AT-09-02, Revisions to expenditure reporting instructions for Fiscal Years (FY) 2009 and 2010 to accommodate Public Law 111-5, the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" (ARRA).

ACTION TRANSMITTAL

AT-09-02

DATE: March 26, 2009

TO: STATE AGENCIES ADMINISTERING CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT PLANS APPROVED UNDER TITLE IV D OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT AND OTHER INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS

SUBJECT: Revisions to expenditure reporting instructions for Fiscal Years (FY) 2009 and 2010 to accommodate Public Law 111-5, the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” (ARRA).

BACKGROUND: A Federal match of 66 percent is available for State administrative costs of carrying out child support enforcement program activities under title IV-D of the Social Security Act (Act). ARRA temporarily changes the child support authorization language to allow States to use Federal incentive payments provided to States in accordance with Section 458 of the Act as their State share of expenditures eligible for Federal match. This change is effective October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2010.

This change is in effect for any incentive funds expended during FY 2009 and FY 2010, including incentives earned and not expended in prior years (i.e., prior to October 1, 2008). Incentive payments expended during FY 2008 (October 1, 2007-September 30, 2008) are not eligible for additional Federal funds.

The requirements of Section 458(f) of the Social Security Act and 45 CFR 305.35 regarding “reinvestment” of incentive funds remain in effect.

REVISED INSTRUCTIONS: Each State submits Form OCSE-396A, the “Child Support Enforcement Program Expenditure Report” within 30 days of the end of each fiscal quarter. The current instructions for Line 1a, “IV-D Administrative Expenditures Made Using Funds Received as Incentive Payments.” read as follows:

Administrative expenditures made using annual incentive payment funds. Each State is required to spend the funds it received as incentive payments to carry out title IV-D program activities. These expenditures are not eligible for Federal funding; Columns B and D on this line should remain blank (equivalent of a 0 percent FFP rate).

Line 1a, “IV-D Administrative Expenditures Made Using Funds Received as Incentive Payments.” will be revised as follows:

Administrative expenditures made using annual incentive payment funds. Each State is required to spend the funds it received as incentive payments to carry out title IV-D program activities. Use of the incentive payments constitutes the State share. Estimated expenditures and actual expenditures should be reported on this line and should not be reported on Lines 1b through Line 6.

Expenditures made on or after October 1, 2008 and on or before September 30, 2010 are eligible for additional Federal funding (as included in Columns B and D) equal to 66 percent of the total amount reported in Column A or C.

Expenditures made prior to October 1, 2008 or after September 30, 2010 are not eligible for additional Federal funding. Administrative expenditures made using annual incentive payment funds are reported in Column A and C. For these expenditures, the Federal share (as included in Columns B and D) is zero.

Next quarter estimates reported on this line for quarters ended on or before September 30, 2010 should include the Federal Share. The total estimate (Federal and State shares, combined) is reported in Column E.

All administrative expenditures made using annual incentive funds should be reported on this line including those expended for systems. Automated Data Processing (ADP) expenditures using incentive funds should not be included on lines 4, 5 and 6. However, the States are directed to provide the amount of incentives, if any, expended on ADP as an attachment to the OCSE-396A. In addition, States will be asked to provide the amount of any incentive funds proposed for ADP expenditures in their Annual Advance Planning Document submittals.

ADDITIONAL REVISIONS:

Form Revisions. No entries are currently accepted on Line 1a of Form OCSE-396A in:

Column B (“Federal Share of Current Quarter Claims”);
Column D (“Federal Share of Prior Quarter Adjustments”); and,
Column E (“Total Next Quarter Estimates”).

In response to the change in the law, these data entries are now “open” on the Online Data Collection system (OLDC) for the OCSE-396A to permit the reporting of these amounts.

Reporting Requirements. The Federal share of expenditures and the Total expenditures must now be reported on Line 1a accordingly. The amount of Federal funding included in grant awards for these claims will be based on the Federal share amount reported in Column B and, if applicable, Column D of that line.

For example, if a State expended $10,000 of incentive payment funds in FY 2009, prior to enactment of ARRA $10,000 would have been reported as the Total claim in Column A and there would have been no Federal share.

Under the provisions of ARRA - where the Federal share is 66 percent and the State share is 34 percent - $29,411 should be reported as the Total claim in Column A which would reflect a State share of $10,000 and be eligible for a Federal share of $19,411.

The State claim would appear as follows:

	Current Quarter Claims
	(A) Total	(B) Federal Share	State Share^*
Portion of total expenditure:	100%	66%	34%
^*This column is not included on Form 396A and is shown for illustration only.
Line 1a: Admin Costs Using Incentive Payments	$29,411	$19,411	$10,000

Claiming Deadline. Although there is no time limit on the expenditure of annual incentive payment funds, there is a two-year deadline on the claiming of additional Federal funds on Form OCSE-396A once the incentive funds are expended. (See Sec 1132 of the Act and 45 CFR Part 95, Subpart A.)

ACTION REQUIRED: Since Federal funds were not previously available, States were not required to report incentive expenditure estimates for the 1st, 2nd or 3rd quarters of FY 2009. At the time of publication of this Action Transmittal, States have submitted their current quarter incentive expenditures for the 1st quarter, FY 2009 (quarter ended December 31, 2008).

FY 2009, 1st Quarter Expenditures

For any State that has submitted Form OCSE-396A with 1st quarter expenditures reported on Line 1a, OCSE will compute the Federal share as 66 percent of the amount reported in Column A (Total) of that line and issue an award in that amount to the State. No further action is required by the State. Any State that finds it necessary to revise its 1st quarter submission (for an entry on Line 1a or any other line of this report) may submit such a revised report. States may also choose to include revisions to 1st quarter actuals as prior quarter adjustments included in their 2nd quarter actual expenditure submission.

FY 2009, 2nd and 3rd Quarter Estimates

States should review expenditure plans and may submit revised reports, including an estimate of 2nd or 3rd quarter expenditures on Line 1a (Col E). Revised estimates for 2nd quarter will be processed and awarded promptly as they are received. Grant awards for 3rd quarter estimates will be issued no earlier than April 1, 2009; revisions received after that date will be processed and awarded promptly as they are received. In estimating the Federal and State shares of these expenditures, refer to the “Reporting Requirements” section above.

All reports and revisions must be submitted in the normal manner electronically through the OLDC system unless the State elects to submit paper copies to the appropriate Regional Office.

ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT INFORMATION: ARRA includes clear expectations that States and other recipients of ARRA funds will be held accountable for how funds are expended and what benefits are derived from the use of these funds.

OCSE anticipates requests for spending and performance data that will be posted on the www.recovery.gov website. Therefore, States should take care to anticipate accountability and transparency requirements and that information on state-reported impact of these expenditures will be available to the public.

As indicated in AT-01-04, State officials should also be aware that in those States in which incentive payments are passed through to political subdivisions or localities, those payments must also be used in accordance with this notice. States are responsible for ensuring that all components of their CSE programs comply with these requirements, including local or county programs and vendors or other entities that perform child support services under contract or cooperative agreement with the State.

EFFECTIVE DATE: These instructions are effective for any expenditure of incentive payment funds made on or after October 1, 2008 and on or before September 30, 2010.

RELATED MATERIAL:

Action Transmittal OCSE-AT-07-08, dated November 27, 2007, “Implementation of Revised Financial Reporting Forms: Form OCSE-396A and Form OCSE-34A.”

INQUIRIES TO: ACF Regional Grants Officers/OCSE Regional Program Managers

Donna J. Bonar
Acting Commissioner
Office of Child Support Enforcement

cc: ACF/OCSE Regional Program Managers
ACF Regional Grants Officers
Tribal IV-D Directors