TANF-ACF-PI-2006-07 (New Form ACF-202, Caseload Reduction Report)
Guidance for state TANF agencies to transmit the new form ACF-202 and instructions for completing that form, which States must use to report caseload reduction information for fiscal year 2007 and thereafter.
Final
Issued by: Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
Issue Date: November 15, 2006
To:
State agencies administering or supervising an approved Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program and other interested parties
Subject:
New Form ACF-202, Caseload Reduction Report.
References:
Section 407(b)(3) of the Social Security Act, 45 CFR 261.40 et seq.
Purpose:
To transmit the new form ACF-202 and instructions for completing that form, which States must use to report caseload reduction information for fiscal year 2007 and thereafter.
Background:
Section 407(b)(3) of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), requires us to reduce a State’s required work participation rate for a fiscal year by the State’s caseload reduction credit for that fiscal year. As the name suggests, the caseload reduction credit gives a State credit for reducing its caseload between a base year and a comparison year. The DRA recalibrated the base year of the calculation from fiscal year (FY) 1995 to FY 2005. The DRA did not change the comparison year, which is always the fiscal year that immediately proceeds the fiscal year for which the credit reduces the work participation rate. Also unchanged from prior law, the statute prohibits the caseload reduction credit from including any caseload declines due to requirements of Federal law or due to differences in State eligibility criteria.
To accommodate the revised base year, we have created a new Caseload Reduction Report, form ACF-202, together with instructions for completing the form. As part of publishing the interim final TANF rule on June 29, 2006, we submitted the new form ACF-202 to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for public comment and OMB approval (see 71 FR 37473). We have attached these documents, including OMB approval number and expiration date, for your convenience. We took the opportunity to update the form substantially, based on our experience with calculating the caseload reduction credits over the last nine years. Of particular note, the new form eliminated Part II from the original form ACF-202, which required States to submit case closure and denial information. The new form also reorganizes the information, combining what was previously in Parts I and III of the report into a new Part 1. We made this change both for the ease of the State and for clarity in following the State’s calculations. Also new to form ACF-202 is a calculation worksheet (the new Part 2 of the report) and model templates for calculating the impact of an eligibility change on the comparison-year caseload, provided in an Excel Workbook.
Action:
Caseload Reduction Reports for FY 2007 are due by December 31, 2006. States may request an extension of this deadline through the appropriate Regional Office.
Attachments:
Form ACF-202 and Instructions for Completing Form ACF-202
Inquiries:
Inquiries should be made to the appropriate Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Regional Administrator.
/s/
Sidonie Squier, Director
Office of Family Assistance
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