In accordance with the Child and Family Services Improvement Act of 2006, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services is notifying county public children services agencies (PCSAs) of the requirement that no more than 10% of Title IV-B Part I expenditures are to be spent for administrative costs. Administrative activities under Title IV-B Part I include all of the following: procurement, payroll management, personnel functions (other than the portion of the salaries of supervisors attributable to time spent directly supervising the provision of services by caseworkers), management, maintenance and operation of space and property, data processing and computer services, accounting, budgeting, auditing, and travel expenses (except those related to the provision of services by caseworkers or the oversight of programs funded under this award).
Ten percent of the October '07 through June '08 portion of the Title IV-B Part I grant received by ODJFS was set aside for administration. That entire amount was issued to the PCSAs as a separate administrative allocation. The individual PCSA's Title IV-B administration allocation was calculated using the same methodology as the regular Title IV-B allocation. State-level Title IV-B non-administrative expenditures were deducted from the remaining ninety percent of the October '07 through June '08 portion of the ODJFS Title IV-B Part I grant and the balance issued to each PCSA as a regular Title IV-B allocation.
In order for a PCSA to determine appropriate charges to this Title IV-B administrative allocation, additional data will be gathered by the ODJFS Office of Children and Families (OCF) via the JFS 04281 "Children Services Quarterly Statistical Report." The PCSA will report the number of child welfare caseworkers and their immediate supervisors, along with the total number of staff in the social services cost pool. A revised form and instructions, including calculation details, will be issued by OCF.
From these numbers, as part of the Social Services Random Moment Sample reconciliation process, ODJFS will determine the proportionate amount of quarterly social services expenditures that may be charged to the Title IV-B Part I allocation, and the proportionate amount of quarterly social services expenditurethat may be charged to the Title IV-B Part I administration allocation. These amounts will appear as funding options on the SSRMS Certification Sheet.
Although ODJFS recognizes that a portion of a combined county agency's shared costs are also legitimate Title IV-B Part I administrative expenditures, due to the small dollar amount represented by this 10% cap, ODJFS is not developing a methodology for determining eligible Title IV-B Part 1 expenditures from the shared cost pool. If a need for this additional methodology is determined to be necessary in the future, ODJFS will revise the methodology to include a proportionate amount from the shared cost pool. Until such time, the amount of Title IV-B funds that may be expended for administration for a combined agency will be limited to a portion of expenditures in the social services cost pool.
The Title IV-B administration allocation represents the maximum that a PCSA may spend on administration. However, it is not mandatory that the PCSA utilize this allocation for administrative expenditures. A PCSA may instead request that some or all of its Title IV-B Part I administration allocation be made available as a regular Title IV-B allocation and may charge its administrative expenditures to other available state or local funding. A PCSA may request this transfer by submitting the JFS 01159 "Transfer of Administration Allocation to Program Allocation," which has been revised and included as an attachment to this procedure letter.
Please direct inquiries to your ODJFS Fiscal Supervisor/Bureau of County Finance and Technical Assistance at (614) 752-9194.
Attachment:
Click here to view the JFS 01159