Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Program |
Health and Human Services Administration for Children & Families Office of Family Assistance
|
Memorandum No. TANF-ACF-PI-
2004-02 Date: |
TO: State Agencies Administering the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program and Other Interested Parties
SUBJECT: FY 2004 TANF High Performance Bonus (HPB) Measures Related to Participation in the Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
REFERENCES: TANF-ACF-PI-01-04, TANF-ACF-PI-2004-01
PURPOSE: The purpose of this program memorandum is to provide State agencies with (a) new electronic reporting requirements for the Medicaid and SCHIP measures and (2) quarterly submission dates for transmitting the appropriate aggregate TANF data, if the State wishes to compete on this HPB measure.
BACKGROUND: Section
403(a)(4) of the Social Security Act made $1 billion available over a five-year
period to reward bonuses to high performing States in meeting the purposes of
the TANF Program. This period ended
While we continue to be optimistic that Congress will authorize the TANF program this year, we believe that it is prudent to advise States to collect and report necessary performance data in order to compete for HPB awards that may be available if reauthorization does not happen this year. According to Section 270.11, each State must submit a list of the measures they wish to compete for bonuses. Therefore, a State that wishes to compete for the HPB performance awards in FY 2004 bonus year (i.e. FY 2003 performance year) must complete a copy of the attached form by checking the measures it wishes to compete in.
We note that the Child Care Bureau, Administration on Children, Youth and Families is currently issuing specifications for the collection of child care market rate information for the quality component of the HPB child care measure.
ACTION: States
competing for bonuses must use the new automated system on the internet. Because the contents of the database can be
viewed on line, no e-mail confirmation of the submitted data will be
transmitted to the States. Therefore,
participants transmitting Medicaid HPB data will need a “user id” to access the
system. This can be obtained by sending an e-mail to the TANF system support at
tdrs.admin@acf.hhs.gov. If a person has a “user id” to access the
TDRS system and wants access to the Medicaid/SCHIP form, they would need to
send an e-mail to tdrs.admin@acf.hhs.gov
in order to get the Medicaid/SCHIP role assigned.
The internet address (URL) for connecting to the new ACF site is – https://extranet.acf.hhs.gov/tdrs.
Several States have previously submitted HPB performance data for the FY 2003
Medicaid/SCHIP HPB measures. We have
retained these data and will use them as the States’ submittal to compete for
the FY 2004 Medicaid /SCHIP bonus. If a
State wishes to submit revised data, it may do so provided if the changes are
submitted through the revised transmission system by the submission dates
specified below.
If a State did not submit FY 2002
Medicaid/SCHIP data to compete for the FY 2003 performance awards, and wishes
to compete for the improvement award, the FY 2002 and 2003 Medicaid/SCHIP
performance data must be submitted.
SUBMISSION
DATES: Each
State competing for FY 2004 Medicaid and SCHIP bonus awards based on FY 2003
HPB performance quarters are as follows:
Quarter 1 (Oct. - Dec. 2002)
Quarter 2 (Jan. - Mar. 2003)
Quarter 3 (Apr. - Jun. 2003)
Quarter 4 (July - Sept. 2003)
EFFECTIVE
DATE: Immediately
INQURIES: Inquiries should be directed to the appropriate Regional Administrator.
/s/
Joan E. Ohl
Acting Director
Office of Family Assistance