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2004 Q & A
6/10/05-UPDATE ON UCS RFA
-UCS contracts are currently
in process. Given the large volume of contracts, it is unlikely that any
contracts will be in place by July 1, 2005. All parties involved in this
process agree that VESID services must continue. Accordingly, the
following steps are being taken:
-For UCS RFA applicants who
are current UCS contract agencies and will be awarded new contracts - A
letter is being sent next week which informs these applicants which UCS
services they may continue past 6/30/05. The letter will specify the new
UCS rates and all of the approved services to be included in the new
contracts.
-For UCS RFA applicants who
are current providers not under a UCS contract and who will be awarded a
contract - We are determining the specific method for continuing these
services and will contact providers within the next several days.
-For UCS RFA applicants
who are not current providers but who will be awarded a contract - Award
letters will be issued as soon as contracts are approved. Although the
start date of the contracts will be 7/1/05, the actual start-date of
services will be determined by the date of contract approval and the
start-date of authorizations.
Question: Agencies are processing referrals now that
will be served prior to and after the start of any new contracts. It is
most likely they will start services with a voucher for one service then
have to continue providing services when they don't know if the service
they offer will even be approved under the new contract. Also, the rate
may differ, depending on what services they bid on and are approved.
This scenario is posing a major dilemma for many providers. Should
agencies set a cut off date for accepting new referrals? Especially as
it gets closer to July 1 and there is no award letter to the agency?
Response: Providers will certainly agree that we (VESID and providers)
do not want to do anything which could delay consumer services or cause
any break in services due to contractual issues. VESID has completed its
review of the UCS applications and is awaiting approval of this very
large package of contracts (approx. 250 new contracts which include
approx. 1,000 programs) from the state's fiscal authorities. Given the
size of the package, it is likely that VESID will not be able to issue
authorizations against the new contracts in order to assure both timely
starts for new referrals and ongoing services which cross over 7/1/05.
VESID is currently developing specific methods to assure the
continuation of services as new contracts are finalized. Both VESID
staff and providers will receive these instructions. This may require
procedures to provide replacement authorizations, under established
VESID internal controls, as necessary to assure that providers are
reimbursed for such services.Meanwhile, current UCS authorizations will
not be extended beyond 6/30/05, however, current providers should assume
that VESID consumers will remain in program and payments will be made
for continued services unless otherwise instructed.
Question: Summer Youth Employment program. Consumers are being referred
for services now, but, in some cases, may not start until after July 1.
Current rates are different that new contract - Will VESID still honor
current rates after July 1, or will the agency be forced to accept the
new rates? Agencies need to know the answer to this before June 1, as
this affects who gets referred and scheduling for hiring Job Coaches for
the Summer.
Response: Current rates cannot be honored after 7/1/05. (Note that many
of them are higher after that date.) See response to #1 regarding
ongoing services.
Question: Job Placement Services - under the current contract, prior to
July 1, an agency has one rate. The new rate, which is broken up into
more discrete milestone payments, would result in agency getting less
for the rehab, which will occur anywhere from 1-90 days into the new
contract year. Will VESID honor the old rate until the service is
completed?
Response: First, it must be noted that most placement rates were not
affected by the new UCS contracts as the RFA specifically stated that
current rates were to remain the same. If there are differences which
cross into the new contract year, that portion of services must be paid
at the new rate which will be in effect as of 7/1/05.
Question: Starting someone in WAT program, will services to these people
have to end if an agency does not have our license as a proprietary
school?
Response: WAT programs are not affected by the licensing requirement.
Perhaps this question relates to former SVT programs that opted to not
seek licensure and shift to WAT status. In those instances, the new WAT
rate will apply as of 7/1/05 and services will continue without impact.
Question: Will new DVE and WAT rates go into effect July 1, 2005?
Response: Yes
Question: An agency was informed that as long as they submitted
Proprietary School proposal to provide Stock/Inventory Training to the
Department of State before June 30th, they could continue to provide the
current SVT Retail Training Program until the new SVT program is
approved because it has a very similar curriculum. Is this correct?
Response: Yes, services will not be interrupted. All BPSS licensed
services purchased by VESID will be funded by a set of contracts
separate from UCS contracts. SVT programs will not be included in the
new UCS contracts. As licenses and rates are approved for these
services, VESID will issue contracts specific to these services. In the
interim, services will be authorized at current rates in order to
maintain services.
Question: Speaking of SVT’s - what is the status of the rates for SVT’s
moving to BPSS? Has the negotiations been completed? Will there still be
caps?
Response: VESID has requested current rates from all current BPSS-licensed
services purchased by VESID. These are due to VESID by late May. VESID
will utilize this data to develop a rate protocol for all BPSS-licensed
programs. This protocol will be applied to both proprietary and
not-for-profit licensed programs.
Question: If an agency has SVT established sites that are at this time
not looking like they will be able to attain a Certificate of Occupancy,
what would you recommend? Will any agencies be “grandfathered in?”
Response: VESID does not make decisions regarding BPSS licensing but
will work with BPSS to minimize the effect upon services.
Question: An agency recently was approved for a Basic Educational Data
System code – does that waive any of the other requirements for BPSS?
Response: VESID cannot answer that question. It should be posed by the
provider directly to BPSS.
Question: If services were on an agency’s current UCS contract and
applied for as instructed by VESID – will they be renewed?
Response: Not necessarily. Providers will not have this information
until they receive their award letters from VESID in response to their
UCS application. However, services will be continued until such notice
is made and new contracts are in place. In (rare) instances where a
current program is not continued, VESID will work with the provider to
assure payments are made for all services provided and to assure that
consumers are appropriately served in alternative services.
Question: Is it VESID’s understanding that if a case is already open for
Supported Employment services and additional hours are needed, then the
new authorization should start the day AFTER the first one ends? Meaning
there should not be an issue of backdating if the case is open?
Response: Ideally, the new authorization should start on the day after
the previous one ends, however, VESID counselors don't always know the
exact date when hours will be used up and will usually overlap
authorization dates whereby the second authorization will have a start
date just prior to the end date of the first authorization.
Question: When will agencies have new contract (UCS and SE) amounts?
Response: For SE Intensive, providers should already know their level of
funding. As VESID described on the SE website, the assumption was made
that, for most contracts, yr. 01 Intensive funding would carry over to
yr 02. VESID did not make decisions for yr 02 funding based upon actual
contract performance except in instances where there was very
substantial over or under performance. In those instances, DOs have
contacted providers and VESID has also notified providers of its intent
to increase a number of Intensive services amounts necessary to meet
consumer needs. Actual contracts for yr 02 for SE will be sent out in
June. For UCS, VESID is awaiting permission from the state's fiscal
authorities to send out award notices and we expect that will be in
early June. See response to question #1 above for more information.
Question: What happens in a situation where an agency has received an
amended contract letter but the actual changed contracts were never
received? Which holds true – letter or actual contract?
Response: The amended SE contracts for the current year are currently
being prepared but have not yet been sent out. Pending approval by the
State Comptroller's Office, we fully expect that the amended/increased
amounts will apply.
Question: How does VESID see Summer employment and summer assessment of
youth to be authorized and funded? Which contract and with what rates?
Response: See response to #2 above.
Question: Has VESID set up a process to inquire/reconcile hours billed
versus hours processed for payment month by month?
Response:, In order to assure that providers are not penalized, VESID is
currently developing a method by which SE providers will be reimbursed
for all appropriately vouchered and documented services. In instances
where individual authorizations and vouchers still require
reconciliation, we will cooperate with providers to do so. New
instructions to simplify this process are currently being developed and
will soon be distributed to district offices and to providers.
Question: Will VESID be honoring the vouchers that all expire 6/30/05 or
does an agency need to request new vouchers before providing services
7/1/05?
Response: Yes, to both questions.
Question: Due to delays of VESID opening MH cases, monies allocated for
this population in present contract have not fully been used – this is
not then a performance issue on the part of the community agency. So, it
is our understanding that VESID will allow these funds to rollover to
contract year 2, correct?
Response: VESID may not roll-over contract funds from either UCS or SE
contracts. The state's fiscal authorities do not permit such a method.
New contract levels are to reflect the needs for that contract period.
Question: City agencies working with more than one borough office
continue to ask what standardization is happening to ensure that their
own staff can provide services in a consistent manner for a consumer?
Response: When all of the new UCS contracts are in place, all VESID
contracts in NYC will be citywide contracts for the first time. In
addition, coordination of all NYC practices is currently an important
VESID effort necessary to assure that reporting, reimbursement and
authorization practices are consistent across the city and consistent
with statewide requirements and practices.
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