10-148-5 Me. Code R. § I
Chapter 1473, Title 22 of the Maine Revised Statutes, Sections 5308 through 5310 designates responsibilities to the Office for federal and state funded social services, except those specified for the elderly. This statute includes a mandate that the Office..."prepare, adopt, and administer policies, priorities, procedures, rules, and regulations to govern its affairs and the development and operation of programs and activities and to define contractual terms, conditions of agreements, quality of performance standards and such other rules as are necessary".
In the conduct of its mandate, the Office of Child and Family Services has developed a service delivery system through which a wide range of social serviced are provided by Department of Health and Human Services regional direct service staff and through a variety of community-based social service agencies. The social services delivered by Departmental regional office staff are regulated by state personnel and program-specific laws and policies. Services purchased from community agencies are governed by the policies contained in this manual, and any subsequent policies and directives issued by the Office of Child and Family Services.
Under Title XX of the Social Security Act enacted in 1975, State administration of the Title XX program was regulated through Chapter 45, Part 228 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Passage of the 1981 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, which created the Title XX Social Services Block Grant, repealed these regulations and replaced them with Chapter 45, Parts 16 and 96 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The new federal regulations contain few specific standards of conduct to be used in the administration of Block Grant funds.
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services chose to retain the standards from the original Title XX program until such time as a thorough analysis of the applicability of the standards was completed, and State policies established to replace them. The guiding principle in the analysis and subsequent policy development was to assure that sound, reasonable management practices are used in the execution of the Department's administrative responsibilities.
The Office of Child and Family Services has developed the policies in this manual to ensure reasonable standards of conduct in the purchase and administration of services supported by federal and state funds under its jurisdiction.
The policies contained herein will govern all contracts, administrative support and/or service-related grants for the purchase of service from community agencies pursuant to federal and state statutes including the Title XX Social Service Block Grant. All policies contained herein apply to all Office of Child and Family Services contracts, administrative support and/or service-related grants, unless otherwise specifically-noted. A companion Purchase of Service Procedures Manual, developed through work with provider organization representatives, will govern the processes and methods used to operational these policies.
The format of this manual is designed to conform with the State of Maine Administrative Procedure Act, 5 MRSA, §8001 - 11008, as amended. Each distinct part of this manual will be found under a "Section", further broken into "Subsections" and "page" under the APA referencing procedure. All future substantive policy changes or revisions will be issued only after a formal policy notice, in accord with the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act.
MANUAL UPDATE STANDARDS:
10-148 C.M.R. ch. 5, § I