The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) temporarily reversed a provision in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 that ended the practice of providing federal matching funds for the state expenditure of incentive payments. Fiscal details were issued in Fiscal Administrative Procedure Letter No. 14 published on May 14, 2009.

For federal fiscal year (FFY) 2009 and the first month of FFY 2010, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) issued the federal financial participation (FFP) of Title IV-D expenditures paid for with child support incentives as a reimbursement to the child support enforcement agency (CSEA).

Effective November 1, 2009, and subject to the availability of funding, a CSEA intending to use child support incentives as the nonfederal share may draw down the FFP in advance. ODJFS is in the process of amending "Child Support Performance Incentive Payments", rule 5101:9-6-30 of the Administrative Code to reflect this change in funding practice.

Should you have questions regarding this FAPL, please contact your ODJFS fiscal supervisor in the Bureau of County Finance and Technical Assistance at (614) 752-9194.