Appendix C: Glossary of Contract-Related Terms
Title IV-E Training Contracts Financial Handbook August 2009
This glossary defines the terms and acronyms used in this handbook. The terms define contractual parameters for program service and evaluation.
administrative expenditures
Administrative expenditures are expenditures necessary for the proper and efficient administration of the Title IV-E plan.
cost allocation plan
A cost allocation plan is a plan or budget in which all expenses are allocated between the university and DFPS to avoid double payment.
Cost allocation plans must comply with OMB Circular A-21.
county contract (non-reimbursable)
A county contract is a contract with the county to establish and maintain a county child welfare board.
county contract (reimbursable)
A contract with the county to establish and maintain a county child welfare board and reimburse the county for eligible Title IV-E expenditures for the child welfare board or foster children.
direct costs
Direct costs are those that can be identified specifically with a particular cost area, department, or program.
Indirect costs are costs that have been incurred for common or joint purposes.
FFP
The percentage rate for federal financial participation (FFP) determines the amount of federal matching funds that the state receives for allowable state expenditures.
FMAP
The federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) rate is the specific FFP rate that determines the federal matching funds a state receives for its Medicaid program and payments for foster care maintenance and adoption assistance.
FMAP is used when a state agency, such as DFPS, pays an expense, regardless of when the service that generated the expense was provided.
The FMAP rate is federally determined by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, based on a formula that involves the average income per person in a state and in the nation as a whole. FMAP is calculated annually and is in effect for the federal fiscal year (October through September).
Title IV-E population rate
The quarterly Title IV-E population rates are determined in accordance with DFPS’s federally approved methodology for allocating costs. The rate is based on the number of children in DFPS paid foster care.
The percentage represents the ratio of Title IV-E-eligible children to children not eligible for Title IV-E.
The rate is based on the average of the percentage of Title IV-E eligible children for each of the three months in a state quarter. The rate is used to determine reimbursement based on services provided in each of the following quarters: October-December, January-March, April-June, and July-September.
general support activities
General support activities are the costs necessary to properly and efficiently administer the Title IV-E program for which reimbursement is being sought.
HCATS (Contract Administration and Tracking System)
A database for contracts of the Health and Human Services Commission of Texas,
HCATS:
• provides basic information on contracts and vendors;
• allows users to search contracts;
• provides electronic archives of contract-related documents; and
• provides financial information on specific contracts.
HHSAS (Health and Human Services Accounting System)
DFPS’s financial accounting and data system, powered by PeopleSoft®.
indirect costs
An indirect cost benefits more than one cost area or department and cannot be readily identified with a particular final cost area without effort disproportionate to the results achieved.
A cost may not be allocated to a federal program as an indirect cost if any other cost incurred for the same purpose, in like circumstances, has been charged to the federal program as a direct cost.
indirect cost rates
Indirect costs are normally charged to federal programs by the use of an indirect cost rate. If a university desires to allocate indirect costs to the Title IV-E contract, the university must prepare, in advance, a rate proposal for the indirect cost and prepare related documentation, in accordance with OMB Circular A-21, Cost Principles for Educational Institutions.
Indirect cost rates are addressed in Uniform Grant Management Standards (UGMS), as adopted June 2004, in:
• Attachment C – State/Local-Wide Center Service Cost Allocation Plan; and
• Attachment E – State and Local Indirect Cost Rate Proposals.
The Certificate of Cost Allocation Plan and related documentation must be retained for audit, in accordance with federal records retention requirements.
Copies of the Certificate of Cost Allocation Plan and documentation must be provided to the DFPS contract manager.
A copy of the Certificate of Cost Allocation Plan must accompany the first billing of each fiscal year submitted to the Federal Funds division of the DFPS Office of Finance for reimbursement.
legal expenses
Legal expenses are the costs of preparing for and participating in judicial determinations for cases filed by DFPS to carry out applicable provisions of Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. Some of these costs may appear in the administrative section of a county contract or in a legal expenses contract.
legal expenses contract
A legal contract is a contract with a county government to reimburse the county for allowable Title IV-E legal expenses.
training expenditures
Training expenditures are the costs of training:
• DFPS employees;
• potential DFPS employees; and
• volunteers who provide services to foster children, foster parents, or child welfare boards.
university staff
University staff who provide services in support of Title IV-E activities.