Department of Health and Human Services
DEPARTMENTAL APPEALS BOARD
Appellate Division
SUBJECT: Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare
DATE: August 24, 1995
Docket No. A-95-155
Decision No. 1532
DECISION
The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare
(Pennsylvania) appealed a determination by the
Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
disallowing $34,525 in federal financial participation
(FFP) claimed under Title IV-D (Child Support and
Establishment of Paternity) of the Social Security Act
(Act) for the quarter ended March 31, 1995. ACF
determined that court fees collected by Pennsylvania in
child support cases were required to be treated as income
resulting from services under the child support
enforcement program. Therefore, ACF concluded that this
income would have reduced Pennsylvania's expenditures
eligible for FFP by the disallowance amount.
The issue presented by this case was previously raised
and addressed in Pennsylvania Dept. of Public Welfare,
DAB No. 1523 (1995). 1/ In that decision, the Board
found that section 455(a) of the Act and the applicable
regulations require Pennsylvania to credit against its
IV-D program expenses the court filing fees at issue.
Further, the Board found that the language of the statute
is clear and unambiguous and requires Pennsylvania to
exclude from its expenditures claimed for FFP any fees
which resulted from services provided under the IV-D
state plan, regardless of which state entity collected
the fees and how the collected funds are used. Finally,
the Board found that if an agency policy, such as a
policy interpretation question memorandum, is contrary to
an applicable regulation, the Board must adhere to the
applicable regulation.
When Pennsylvania filed this appeal, Pennsylvania
requested that this case be stayed subject to later
summary disposition after the issuance of DAB No. 1523.
ACF also agreed to this course of action.
We therefore sustain the disallowance of $34,525 based on
the reasoning and analysis in DAB No. 1523, which we
incorporate here in full.
Cecilia Sparks Ford
Norval D. (John) Settle
M. Terry Johnson
Presiding Board Member
1. This issue was also raised and addressed in
Pennsylvania Dept. of Public Welfare, DAB No. 1450
(1993). However, in DAB No. 1523, Pennsylvania argued
that the Board had not considered this issue in light of
a policy interpretation question memorandum issued by an
ACF official.