ACIN I-23-08: IHSS Provider Direct Deposit (PDD) (3/27/08)

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This ACIN provides descriptions of outreach and enrollment activities that will occur prior to implementation, the ongoing processes for administering PDD and modifications to CMIPS screens that will allow counties to identify payments made to providers via PDD.  The CDSS will be implementing PDD on May 1, 2008, as an optional way for providers to receive their IHSS payroll warrants.  Providers who wish to continue to receive their pay warrants in the mail do not need to return the Provider Direct Deposit Enrollment/Change/Cancellation form or take any other action.  Our buddies at EDS will distribute and process all PDD mailings, as well as enrollments, changes and cancellations.  When a deposit fails, EDS will request issuance of a paper warrant to the provider and the provider will be required to re-enroll in PDD.  [Download]


ACL 08-16: Vu Settlement Agreement And Survey Of Languages Requiring Translation Of Food Stamp Program and CalWORKs Joint Forms (3/25/08)

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Pursuant to court settlement, the state needed to survey county food stamp service area language populations and then translate forms into any newly identified languages. This letter informs counties that all Food Stamp Program (FSP) forms
and specified forms jointly used with the CalWORKs program now will be translated into: Cushite, Formosan, Japanese, Mien, Punjabi, Portuguese, Syriac, and Ukrainian. The above languages are in addition to the Arabic, Armenian, Cambodian, Chinese, Farsi, Hmong, Korean, Lao, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese translations. (PS: Since Formosan uses written Chinese, this is probably not a new form language.) The bigger news: the state is not providing additional funding for automation, since “due to the limited number of applicants/recipients expected to require and/or request forms in the identified languages.” Counties are reminded they must use the forms, however, and how to get them on the internet. [Download]


ACL 08-13: Reporting And Public Release Of Records In Cases Of Child Fatality Or Near Fatality As A Result Of Abuse Or Neglect (3/14/08)

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This letter clarifies the implementation of SB 39, pertaining to the disclosure of child fatality information, and includes a revised reporting form. This policy is not retroactive for cases prior to January 1, 2008. SB 39 requires that local agencies respond directly to public requests for information related to a child fatality that is the result of abuse or neglect. The Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), requires that states disclose to the public findings and information about cases of child abuse and neglect that result in fatalities or near fatalities. The SOC 826 has been revised and renamed Child Fatality/Near Fatality County Statement of Findings and Information, to reflect the reporting requirements of SB 39 and to remain in compliance with CAPTA. The county must submit the SOC 826 for ALL cases of child fatalities if there is reasonable suspicion that it is as a result of abuse or neglect within five business days of learning of the incident, with follow up within 10 days.

The ACL also covers which county is responsible for the report. If the county determines that the fatality/near fatality was the result of abuse or neglect, it must respond to a public inquiry and provide information, as listed in the ACL. If the investigation does NOT conclude that the death/injury was from abuse/neglect, the county is to provide NO information. The letter also reviews the standards and process for objections to to the release of documentation, and agency comments regarding the information released. And what’s a bureaucracy without a discussion of documentation of files issues and annual reporting? [Download]

ACL 08-09: California Adoption Facilitators Registry (3/20/08)

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California requires all Adoption Facilitators to register with the CDSS. (Adoption facilitators put birth mothers in touch with prospective adoptive parents, and are to disclose that they are not adoption agencies.) This ACL discusses the standards for registration, which involves an application and Live Scan. The letter discusses the complaint process, and lists the “no no’s” for facilitators (can’t advertise or photograph children, have even momentary custody of the child to be adopted, or mislead parties that the facilitator is an adoption agency.) [Download]

ACL 08-10: Title IV-E Foster Care Overpayment And Collections (3/21/08)

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HHS told CDSS it was out of compliance with the Improper Payments Information Act (IPIA) (read “overpayments”) of 2002 and that the state’s practice of repaying the federal share of overpayments only upon collection is not acceptable. (CDSS initially issued ACL 06-48 on this issue, and counties were directed to identify and track all federal foster care and adoption assistance overpayments beginning October 1, 2006, and ACIN I-60-07identifies best practice guidelines.) To ensure state and county compliance with federal reporting requirements for Title IV-E overpayments, several sections of the Welfare and Institutions Code were amended. This letter reviews those changes.

The letter clarifies collection against foster family homes, relative homes, non-related extended family members and legal guardians. The recovery of these overpayment funds must be done in a way that does not jeopardize the overall availability of placements for foster or adoptive children, as well as to act in the best interests of the foster or adoptive child. In addition to identifying the conditions under which a county should not collect an overpayment, and providing examples, the letter reviews the types of costs counties should consider when determining the cost effectiveness of collecting overpayments. Due process for providers will now be through the use of both informal and formal hearings rather than a review. [Download]