On July 10, 2014, Governor Tom Corbett signed House Bill 278, Printer's Number 3930, now known as Act 126 of 2014, which granted the Department of Public Welfare the legal authority to extend the current contract review process to determine federal and state participation of out-of-home placement provider's costs for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014/15.    

The Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF) is committed to streamlining the current process for FY 2014/15 as we look toward future discussion on the recommendations put forth by the Rate Methodology Task Force.  With that in mind, in FY 2014/15 OCYF will be:

• Extending the existing approval of the calculation of federal and state participation of costs for public and private providers who received a two year approval for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2012/13 and SFY 2013/14.
• Extending the approval of the calculation of federal and state participation of costs for many of the providers who were granted a one year approval for SFY 2013/14.
• Requesting that the following providers submit documentation to support federal and state participation of their costs:

• Providers who do not have SFY 2013/14 approved documentation for out-of-home placement services;
• Providers initiating new services that have not been reviewed;
• Providers with changes to an existing program that will create a serious change in the approved federal and state participation of costs (i.e. change in certificates, bed counts, etc.);
• Providers experiencing a significant financial change which impacts the agency's expenses; and
• Providers with technical assistance needs and those whose budget documentation did not support the activities/costs of the agency in FY 2013/14.
• Streamlining the existing process to expedite the reviews of the provider's submission by eliminating the upfront county review of allowable costs.  Provider submissions will be submitted to OCYF for review and the resulting maximum participation amounts shared with both the County Children and Youth Agencies (CCYAs) and providers.  The CCYA will continue to negotiate contracted rates with the provider and complete their own reasonableness review.
• Collaborate with members of the provider community, on a volunteer basis, to pilot a standardized time study process to determine the portion of time spent on allowable activities.  A standardized time study process supports the direction received from the Administration of Children and Families (ACF). 
• Participating in the reimbursement of county-negotiated rates for services up to the state maximum allowable reimbursement amount regardless of whether another county had negotiated a lower rate for the same services (per the existing waiver of Title 55 PA Code §3170.84(a)(2)).

Providers who are eligible for an extension of their current approvals may choose to resubmit their budget packet to reflect current costs in order to obtain a more accurate federal and state participation calculation.  OCYF has requested that those providers notify us of their intent to resubmit prior to August 8, 2014.  Once the information has been collected, OCYF will provide a listing of all providers and their review status for FY 2014/15.  This information will be shared with counties as soon as it is available.  CCYAs are encouraged to speak directly with their providers in the meantime.

As stated above, provider budget submissions will be sent directly to OCYF for review.  The participation amounts will be posted to Docushare upon completion of the review.  CCYAs should continue to complete their own reasonableness review and engage in negotiations with the provider. 

Please contact us with any questions you may have regarding the contract review process for FY 2014/15:  ra-ocyfcontracts@pa.gov