Effective immediately, the following actions will be implemented by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS):

1.As ODJFS Director, I have determined that state and federal funds are insufficient to sustain existing and anticipated State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2005 spending levels in the consolidated allocation. Given the significance of projected shortfalls and the need to restore monies to the TANF federal grant, the consolidated allocation is terminated. This action is authorized by Article V.A. of the Fiscal Agreement.

2.In order to continue funding to support eligibility and case management activities in the Food Stamp and Medicaid programs, ODJFS will be increasing funding for the Income Maintenance Control allocations for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2005 by $55.5 million statewide and issuing these funds through an "Income Maintenance 2" allocation; and

3.In order to support vital social services programs, the Federal Social Services allocations will be increased for SFY 2005 by $46 million statewide and issuing these funds through a "Federal Social Service 2" allocation.

To implement this termination, ODJFS is making amendments for SFY 2005 to policies/business rules to stop the roll mechanism that currently exists within the consolidated allocation. The roll mechanism will be replaced by several links in funding streams across several of the individual allocations that made up the consolidated allocation.

ODJFS will first charge expenditures and/or issue draws to the appropriate allocation and if a link exists to any other allocation, then ODJFS will charge excesses to the linked allocation to the extent there are available funds in the linked allocation for an individual county.

The linked allocations are as follows: (1) Federal Social Services (Title XX), Adult Protective Services and State Social Service Operating allocations will be linked; (2) Food Stamp Education and Training (FSET) will be linked to Income Maintenance and to Federal Food Stamps; and (3) the only link to TANF will be through the County Child Care allocation which will be linked to the quality child care allocation. Refugee Services will be issued a separate allocation with no linkages to other funding streams.

Income Maintenance Control Allocations

The increased caseloads for the Food Stamp and Medicaid programs correlate to increases in administration costs as reported by county departments of job and family services (CDJFS). Caseloads and associated administration costs for these programs have been increasing steadily since SFY 2000. The Income Maintenance allocation will be increased for FY 2005 by $55.5 million statewide in order to assist county agencies with increased costs in conducting eligibility determination for Food Stamp and Medicaid. This funding will be distributed to all CDJFS' based on the TANF/Income Maintenance formula. Additional funding for the Income Maintenance allocation will be shown as a separate dollar amount on revised allocation letters and Central Office Reporting (CORe) system reports for SFY 2005 because the funding sources are different from the original SFY 2005 allocations.

The $55.5 million increase to Income Maintenance Control for SFY 2005 is earned federal reimbursement from expenditures that were claimed during SFY 2004. These funds may be spent in the same manner as state general revenue funds. The additional funds are referred to as the "Income Maintenance 2" (IM2) allocation. They will appear as such in the CORe system; however, CDJFS will continue to record IM expenditures under the current reporting structure for IM costs. Once a CDJFS exceeds the IM, the transition into the IM2 allocation will be seamless at the county level.

While Federal Food Stamp and Medicaid federal financial participation is at 50%, they are not capped funding sources to the State of Ohio as long as we can support the required match through state or local funds. Therefore, these allocations will become pass through funding sources to local CDJFS agencies. The Income Maintenance allocation will be used by CDJFS as the non federal match for the 50% federal financial participation (FFP) until that funding source is exhausted. Once the Income Maintenance allocation is exhausted by a county, then the 50% FFP will be passed through to a CDJFS only to the extent that a CDJFS identifies local funds as the non federal match component. We will be developing a process and/or form in the near future to be used by county agencies for such documentation.

Federal Social Services Allocations

In order to support continued services under the Federal Social Service (Title XX) program, funding to counties will be increased by $46 million on a statewide basis. This increase will be allocated to counties based on the Title XX allocation formula.

Additional funding for the Federal Social Service allocation will be shown as a separate dollar amount on revised allocation letters and Central Office Reporting (CORe) system reports for SFY 2005 because the funding sources are different from the original SFY 2005 allocations. The $46 million increase to Federal Social Services for SFY2005 consists of Title XX/Social Services Block grant federal funds and it will be referred to as the "Federal Social Service 2" allocation. They will appear as such in the CORe system; however, CDJFS will continue to record Federal Social Services expenditures under the current reporting structure. Once a CDJFS exceeds the Federal Social Service 1 allocation ceiling, the transition into Federal Social Service 2 allocations will be seamless at the county level.

The cash flow forecast and cash draw processes will remain the same; however, each county should evaluate cash flow needs and determine if adjustments need to be made based on the new allocation structure. Counties shall request funds on the line items where expenditures will actually be made and not on line items where funds are available.

Please remain alert for additional and future information about these and other actions related to the termination of the consolidated allocation including revisions to OAC rule 5101:9 6 03, which is being placed into a brief clearance for review and comment. Related allocation rules will be revised in a timely manner.

Should you have additional questions regarding this Administrative Procedure Letter, please contact your Fiscal Supervisor or the Bureau of County Finance and Technical Assistance at (614) 752 9194.