs,
administrative
costs for preventive services, and costs for maintenance
payments have
been assigned different DAB docket numbers and will be
considered
separately.
2. These activities were processing State Central
Registry forms;
determining the nature, extent, and cause of injuries; risk
assessment;
arranging for other services; arranging for foster care;
supervisory
consultation/conference; family court proceedings; preparing
and
maintaining Welfare Management System/Child Care Review
Service
documentation; preparing and maintaining case record documentation;
and
case management/monitoring services.
3. The sequence of events concerning the CAP
amendment, DCA's
decision on the amendment, New York's claim, DAB No. 1428,
and ACF's
disallowance is as follows. New York filed its CAP amendment
in March
1989. DCA partially disapproved the title IV-E portion of
that
amendment in February 1992 and, in May 1992, the Regional
Director
upheld DCA's ruling. New York then appealed the Regional
Director's
decision to the Board. The Board joined the CAP amendment
appeal with
New York's appeals of several disallowances of claims it made
pursuant
to the proposed CAP amendment. In March 1993, while these
appeals were
pending before the Board, New York claimed the federal funds at
issue in
this case. The Board issued DAB No. 1428 on July 21,
1993. ACF
disallowed the claim at issue here on July 26, 1993,
apparently prior to
receiving the Board's