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MEASURING IMPROPER PAYMENTS IN SOCIAL SERVICE BLOCK GRANT (SSBG)HURRICANE SANDY SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS
Michael Salmon, M.A. Research Manager
Stefan Bishop, B.A.Research Assistant
SSBG HURRICAN
E SANDY ERRO
R RATE TODAY’S PRESENTATION
• Brief Description of Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) and Hurricane Sandy Supplemental Funds (HSSF)
• Development of SSBG Improper Payment Methodology and Error Rate Reviews
• Development of Review Tools and Sampling Criteria
• Computation of Errors and Error Reporting for SSBG HSSF
• Conducting FY 2014 Error Rate Reviews and applying lessons learned to FY 2015
SSBG HURRICAN
E SANDY ERRO
R RATE SOCIAL SERVICES BLOCK GRANT (SSBG)
• Provides grants to 50 States, DC, PR, and Territories for social services
• States can identify usage of funds within 29 service categories
• No eligibility criteria but State activities must be consistent with the general goals of the program
SSBG HURRICAN
E SANDY ERRO
R RATE SSBG HURRICANE SANDY
Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013 (DRAA) $474.5 million in Hurricane Sandy Supplemental Funds (HSSF) to five SSBG States:
All DRAA funded Federal programs deemed susceptible to improper payments, and required to calculate an error rate
State Percentage Share of State FEMA Individual Assistance Registrants
SSBG Hurricane Sandy Supplemental
Fund AllocationNew York 49.62% $235,434,600New Jersey 47.80% $226,794,105Connecticut 2.23% $10,569,192Maryland 0.25% $1,185,675Rhode Island 0.11% $516,428Total $474,500,000
SSBG HURRICAN
E SANDY ERRO
R RATE
Case Record Review
Direct benefit or payment amounts to or on behalf of individuals or households(i.e., cases) based on specific eligibility criteria
Vendor Payment Review
Indirect benefits or services, including group intervention services, expansion of service staffing levels, or grants for the repair/renovation/rebuilding of service facilities
TWO-FOLD (BIFURCATED) METHODOLOGY
SSBG HURRICAN
E SANDY ERRO
R RATE
Case Record Review
• New Jersey: 12 awards, $157 million, 70% of allocation
• New York: 34 awards, $32 million, 14% of allocation
• Connecticut: 1 award, $700,000, 7% of allocation
Vendor Payment Review
• New Jersey: 44 awards, $64 million, 28% of allocation
• New York: 226 awards, $113 million, 48% of allocation
• Connecticut: 4 awards, $9 million, 93% of allocation
TWO-FOLD (BIFURCATED) METHODOLOGY
Error rate reviews will encompass $378 million (80%) of all SSBG HSSF allocated to New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
SSBG HURRICAN
E SANDY ERRO
R RATE
Case Record ReviewSampling Unit
• individual, family, or household receiving a payment/benefit
Sampling Universe• all cases served by selected
vendors during review period
Sample Size• 383 cases for New York • 383 cases for New Jersey • 73 cases for Connecticut
Vendor Payment ReviewSampling Unit
• State payment made to a vendor for HSSF expenditures
Sampling Universe• all vendor payments made
within selected contract awards during review period
Sample Size• 341 payments for New York• 224 payments for New Jersey• 12 payments for Connecticut
TWO-FOLD (BIFURCATED) METHODOLOGY
SSBG HURRICAN
E SANDY ERRO
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Case Record Tools
Review client records for completeness of application and eligibility materials, and accuracy of service benefits
Vendor Payment Tools
Review payments and invoices according to State policies for approval
ERROR RATE REVIEW TOOLS
SSBG HURRICAN
E SANDY ERRO
R RATEFY 2014 ERROR RATE DEVELOPMENT
Developmental questions and challenges:
• Approach
• Flexibility of Block Grant Funding
• Specialization of Review Tools
• Timeline for Implementation
• State Readiness
FY 2014 SSBG ERROR RATE IMPLEMENTATION
• FY 2014 SSBG improper payment reviews based only on case record review in New Jersey
• FY 2014 SSBG Error Rate: 13.5%
• Majority of funds in error (74%) resulted from a single vendor in a single service program
• State response too late to adjust error rate downward
SSBG HURRICAN
E SANDY ERRO
R RATEAPPLYING FY 2014 LESSONS TO FY 2015
Efforts to improve error rate reviews in FY 2015 include:
• Quarterly improper payment sampling in each State
• Remote reviews (where possible) to save time and burden
• 30-day State response periods
• Improved collection and organization of records
SSBG HURRICAN
E SANDY ERRO
R RATEFY 2015 SSBG ERROR RATE DEVELOPMENT
Case record and vendor payment reviews for all three States—Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York
• One national error rate
Conducting six separate reviews
• State and Vendor Interviews
• Late Start for New York and Connecticut
• New Jersey’s decentralized payment approval processes
SSBG HURRICAN
E SANDY ERRO
R RATEFY 2015 SSBG ERROR RATE IMPLEMENTATION
• Despite delays, great improvement in organization and efficiency of reviews
• Success of Improvements since FY 2014
• Final FY 2015 results still under review
• States’ extended use of funds through FY 2017
SSBG HURRICAN
E SANDY ERRO
R RATECONCLUSION
Today’s presentation focused on the challenges of implementing a new improper payment methodology for a flexible, multi-service block grant program, including:
• Developing multiple review types across several States
• Specializing review tools to State- and vendor-specific policies and procedures
• Computation of errors and error reporting
• Developing best practices for future reviews in light of lessons learned
SSBG HURRICAN
E SANDY ERRO
R RATECONCLUSION
Thank you very much for your time today.
Please let us know if you have any questions!
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