IM/CC RMS Employee Count Report and Cost Pool Report The county agency that administers the Income Maintenance (IM)/Child Care (CC) programs must submit the following reports via DCF’s System for Payments and Reports of Contracts (SPARC): Quarterly: Employee Count Report Monthly: Cost Pool Informational Reporting for Federal Claiming SPARC code 4076: Agency Management, Support, and Overhead (AMSO) Cost Pool - All Programs Shared SPARC code 4320: IM/CC Cost Pool When the term “agency” is used herein, it refers to the Human Services or Social Services agency that administers the IM and/or Child Care programs. Why submit these reports? DCF and DHS use the employee counts provided to distribute that agency’s overhead costs, also known as Agency Management, Support, and Overhead (AMSO). This system will allocate a portion of the reported AMSO to the IM/CC functional area, adding it to the shared IM/CC costs reported. Quarterly statistics generated from observation responses will then be applied to the shared IM/CC costs. The resulting RMS Cost Allocation Report is used by DCF and DHS for federal claiming related to IM/CC activities. Neither the Employee County Report nor the Cost Pool Report are used to reimburse counties. The information provided enables federal claiming. For more information about accessing and reporting via SPARC, visit the SPARC Home web page. AMSO/Cost Pool Report AMSO costs are costs incurred for common or joint purposes that cannot be specifically identified to a particular program but are applicable to all programs. AMSO costs are reported monthly on the Cost Pool Informational Reporting for Federal Claiming Line Code 4076 via SPARC. AMSO are costs that support agency operations and may include your agency’s share of the county indirect costs, the director’s salary, finance and payroll staff and related costs, department-wide receptionist and clerical staff and related costs, and all other overhead costs for your agency. For more details visit the County Cost Pool SPARC Codes web page. Who is included in the Employee Count Report? All employees in your “agency” as defined above (the Human Services or Social Services agency that administers the IM and/or Child Care programs). The Employee Count you report here is specifically used to allocate the AMSO costs that your county reports. As each county is structured differently, it is important that AMSO costs and Employee Counts are in alignment. It is appropriate to use “point in time” information when determining employee counts, based on the 15th of the second month in the quarter. If the total reported number does not agree with county personnel records, be sure to prepare a reconciliation explaining the difference(s). Maintain the reconciliation on file for audit purposes. DCF/DHS established the list of functional areas on the report as follows: All Programs Shared IM/CC Social Services Human Services 51 Board Aging Child Support County Operated Nursing Facility Program administration staff only County Operated Children’s Home Program administration staff only All Other For dedicated staff and categories not listed Total Employees Should agree with personnel records or a reconciliation should be prepared to show the difference for audit purposes Should accurately reflect the total workers in the “agency” your county identifies AMSO costs will be allocated across Report personnel that support the entire agency in the “All Programs Shared” functional area. Examples would be accounting staff that work for the entire agency, the agency director, a main receptionist that answers phone calls for all functional areas, etc. Salaries related to these staff are included in the AMSO cost pool on the Cost Pool Informational Reporting for Federal Claiming. The number of employees reported in the “All Programs Shared” functional area are not used in the AMSO distribution but are recorded so the number of employees reported reconciles with county personnel records. Only program administration staff should be used for the AMSO distribution to a “County Operated Children’s Home” and “County Operated Nursing Facility.” Generally, a person is included as a count of one in a functional area regardless of whether they are considered full time or part time. For example, if your AMSO includes building costs, utilities, payroll costs, and other costs that apply equally to full or part time staff, each position should have the same amount of AMSO attributed to the position. It is important to analyze the costs that are included in your AMSO to determine if this methodology appropriately distributes AMSO to each functional area. More Information About Employee Types This section covers different types of employees and positions. Employees who don’t have an office or don’t utilize the same amount of AMSO If you have staff that do not have an office and do not utilize the same amount of AMSO as typical staff, it is appropriate to count these staff in a different manner. For example, if you have four drivers that work 10 hours a week each, these individuals can be counted as one in the employee count. Be sure to document how you determined the count for these situations. Another example is if you have two staff that job share and you provide only one phone line, one desk, etc., these two employees can be counted as one on the employee count report. Leased or Contracted Employees Leased or contract employee(s) are included in employee count if the contracted employee(s) serves the same function as county employee, has permanent space at the county agency, is listed on county rosters, has a telephone and e-mail address through the county, and reports directly to a county employee. The costs of the contracted employee(s) are to be included in the appropriate cost pool as other county employees who provide the same functions. The contracted employee is included in the IM/CC employee roster, as appropriate. Limited Term Employees Limited Term Employees (LTE) are included in the employee count for a functional area if the LTE serves the same function as county employees, has working space at the county agency, is listed on county rosters, has a telephone and e-mail address through the county, and reports directly to a county supervisor. For all purposes, the individual would be a county employee if the agency had not determined that services are only needed on an LTE basis. The cost of the LTE(s) is to be included in the appropriate cost pool as if the LTE were an agency employee. The LTE is included in the IM/CC employee roster, as appropriate. Vacant Positions Vacant positions are included in the employee count if they are in the agency budget and there is intention to fill the position during the quarter. Positions that will not be filled are not included in the employee count unless the majority of AMSO costs relate to building costs, utilities, and other costs that the vacant position is utilizing. Supervisors with Multiple Program Areas If you have supervisors that work in more than one functional area, it is appropriate to determine a partial count for the functional areas. The percentage split must be based on the number of staff in each area that they supervise. For example, if you have a supervisor that supervises two staff in the social services area and six staff in the IM/CC area, the split would be 25% in the social services area and 75% in the IM/CC area. In cases such as these, you must also charge related costs based on the documented percentages. Twenty-five percent of this person’s salary should be recorded with your social services costs and 75% of their salary costs should be included in the IM/CC cost pool. Consistent Treatment of Costs Allocation of AMSO Only program administration staff will be used for the AMSO distribution to a “County Operated Children’s Home”, “County Operated Nursing Facility” and any other similar situation where an allocation based on direct service workers would disproportionately allocate AMSO to this functional area. If your county operates such a facility, it is important to analyze your AMSO costs to decide if administration or all staff should be used to allocate AMSO to ensure that the proper amount of AMSO is allocated to the facility. In general, if some building costs are included in AMSO, all building costs must be included to ensure consistent treatment of costs. For example, building costs of the agency are included in AMSO. However, the county operated facility is separate in all respects except that the facility administrator reports to the director of the agency and has an office in your agency building. In this case, it would be equitable to allocate the agency AMSO based on a count of the administration staff of the facility located in your agency building. This administration count will properly allocate AMSO to the one position that is utilizing the agency building, the director’s time, and other overhead at the agency. However, if the agency AMSO includes all overhead including the facility building costs and other indirect costs such as utilities, supplies, etc., all staff for the facility should be reported and used to allocate the AMSO costs. If this is the case, do not separate the administration and direct staff on the Employee Counts Report and include the total of all employees in the Administration category to ensure that AMSO is properly allocated.
