This letter transmits changes with the effective date of March 1, 2005. If there are any changes made to the rule contained in this CAMTL during the JCARR review period, the corrected rule will be sent out in the next CAMTL. This cover letter includes a summary statement of the policy change. The clearance control number (CCN) assigned when the policy change was placed in the clearance process is included for reference. The clearance control number is 5355.

In accordance with the terms of an agreement between Ohio and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), our department has implemented a quality assurance program to review OWF cases. The quality assurance program reviews of OWF cases has been adopted as part of the settlement agreement between Ohio and DHHS resulting from the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) disallowances for the period of 1992 through 1996.

The OWF cases will be reviewed by QA staff to ensure that correct OWF cash assistance eligibility determinations have been made. The purpose of the review is to evaluate the accuracy of OWF payment made to families.

Additionally, as part of the settlement agreement, the Office of Family Stability has staff dedicated to provide technical assistance to the counties. The reviews will help the Office of Family Stability identify and target areas for necessary technical assistance. The Office of Family Stability will also work with counties to establish improvement plans and take corrective actions to help prevent future errors and preserve program integrity.

The OWF assistance group's refusal to cooperate with the QA process results in the ineligibility for OWF cash for the assistance group. The refusal to cooperate with the QA review process results in a penalty, as opposed to a sanction. To that end, rule 5101:1-3-15, "OWF Penalties and Sanctions" has been amended to add language that the assistance group is ineligible for three calendar months, or until compliance, whichever is earlier, for a refusal to cooperate with a quality assurance review.

A new CRIS-E reason code to support this change has been created. The reason code to be used for the imposition of the penalty is reason code 690 on the TSRC table in CRIS-E.

INSTRUCTIONS: