Social Services Block Grant
Published on AidPage by
IDILOGIC on Jun 24, 2005
Purpose of this program:
To enable each State to furnish social services best suited to the needs of the individuals residing in the State. Federal block grant funds may be used to provide services directed toward one of the following five goals specified in the law: (1) To prevent, reduce, or eliminate dependency; (2) to achieve or maintain self-sufficiency; (3) to prevent neglect, abuse, or exploitation of children and adults; (4) to prevent or reduce inappropriate institutional care; and (5) to secure admission or referral for institutional care when other forms of care are not appropriate. In addition, special funding was provided to some states in fiscal year 1995 and 1996 for supplemental SSBG grants in support comprehensive of community revitalization projects in 104 federally designated Empowerment Zones (EZs) and Enterprise Communities (ECs). The supplemental funding is called "EZ/EC SSBG." The States, through the designated localities, may use the EZ/EC SSBG funds for activities included in each locality's strategic plan for comprehensive revitalization and directed toward goals 1, 2 or 3 listed above. These funds will remain available until December 21, 2004. Information about this component of the SSBG is included below as appropriate.
Possible uses and use restrictions...
Federal funds may be used by States for the proper and efficient operation of social service programs. Except for items (1) and (4) below, for which a waiver from the Secretary may be requested, Federal funds cannot be used for the following: (1) The purchase or improvement of land, or the purchase, construction, or permanent improvement of any building or other facility; (2) the provision of cash payments for costs of subsistence or the provision of room and board (other than costs of subsistence during rehabilitation, room and board provided for a short term as an integral but subordinate part of a social service, or temporary shelter provided as a protective service); (3) the payment of wages to any individual as a social service (other than payment of wages to welfare recipients employed in the provision of child day care services); (4) the provision of medical care (other than family planning services, rehabilitation services or initial detoxification of an alcoholic or drug dependent individual) unless it is an integral but subordinate part of a social service for which grants may be used; (5) social services (except services to an alcoholic or drug dependent individual or rehabilitation services) provided in and by employees of any hospital, skilled nursing facility, intermediate care facility, or prison, to any individual living in such institution; (6) the provision of any educational service which the State makes generally available to its residents without cost and without regard to their income; (7) any child day care service unless such service meets applicable standards of State and local law; (8) the provision of cash payments as a service; or (9) for payment for any item or service (other than an emergency item or service) furnished by an individual or entity during the period when such individual or entity is excluded pursuant to Section 1128 or Section 1128(A) of the Social Security Act from participation in this program; or at the medical direction or on the prescription of a physician during the period when the physician is excluded based on Section 1128 or 1128(A) from participation in the program and when the person furnishing such item or service knew or had reason to know of the exclusion (after a reasonable time period after reasonable notice has been furnished to the person). A State may transfer up to 10 percent of its allotment for any fiscal year to the preventive health and health services, alcohol and drug abuse, mental health services, maternal and child health services, and low-income home energy assistance block grants.
Who is eligible to apply...
The 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa.
Credentials/Documentation
Prior to expenditure of funds, the State must report on the intended use of the payments the State is to receive, including information on the types of activities to be supported and the categories or characteristics of individuals to be served.
Note:This is a brief description of the credentials or documentation required prior to, or along with, an application for assistance.
About this section:
This section indicates who can apply to the Federal government for assistance and the criteria the potential applicant must satisfy.
For example, individuals may be eligible for research grants, and the criteria to be satisfied may be that they have a professional or scientific degree,
3 years of research experience, and be a citizen of the United States. Universities, medical schools, hospitals, or State and local governments may also be eligible.
Where State governments are eligible, the type of State agency will be indicated (State welfare agency or State agency on aging) and the criteria that they
must satisfy.
Certain federal programs (e.g., the Pell Grant program which provides grants to students) involve intermediate levels of application processing, i.e., applications
are transmitted through colleges or universities that are neither the direct applicant nor the ultimate beneficiary. For these programs,
the criteria that the intermediaries must satisfy are also indicated, along with intermediaries who are not eligible.
How to apply...
Application Procedure:
Submission of a pre-expenditure report application is required.
Note: Each program will indicate whether applications are to be submitted to the Federal headquarters, regional or local office, or to a State or local government office.
Award Procedure:
States are awarded funds quarterly.
Note: Grant payments may be made by a letter of credit, advance by Treasury check, or reimbursement by Treasury check.
Awards may be made by the headquarters office directly to the applicant, an agency field office, a regional office,
or by an authorized county office. The assistance may pass through the initial applicant for further distribution by
intermediate level applicants to groups or individuals in the private sector.
Deadlines and process...
Deadlines
None.
Note:
When available, this section indicates the deadlines for applications to the funding agency which will
be stated in terms of the date(s) or between what dates the application should be received.
When not available, applicants should contact the funding agency for deadline information.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time
Not applicable.
Preapplication Coordination
None. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Note:
This section indicates whether any prior coordination or approval is required with governmental or nongovernmental units
prior to the submission of a formal application to the federal funding agency.
Appeals
See 45 CFR, Part 16, Procedures of the Departmental Appeals Board.
Note:
In some cases, there are no provisions for appeal. Where applicable, this section discusses appeal procedures or allowable rework time for resubmission
of applications to be processed by the funding agency. Appeal procedures vary with individual programs and are either listed in this section or
applicants are referred to appeal procedures documented in the relevant Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
Renewals
Not applicable.
Note:
In some instances, renewal procedures may be the same as for the application procedure, e.g., for projects of a non-continuing nature renewals will be treated as new, competing applications; for projects of an ongoing nature, renewals may be given annually.
Who can benefit...
Under Title XX, each eligible jurisdiction determines the services that will be provided and the individuals that will be eligible to receive services.
Beneficiaries
About this section:
This section lists the ultimate beneficiaries of a program, the criteria they must satisfy and who specifically is not eligible. The applicant and beneficiary will generally be the same for programs that provide assistance directly from a Federal agency. However, financial assistance that passes through State or local governments will have different applicants and beneficiaries since the assistance is transmitted to private sector beneficiaries who are not obligated to request or apply for the assistance.
What types of assistance...
Formula Grants
Allocations of money to States or their subdivisions in accordance with distribution formulas prescribed by law or administrative regulation, for activities of a continuing nature not confined to a specific project.
How much financial aid...
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
$56,000 to $207,311,000; $30,263,000.
Note:
This section lists the representative range (smallest to largest) of the amount of financial assistance available. These figures are based upon funds awarded in the past fiscal year and the current fiscal year to date. Also indicated is an approximate average amount of awards which were made in the past and current fiscal years.
Obligations
(Grants) FY 03 $1,700,000,000; FY 04 est $1,700,000,000; and FY 05 est $1,700,000,000.
Note:
The dollar amounts listed in this section represent obligations for the past fiscal year (PY), estimates for the current fiscal year (CY), and estimates for the budget fiscal year (BY) as reported by the Federal agencies. Obligations for non-financial assistance programs indicate the administrative expenses involved in the operation of a program.
Account Identification
75-1534-0-1-506.
Note:
Note: This 11-digit budget account identification code represents the account which funds a particular program.
This code should be consistent with the code given for the program area as specified in Appendix III of the Budget of the United States Government.
Examples of funded projects...
States and other eligible jurisdictions determine their own social services programs. Examples of funded services include child day care, protective and emergency services for children and adults, homemaker and chore services, information and referral, adoption, foster care, counseling, and transportation.
About this section
This section indicates the different types of projects which have been funded in the past. Only projects funded under Project Grants or Direct Payments for Specified Use should be listed here. The examples give potential applicants an idea of the types of projects that may be accepted for funding. The agency should list at least five examples of the most recently funded projects.
Program accomplishments...
Fifty-seven grants were awarded in fiscal year 2003. It is estimated that 57 grants will be awarded in 2004 and 2005.
Criteria for selecting proposals...
All States, the District of Columbia, and the five other jurisdictions will receive their share of funds if they submit a pre-expenditure report that meets the requirements.
Assistance considerations...
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
Grants are awarded quarterly on a fiscal year basis. The Electronic Transfer System will be used based on quarterly grant awards for monthly cash draws from Federal Reserve Banks. The funds will remain available for projects and programs in the designated localities until December 21, 2004.)
Formula and Matching Requirements
Section 2003 of Title XX of the Social Security Act specifies how the allotments for each State and jurisdiction will be determined. Each State is entitled to payments in an amount equal to its allotment for that fiscal year. There is no matching requirement. Allotments for Title XX are subject to a limitation of $2,800,000,000 (estimate). The allotment for the jurisdictions of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands shall be an amount which bears the same ratio to the amount authorized for Title XX as the fiscal year 1981 allocation bore to $2,900,000,000. The allotment for American Samoa shall be an amount which bears the same ratio to the amount allotted to the Northern Mariana Islands for that fiscal year as the population of American Samoa bears to the population of the Northern Mariana Islands. Each State's and the District of Columbia's allotment are proportional to its portion of the national population of the amount authorized for Title XX minus the amount authorized to the other jurisdictions. The statistical factors used for fund allocation are the State population and total U.S. population (ratio of population of all States and the District of Columbia to total population); source, "Current Population Reports," P- 25, Bureau of the Census.
Note:
A formula may be based on population, per capita income, and other statistical factors. Applicants are informed whether there are any matching requirements to be met when participating in the cost of a project. In general, the matching share represents that portion of the project costs not borne by the Federal government. Attachment F of OMB Circular No. A-102 (Office of Management and Budget) sets forth the criteria and procedures for the evaluation of matching share requirements which may be cash or in-kind contributions made by State and local governments or other agencies, institutions, private organizations, or individuals to satisfy matching requirements of Federal grants or loans.
Cash contributions represent the grantees' cash outlay, including the outlay of money contributed to the grantee by other public agencies, institutions, private organizations, or individuals. When authorized by Federal regulation, Federal funds received from other grants may be considered as the grantees' cash contribution.
In-kind contributions represent the value of noncash contributions provided by the grantee, other public agencies and institutions, private organizations or individuals. In-kind contributions may consist of charges for real property and equipment, and value of goods and services directly benefiting and specifically identifiable to the grant program. When authorized by Federal legislation, property purchased with Federal funds may be considered as grantees' in-kind contribution.
Maintenance of effort (MOE) is a requirement contained in certain legislation, regulations, or administrative policies stating that a grantee must maintain a specified level of financial effort in a specific area in order to receive Federal grant funds, and that the Federal grant funds may be used only to supplement, not supplant, the level of grantee funds.
Post assistance requirements...
Reports
An annual report is required. The report shall be in such form and contain such information as the State finds necessary to provide an accurate description of such activities, to secure a complete record of the purposes for which funds were spent, and to determine the extent to which funds were spent in a manner consistent with the pre-expenditure reports required under Section 2004 of the Act. The report must include the services provided in whole or in part with block grant funds; the number of children and the number of adults receiving each service; expenditure data for both children and adults for each service; the criteria applied in determining eligibility for each service, including fees; and the method(s) by which each service was provided. States must provide DHHS with an annual report (Standard Form 269). For EZ/EC SSBG, States are also required to provide a final report at the end of the grant period. The grant period ends for EZ/EC SSBG on December 21, 2004.
Note:
This section indicates whether program reports, expenditure reports, cash reports or performance monitoring are required by the Federal funding agency, and specifies at what time intervals (monthly, annually, etc.) this must be accomplished.
Audits
In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised June 27, 2003)," Audits of States, Local Governments and Non-Profit Organizations," Non-Federal entities that expend $300,000 ($500,000 for fiscal years ending after December 31, 2003) or more in a year in Federal awards shall have a single or program-specific audit conducted for that year in accordance with the provisions of this part. Non-Federal entities that expend less than $300,000 ($500,000 for fiscal years ending after December 31, 2003) a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in section .215(a), but records must be available for review or audit by appropriate officials of the Federal agency, pass-through entity, and General Accounting Office (GAO).
Note:
This section discusses audits required by the Federal agency.
The procedures and requirements for State and local governments and nonprofit entities are set forth in OMB Circular No. A-133.
These requirements pertain to awards made within the respective State's fiscal year - not the Federal fiscal year,
as some State and local governments may use the calendar year or other variation of time span designated as the fiscal year period,
rather than that commonly known as the Federal fiscal year (from October 1st through September 30th).
Records
States are required to maintain records documenting the purposes for which expenditures were made.
Note:
This section indicates the record retention requirements and the type of records the Federal agency may require.
Not included are the normally imposed requirements of the General Accounting Office.
For programs falling under the purview of OMB Circular No. A-102, record retention is set forth in Attachment C.
For other programs, record retention is governed by the funding agency's requirements.
Regulations...
Authorization
Social Security Act, Title XX, as amended; Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, as amended, Public Law 97-35; Jobs Training Bill, Public Law 98-8; Public Law 98-473; Medicaid and Medicare Patient and Program Act of 1987; Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987, Public Law 100-203; Family Support Act of 1988, Public Law 100- 485; Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, Public Law 103-66; 42 U.S.C. 1397 et seq.
Note:
This section lists the legal authority upon which a program is based (acts, amendments to acts, Public Law numbers, titles, sections, Statute Codes, citations to the U.S. Code, Executive Orders, Presidential Reorganization Plans, and Memoranda from an agency head).
Regulations, Guidelines, And Literature
45 CFR 96.