DEPARTMENTAL GRANT APPEALS BOARD
Department of Health and Human Services
SUBJECT: New York State Department of Social Services
Docket No. 87-197
Decision No. 929
DATE: December 31, 1987
DECISION
The New York State Department of Social Services (State) appealed
the
disallowance by the Administration for Children, Youth and
Families,
Office of Human Development Services, of $111,371 in federal
financial
participation (FFP) claimed by the State under the Foster Care
Program,
Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. 1/ The amount
disallowed
represented increasing adjustments of FFP, claimed on the
State's
Quarterly Statements of Expenditures dated June 27, 1986 and
December
30, 1986.
The amount in dispute was claimed for expenditures incurred in quarters
in
fiscal year 1984 and fiscal years prior to 1984. The
disallowance
stated that claims for fiscal year 1980 and after had to be
filed within
two years after the calendar quarter in which the State made
the
expenditures, as required by section 1132 of the Social Security Act
and
45 C.F.R. 95.7, and that the claims disallowed had not been filed
within
that time.
The State repeated the arguments pertaining to the applicability of
the
relevant filing requirements which it had put forward in Board
Docket
Nos. 83-170 and 83-180, but rejected by the Board in New York
State
Department of Social Services, DGAB No. 521 (1984). 2/ The
State
admitted that its interpretation of the filing requirements was
not
consistent with the Board's decision in DGAB No. 521, and requested
the
Board to issue a summary decision based upon our holding in DGAB
No.
521. The State submitted no new argument why DGAB No. 521 was
wrong,
and did not claim that there were any material factual differences
to
distinguish this case from DGAB No. 521. The Office of
Human
Development Services had no objection to issuance of a summary
decision.
We conclude that the claims disallowed here are barred by statutory
and
regulatory filing requirements, and sustain the disallowance of
$111,371
based on Decision No. 521, the reasoning of which we incorporate
herein.
________________________________ Judith
A.
Ballard
________________________________ Norval
D.
(John) Settle
________________________________
Alexander
G. Teitz Presiding Board Member
1. The notice of disallowance (dated October 20,
1987) listed claims
totalling $187,597. The State originally contested
$112,362 of the
disallowance in its notice of appeal. Of this amount,
$111,371
pertained to claims filed on June 27, 1986 and December 30,
1986. In
addition, the State contended that the disallowance relating
to a claim
filed on December 30, 1986 was overstated by $991; the Office of
Human
Development Services agreed, leaving the amount on appeal before us
at
$111,371.
2. The State argued that the expenditures underlying
the claims were
not incurred until they were reclassified by the State as
being eligible
for federal funding under Title IV-E. In addition, the
State's position
was that the claims were exempt from the filing restrictions
because the
expenditures involved audit exceptions, or adjustments to prior
year
costs. These arguments were rejected by the Board in DGAB No.
521.