Agencies providing Early Intervention under Mutually Agreed upon Written Arrangements (MAWAs) in Pennsylvania participate in the School Based ACCESS Program (SBAP) and receive reimbursements from the federal Medicaid School Based ACCESS Program for direct health-related services.  These reimbursements are kept in specific accounts for the agency’s preschool program at the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE).

Participation in the School Based ACCESS Program is a requirement for agencies serving eligible young children. The reimbursements will be used to support the core of their Early Intervention program. Agencies are to work with the Pennsylvania Department of Education to plan and budget for their reimbursement as part of their total Early Intervention program. The anticipated revenue should be identified as “Revenue” in the agency’s Early Intervention budget, and therefore, services supported by that revenue, included in the overall State Early Intervention budget.

A balance of accumulated reimbursement/funds may be carried over from year to year, or to address emergencies or unique needs.  The following outlines the procedures and requirements for the draw down process and balances.

Funds are deposited into the accounts as follows:

1)  PDE’s vendor Leader Service submits claims to DPW.  Claims are followed to ascertain if they are approved, pended or rejected.  The agency receives a Monthly Management Report from Leader containing MA payment information.

2)   Payment for approved claims is sent to PDE and resides in the SBAP provider’s restricted account.

3)   It is the responsibility of the agency to maintain records of the claims that have been submitted for early intervention so they can determine how much money to expect in reimbursement for this program.  Leader Services, PDEs vendor will keep track of the separate EI claims and produce reports upon request by PDE or each individual agency.

Funds are withdrawn pursuant to the following procedures:

4)   To receive these funds, each agency must complete and submit form PDE-352M  to the Bureau of Special Education (BSE) along with a budget summary explaining how the funds will defray the costs of their EI core program and an explanation of the purpose of the expenditure by object code.

5)   The chief administrative officer of the agency must sign form PDE-352M.

6)   Once the funds have been approved by the BSE for disbursement, the PDE-352M is sent to the Comptroller’s Office for processing.  As per the Comptroller’s office, funds are transferred to the agency’s local bank account approximately two months after the request is received by BSE.

7)   Agencies should not carry a balance of more than 25% of their previous year’s accumulated balance. The unencumbered balance cannot be greater than the previous year’s earnings.

8)   If possible, the agency should bundle several small requests and submit on one form. It is more cost effective to process two or three large requests per year per agency than ten or twelve small requests.  As per the Comptroller’s Office, requests that are under $1,000.00 will not be processed.

9)   Agencies are required to withdraw funds at a minimum of two times per year; and initiate withdraws at (3 months and 6 months into fiscal year).  This will not eliminate the ability of the agency for more frequent draw downs.

Reporting:

10)  Each agency will be required to file an annual expenditure report, regarding the use of these funds, no later than 90 days following the end of the fiscal year.  The report will designate expenditures for EI.  If there have been changes in planned EI expenditures, it will impact further EI allocations.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please contact Trema Bender at (717) 772-1114 or Thomas Seben at (717) 787-5745.

PDE-352M (XLS) (MAWA Agencies Only)