HomeMy WebLinkAboutC15-510 Colorado Department of Human Services MOUMEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTAI{DING
The State of Colorado Department of Human Services
and
The Board of County Commissioners or other elected governing body of
EAGIE County, Colorado
This Memorandum of Understanding (or "MOU") is made this Fclr^rJh day of
lkwlns t' , between the State of Colorado Department of Human Services (the
"CDHS") and the Board of County Commissioners or other elected governing body of
fnetr County, Colorado (the "County").
CDHS is the sole state agency with the responsibility to administer or supervise the
administration of the human services programs listed in CRS 26- l -20 t .
The Colorado General Assembly enacted Senate Bill 97-120 in response to the passage of
the federal "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of | 996"
thereby adopting the Colorado Works Program ("Works Program") and the Colorado
Child Care Assistance Program (*Child Care Program").
CRS 26-2-715 requires CDHS and the County to enter into an annual performance
contract that explains the County's duties and responsibilities in inrplementing the Works
Program and the Child Care Program.
CDHS and the County understand and agree that the services and assistance outlined in
this MOU are subject to available appropriations by the General Assembly, and the
County, and neither party will be obligated to provide services or assistance if adequate
appropriations have not been made.
C15-510
The following terms are agreed to by CDHS and the County:
I. MOU MEETS PERFORMANCE CONTRACT REQUIREMENT
The parties agree that the provisions of this MOU constitute compliance with CRS 26-2-
7t5.
2. TERM
The term of this MOU will be from July l, 2015 ttuough June 30, 2016.
3. REQUIRED DUTIES OFTIIE COUNTY
a) The County will administer and implement the Works Program and the Child
Care Program using fair and objective criteria, and in compliance with federal
law.
b) The County will not reduce the basic assistance grant administered according to
CRS 26-2-709, except as otherwise provided by law.
c) The County will not restrict eligibility or the provisions of services, nor will it
impose sanctions that are inconsistent with Part 7 of Article 2 of Title 26, C.R.S.,
or the State Plan submitted by CDHS to the federal government.
d) For the term of this MOU, the County agrees to meet work participation rates
equal to the fbderally required participation rate of 50% for all families and 909'o
for all two parent households. The percentages contained in this paragraph (d)
represent the maximum work participation rates to which the County may be
held during the term of this MOU. The County's agreement to meet the federally
required participation rate is relevant to CDIIS's anticipation that CDHS will, in
turn, be able to meet any work participation rates imposed by the federal
governnent.
e) The parties acknowledge that the work participation rate is, as of the signing of
this MOU, the only federally-mandated performance goal identified. This
performance goal is in accordance with CRS 26-2-712 (4). The parties also
acknowledge that, in an effort to help individuals prepare for and enter the
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s)
workforce, they are encouraged to adopt employment focused measures, as
outlined under "OPTIONAL OUTCOME MEASURES" below.
The County will maintain sufficient records, and will permit CDHS, its duly
designated agents and/or representatives of the federal govemment, to inspect the
records and will make such records available to CDHS as specified in cRS 26-2-
717. The County must also continue to report to GDHS as currently required by
CRS 26-2-716,711 and shall report to the Department in the future as required
by law. ln addition, Counties or county departnents that are covered entities or
contracting parties to a Business Associate Agreement pursuant to the Health
Insurance Portability & Accounrability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA") must comply
with HIPAA as required by law.
The County agrees to provide its adopted policies to CDHS, as required by CRS
26-2-716 (2.5). The County may, at its discretion, change the way in which it
implements the works and child care Programs in any manner that is still
consistent with state and federal law. The County agrees to provide CDHS with
updated written information, when or if, changes to these Programs are made,
The county agrees to provide the information and policies specified in paragraph
(g) herein to CDHS within thirty (30) days of their adoption,
The parties agree that information and policies provided by the county to GDHS
as described in paragraph (g) herein are for informational purposes, and are
provided to assist CDHS in meeting its responsibilities with respect to these
Programs. Nothing in this MOU gives CDHS the authority to approve, deny or
require any county policies beyond what is required by statute or rule. The
County acknowledges CDHS's right to review, comment upon or request
reasonable additional information or clarification of any county policies or
records. such requests will be made in writing and directed to the county
department of human/social services director. The County maintains that it witl
consider such comments in its implementation of these Programs, but is not
obligated to incorporate them.
OPTIONAL OUTCOME MEASURES
h)
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a)Counties may submit a proposal as an attachment to this MOU, additional
employment focused performance measures specific to employment. Such
proposals may be submitted either at the time of execution or at any time during
the period of this MOU. The proposal is limited to issues regarding the pursuit of
programs, strategies, and associated evaluation plans that focus on improving
employment outcomes and contribute to the evidence base for effective programs.
In addition, terms and conditions will require either interim targets for each
performance measure or a strategy for establishing baseline performance on a set
of performance measures and a framework for how interim goals will be set after
the baseline measures are established. The terms and conditions will establish
consequences for failing to meet interim performance targets, including but not
limited to, the implementation of an improvement plan and/or, termination of
approved programs and strategies due to the county's or region's continued
failure to meet performance targets-
Upon approval of the proposal by CDHS, the county or region will be subject to
the performance measures, interim goals, and other conditions set forth in the
MOU addendum and negotiated work participation rates that take into account
employment focused outcome measures and anticipated statewide case load credit
reductions..
DUTIES OF CDHS
In consultation with the Counties, CDHS will oversee the irnplementation of the
Works Program statewide, and will develop standardized forms that sfieamline
the application process, the delivery ofservices, and the tracking ofparticipants;
and
CDHS will monitor the County's provision of basic assistance grants, and if
necessary, perform the duties outlined CRS 26-2-712(5Xe); and
CDHS exercises oversight of and responsibility for the development,
implementation, maintenance, and enhanccment of the Colorado Benefits
Management System (CBMS) and its application relative to the Colorado Works
b)
!.
a)
b)
c)
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Program. Because CBMS is a system that utilizes decision tables run by a rules
engine for determining eligibility and amount of benefits, to the extent allowed
by law, the counties shall be held harmless for erroneous decisions made by
CBMS. Without limitation, this applies to erroneous eligibility decisions,
elroneous determinations of amount of benefits, erroneous decisions resulting in
overpayments and subsequent claims, and enoneous decisions resulting in
underpayments and subsequent supplemental payments or restorative benefits.
Counties will also not be accountable for any legal or recovery actions resulting
from erroneous, inaccurate, or inadequate CBMS controlled notices to Colorado
Works households. The State will hold counties harmless, and will not take
recovery action against a county for any claim, including a legal claim that is
defined as a CBMS system caused enor. This hold harmless provision does not
apply to any errors, claims or issues caused by a county's inaccurate data entry
into the system, the county's failure to follow clear, reasonable, and lawful
instructions, or failure to follow program rules formally adopted by the State
Board of Human Services. This hold harmless provision does apply to CBMS
training and data entry rules and/or any rules that are part of the CBMS rules
engine.
d) cDHs will develop and provide CBMS training for works Program staff as
required by CRS 26-2-712(7). (Training is available and provided by the
Colorado Department of Healthcare Policy & Financing (HCPF) and CDHS);
and
e) The amount identified for a county's level of spending shall be identified
annually in the Allocation Agency Letter as required by CRS 26-2-712 and,
pursuant to CRS E 26-2-715.
SANCTIONS
a) Subject to limitations set forth herein, including those contained in
paragraph 5(c) herein, if CDHS is subject to a federal sanction, CDHS
may impose sanctions to counties pursuant to this MOU. Regardless of
whether CDHS is subject to any federal sanction, CDHS may develop a
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b)
remediation plan, as provided in this MOU, if, during the term of this
MOU, the County engages in any of the following actions:
i. Misusing federal or state Works Program or Child Care Program
funds, including receipts or recoveries that are not reported, where a
federal or state law or regulation enacted before the use of the funds
requires the funds to be spent in a different way. County Works
Program and Child Care Program funds that are misused will not
qualify toward meeting the County maintenance of effort or County
share requirements.
ii. Failing to satis$ work participation rates as contained in this MOU
andlor failing to meet performance measures as negotiated.
iii. Reducing the basic assistance grant, restricting eligibility or the
provision of services, or imposing sanctions in a manner inconsistent
with a federally compliant state law and state plan.
iv. Failing to comply with any other provision of the Colorado Works
Program if such failure causes CDHS to incur a federal fiscal sanction.
ln any case where CDHS is considering a sanction or remediation plan for
the County due to the County's failure to achieve its work participation
rate or agreed-upon performance measure, CDHS will first follow the
procedures for determining whether the County made a good faith effort to
achieve its work participation rate or agreed-upon performance measure.
In making its determination, CDHS, without limitation, shall consider
documentation of the following:
i. Implementation of an effective process for moving clients through
programs and resources to obtain and maintain employment using
the full range of countable federal work activities;
ii. lmplementation of a County procedure for encouraging
participation at the required number of hours, such as incentives
for meeting individualized plan hour commitments, an assessment
and an individualized plan for all Works Program participants;
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iii. Accurate and timely data entry into CBMS for all Works program
participants, including proper coding and work participation or
negotiated data tacking, and any other documentation which may
demonstrate a good faith effort;
iv. County identification of problems in performance and
implementation of an action plan to improve performance;
v. The County will be held harmless for any CBMS programming
inegularities, missing or incomplete functionality necessary to
support work programs and work participation documentation
andJor implementation problems attributed to CDHS that affects
documentation for work participation.
c) CDHS will not sanction or develop a remediation plan for the County's failure
to meet its performance measure(s) unless it was determined that the County
' did not make a reasonable, good faith effort to meet its performance
measure(s). The process for a sanction (fiscal or non-fiscal) against the
County by CDHS will be as follows:
i. CDHS will provide the County thirty (30) days written notice of
the proposed sanction before imposing any sanction. This
notification will include the rationale of imposing the sanction, as
well as all associated documentation, a calculation of the proposed
sanction, and an indication of what constitutes a remedy or
correction that will allow the County to avert the sanction, if any
remedy or correction is possible. fuiy corrective action contained
in the notice shall be specific to the action giving rise to the
sanction, and shall not extend beyond such violation, Upon
receiving such notice, the County has thirty (30) days to contest,
explain, offer evidence of mitigating factors, and/or submit a
conective action plan to correct the alleged failure before CDHS
imposes the sanction. CDHS shall allow the County conective
action plan to be implemented unless it is manifestly insufficient.
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r)
ii. If the County corrective action plan does not rectify the
performance problem, CDHS will negotiate a remediation
corrective action plan (RCAP) with the board of county
commissioners within thirty (30) days of CDHS' determination
that the County corrective action plan has failed, in an effort to
further the mutual goal of the successfirl operation of MOU-related
programs. The RCAP shall be agreed to within thirty (30) days of
failure of the corrective action plan specified herein. If the RCAP
includes deployment of Frscal resources, the County will determine
the source of such resources The County's utilization of financial
resources does not necessarily constitute fiscal sanction as
contemplated by CRS S 26-2-716(4)(b) and the amount of the
fiscal resources committed shall be mutually agreed upon,
adequate to meaningfully attempt to correct the performance
problem.
iii, If the County fails to correct the action, and a sanction is imposed,
the amount cannot be greater than that imposed by the federal
goverrunent, and cannot exceed the amount expended by CDIIS as
a result of the County's failure to meet its obligation. If CDHS has
incurred a sanction due to the failure of more than one County to
meet its obligations, the County will only be sanctioned for its
share of the sanction.
iv. CDIIS agrees to provide the County wilh all documents received
from the federal govemment related to any proposed or imposed
federal sanction within twenty (20) days of receipt, together with
all CDI{S documents related to the actions giving rise to that
federal sanction, or that relate to the sanction process.
If the County continues to deliberately or consistently fail to meet its
obligation specified in this MOU, CDHS, at its sole discretion, may do the
following:
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CDHS (or its duly designated agent) may assume the County's
administration and implementation of the Works Program and/or
Child Care. In that event, CDHS will provide the County thirty
(30) days written notice before assuming these duties. Upon receipt
of such notice, the County shall have the opportunity to contesg
explain, offer evidence of mitigating factors, or to conect the
failure before the Department assumes the duties.
CDHS may allocate the amount of moneys that are provided to the
County as part of the County's block grant for the purpose of its
administration and implementation of the Works Program in
accordance with the formulas described in CRS 26-2-714.
CDHS will, in consultation and in conjunction with the County,
develop or modify automated systems to meet the reporting
requirements of CRS 26-2-717.
7. DISCRETIONARYMATTERS
The parties agree that all portions of Part 7 of Article 2 of Title 26, C.R.S., and Part 8 of
Article 2 of Title 26, C.R.S. that grant discretion to either party regarding the
administration of the Works or Child Care Programs in the County will not be affected by
the execution of this MOU.
8. SEVERABILITY
To the extent that this MOU is executed, and performance of the obligations of the parties
may be accomplished within the intent of the MOU, the terms of the MOU are severable.
Thus, should any term or provision herein be declared invalid or become inoperative for
any reason, such invalidity or failure shall not affect the validity of any other term or
provision herein. The waiver of any breach of term herein shall not be construed as a
waiver of any other term, or of the same term upon subsequent breach.
9, INTEGRATION OF UNDERSTAI\IDING
nl.
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This MOU is intended as the complete integration of the understanding between the
parties conceming the matters negotiated between them and incorporated in this MOU.
No prior or contemporaneous addition, deletion, or other amendment hereto shall have
any force or effect whatsoever unless embodied in writing. No subsequent notation,
renewal, addition, deletion, or other amendment hereto shall have any force or effect
unless embodied in a written amendment executed by the parties.
The parties recognize the nature of the relationship between the County and the State.
This relationship is governed more broadly by pertinent provisions of the Colorado
Constitution and of state statutes and rules, including lawful rules promulgated by the
State Board of Human Services. The parties further recognize that this MOU is not
intended to supersede or change the relationship between the County and the State as
established by any legal authority.
10. NO THIRD PARTY BENEFICIARY
This MOU is binding on CDHS and the County, as well as their respective successors
and assigns. It is agreed that the enforcement of the terms and conditions of this MOU are
reserved for CDHS and the County, to the extent permitted by law. Nothing contained in
this MOU allows a claim or right of action by a third party. Any third party receiving
services or benefits under the provisions of this MOU is deemed an incidental
beneficiary.
1I. DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Prior to the execution of this document, if the parties are unable to reach agreement
concerning the inclusion of, or wording of, provisions of the MOU, either party may refer
the dispute to the State Board of Human Services for resolution pursuant to the provisions
of CRS 26-2-7rs(3).
Subsequent to the execution of this document, both parties will work in good faith to
resolve a dispute arising from any provision of this executed MOU. If the parties are
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unable to resolve such dispute, any of the following non-binding mediation options are
available by agreement of the parties:
a) Mediation by the Govenror or a third party of the Governor's choosing. Such
review must be initiated by notice provided to the Governor and other party
by certified mail. Decision by the Govemor or his appointed third-party is
non-binding.
b) Mediation by a dispute resolution panel, to consist of one County-designated
member, one CDHS-designated member, and one member selected by the
other two panelists. Each party must pay for its own costs and attomey fees,
and will share equally in any fees paid to panel members. The panel's decision
will be made by a majority vote of its members, and is non-binding.
c) Mediation by the State Board of Human Services. If the State Board is
requested to mediate, the provisions of CRS 26-2-7lS(3) concerning time
limits and final effect of the State Board's decision will not apply. The State
Board of Human Services' decision is non-binding.
None of these options will be a jurisdictional prerequisite to legal action by either party.
REGGIE BICHA
STATE OF COLORADO
DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES
Director or Designee fuc.e-fy llt tuh'v? )i'"rUaf
COLORADO,
COMMISSIONERS
lerk to the Board
?n-4'.1 ffil\tu
COUNTY OF
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