[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 91 (Wednesday, May 11, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29270-29271]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-11108]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Community Living


New Funding Formula

AGENCIES: Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities 
(AIDD), Administration on Disabilities (AoD), Administration for 
Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Administration on Intellectual and Developmental 
Disabilities (AIDD) within the Administration on Disabilities (AoD), 
located within the Administration for Community Living (ACL) at the 
United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has 
developed a new funding formula for the State Councils on Developmental 
Disabilities (SCDD) and Protection and Advocacy Systems (P&A) located 
in each State and Territory.

DATES: Effective Date October 1, 2016.

ADDRESSES: The new formula is printed below and the estimated 
allotments for FY 2017 for each SCDD and P&A can be found at: http://www.acl.gov/About_ACL/Allocations/DD-Act.aspx.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Morris, Office of the 
Commissioner, Administration on Disabilities, 330 C St. SW., 
Washington, DC 20201. Telephone (202) 795-7408. Email 
[email protected]. Please note the telephone number is not toll 
free. This document will be made available in alternative formats upon 
request. Written correspondence can be sent to Administration for 
Community Living, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 330 C 
St. SW., Washington, DC 20201.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 
2000 (Pub. L. 106-402) provides, among other things, formula grants to 
States for the purpose of operating State Councils on Developmental 
Disabilities and Protection & Advocacy Systems for people with 
developmental disabilities. The Developmental Disabilities Assistance 
and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (DD Act) provides authority and 
flexibility in Section 122 to determine the formula for distributing 
the annual grant awards as long as the three statutory factors are met. 
These factors are:

    1. Total population of the State/Territory
    2. Need for services for people with developmental disabilities in 
the State/Territory
    3. Financial need of the State/Territory

Responding to years of requests for a modernized funding formula and 
after a

[[Page 29271]]

comprehensive development process, AIDD published a notice in the 
Federal Register on February 18, 2016 seeking comments on a new funding 
formula (81 FR 8204). AIDD has reviewed the comments submitted and is 
moving forward with the proposed formula. AIDD believes that this 
formula is clear, concise, transparent, and consistent with Congress' 
intent to provide funds to States based on greatest need. For the P&A 
program, in response to the comments received, AIDD will adopt this new 
formula over a three year period.
    For complete details on methodology and development of the new 
formula please see the Federal Register, February 18, 2016, Vol 81, 
Number 32, Pages 8204-8205.

New Formula

    Beginning in FY 2017, AIDD will use a new formula to distribute 
funds to SCDD and P&A programs after meeting statutory minimums and 
hold-harmless requirements for the SCDD. Funding will be allocated to 
States and Territories based on the following criteria:
    1. State/Territory Population (30%): Based on July Census figures 
released in August of each year.
    2. Need for services (30%): Based on a 1.58 percent prevalence rate 
for developmental disabilities in each State and Territory from the HHS 
National Health Interview Survey on Disability (NHIS-D).
    3. Financial need (40%): Based on a combination of poverty (20%) 
and seasonally adjusted unemployment rates (20%) from July of each 
calendar year.

New Formula Phase-In

    In their comments to AIDD, numerous P&A programs requested to phase 
in the new formula as a way of offsetting losses some grantees would 
experience if AIDD were to begin using the new formula immediately in 
FY 2017. AIDD concurs with this requested approach, and the new formula 
will be phased in for the P&A programs only with funds allotted in the 
following manner:

FY 2017: 75 percent previous formula and 25 percent new formula
FY 2018: 50 percent previous formula and 50 percent new formula
FY 2019: 100 percent new formula

The new formula will be in full effect for the SCDD programs on October 
1, 2016. SCDDs will likely not experience significant fluctuations in 
their annual allotment due to that program's hold-harmless requirement.

Response to Public Comments

General

    AIDD received 75 comments related to the new formula including 39 
comments from SCDDs and 18 from P&As. AIDD also received 18 comments 
from other entities including non-profits and State agencies. Comments 
were received on each of the three required formula factors and 
weighting of the factors. Comments on the new formula were generally 
favorable and supportive. Commenters acknowledged that the current 
formula is more than 35 years old and uses data sources that do not 
adequately take into account the needs of people with developmental 
disabilities. Generally, they found the new formula to be more 
transparent and easier to understand. Comments also reinforced the need 
for the new formula in order to ease the administrative burden on ACL. 
Commenters pointed out that the previous formula used the per capita 
income rate which was an inadequate way to measure financial need and 
AIDD concurs with this comment. Several commenters stated that the 
current minimum allotments are inadequate; however these minimum 
allotments are set in statute and therefore not subject to change by 
AIDD.

Population

    Some commenters requested that population have a higher weight in 
the formula. AIDD declined to raise the weighting as doing so could 
cause larger swings in the formula year-to-year and thereby make it 
more difficult for States to plan for their operating needs. Some 
commenters asked for the population of people with developmental 
disabilities to be considered rather than the total population. 
However, the DD Act requires that the entire State population must be 
taken into consideration.

Need for Services

    As the formula workgroup and AIDD determined, the most clear and 
concise way to determine the need for services was to use the most 
current federal data for prevalence of people with developmental 
disabilities. Some commenters asked that AIDD use the Centers for 
Disease Control (CDC) prevalence rates for people with developmental 
disabilities, however, CDC's definition of developmental disabilities 
does not match AIDD's statutory definition.
    Several commenters asked for different data to be used to determine 
the need for services in each State and Territory. There were varied 
opinions and suggestions, but none were clearly stronger than the 
sources proposed by AIDD.
    Commenters also asked for the use of prevalence rates by State. 
That data is not currently available. AIDD is working with its federal 
partners to identify future opportunities to better understand the 
prevalence of developmental disabilities.

Financial Need

    AIDD and the formula workgroup weighted financial need at 40 
percent, with 20 percent based on State/Territory poverty levels and 20 
percent based on seasonally adjusted unemployment data from July of 
each year. The workgroup felt that these measures were the best 
economic indicators to measure a State's financial need.
    Several commenters asked for additional measures such as cost of 
living adjustments, workforce participation rates, and supplemental 
measures of poverty. HHS data experts stated that these data were not 
as reliable as the ones proposed and that the use of any of these data, 
including workforce participation rates, would not make a significant 
difference in the distribution of funds. Further, use of several of the 
proposed data would make the formula more complicated. Other commenters 
stated the need to use different data sources but did not give 
alternatives as was requested in the request for public comments. 
Therefore, AIDD concluded that there was no compelling reason to change 
data used for financial need.

    Dated: May 5, 2016.
Jennifer Johnson,
Deputy Director, Administration on Intellectual and Developmental 
Disabilities.
[FR Doc. 2016-11108 Filed 5-10-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4154-04-P