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2020 Session

Budget Bill - HB29 (Reenrolled)

Department of Social Services

Item 348

Item 348

First Year - FY2019Second Year - FY2020
Administrative and Support Services (49900)$113,072,876$115,794,025
$122,317,070
General Management and Direction (49901)FY2019 $4,515,894FY2020 $3,529,872
$5,022,773
Information Technology Services (49902)FY2019 $84,987,828FY2020 $88,694,999
$91,337,685
Accounting and Budgeting Services (49903)FY2019 $9,732,964FY2020 $9,732,964
Human Resources Services (49914)FY2019 $5,318,017FY2020 $5,318,017
$5,491,067
Planning and Evaluation Services (49916)FY2019 $2,972,427FY2020 $2,972,427
$3,969,605
Procurement and Distribution Services (49918)FY2019 $3,104,631FY2020 $3,104,631
$3,775,563
Public Information Services (49919)FY2019 $2,211,522FY2020 $2,211,522
$2,611,522
Financial and Operational Audits (49929)FY2019 $229,593FY2020 $229,593
$375,891
Fund Sources:  
GeneralFY2019 $43,881,794FY2020 $43,881,794
$45,727,138
SpecialFY2019 $175,000FY2020 $175,000
Dedicated Special RevenueFY2019 $1,265,778FY2020 $1,050,000
Federal TrustFY2019 $67,750,304FY2020 $70,687,231
$75,364,932

Authority: Title 63.2, Chapter 1; § 2.2-4000 et seq., Code of Virginia; P.L. 98-502, P.L. 104-156, P.L. 104-193, P.L. 104-327, P.L. 105-33, as amended, P.L. 105-89, Federal Code; Titles IV-A, IV-B, IV-D, IV-E, XIX, XX, XXI of the federal Social Security Act, as amended.


A. The Department of Social Services shall require localities to report all expenditures on designated social services, regardless of reimbursement from state and federal sources. The Department of Social Services is authorized to include eligible costs in its claim for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Maintenance of Effort requirements.


B. It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Commissioner, Department of Social Services shall work with localities that seek to voluntarily merge and consolidate their respective local departments of social services. No funds appropriated under this act shall be used to require a locality to merge or consolidate local departments of social services.


C.1. Out of this appropriation, $473,844 the first year and $473,844 the second year from the general fund and $781,791 the first year and $781,791 the second year from nongeneral funds shall be provided to support the statewide 2-1-1 Information and Referral System which provides resource and referral information on many of the specialized health and human resource services available in the Commonwealth, including child day care availability and providers in localities throughout the state, and publish consumer-oriented materials for those interested in learning the location of child day care providers.


2. The Department of Social Services shall request that all state and local child-serving agencies within the Commonwealth be included in the Virginia Statewide Information and Referral System as well as any agency or entity that receives state general fund dollars and provides services to families and youth. The Secretary of Health and Human Resources, the Secretary of Education and Workforce, and the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security shall assist in this effort by requesting all affected agencies within their secretariats to submit information to the statewide Information and Referral System and ensure that such information is accurate and updated annually. Agencies shall also notify the Virginia Information and Referral System of any changes in services that may occur throughout the year.


3. The Department of Social Services shall communicate with child-serving agencies within the Commonwealth about the availability of the statewide Information and Referral System. This information shall also be communicated via the Department of Social Services' broadcast system on their agency-wide Intranet so that all local and regional offices can be better informed about the Statewide Information and Referral System. Information on the Statewide Information and Referral System shall also be included within the department's electronic mailings to all local and regional offices at least biannually.


D.1. Within 30 days of awarding or amending any contract related to the Virginia Case Management System (VaCMS), the Department of Social Services (DSS) shall provide the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees, and Director, Department of Planning and Budget with a copy of the contract, including any fiscal implications.


2. Prior to the award of any contract that will potentially obligate the Commonwealth to future unappropriated spending, the department shall receive prior written concurrence from Director, Department of Planning and Budget. Any approved increases in funding requests shall be reported by DSS to the Chairmen of House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees within 30 days.


E.1. The Department of Social Services shall provide to the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees a report on the implementation of the Asset Verification Service that is part of the Eligibility Modernization Project on or before September 1, 2016. It is the intent of the General Assembly to encourage financial institutions with branches in Virginia to work collaboratively with the department and its vendor in order to maximize participation in the Asset Verification Service program.


2. The Department shall also develop a plan and submit it to the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees to incorporate searchable national real estate records as part of the Asset Verification Service program as soon as the data are available.


F. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Department of Social Services (DSS) shall have temporary authority to make any changes to relevant State Plans, request waivers from applicable federal agencies, change eligibility criteria for benefits and services, and payment levels for applicable programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and new authorities and funding made available by the federal government to effect those policies necessary to ensure that benefits are available to eligible populations in response to COVID-19. Prior to the implementation of any change, DSS must receive written approval from the Governor.  Within 15 days of implementing changes in response to COVID-19, DSS shall send a list of such actions to the Director, Department of Planning and Budget and the Chairs of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees.  The provisions of this paragraph, as well as any actions implemented under its authority, shall be in accordance with the Governor’s emergency declaration for COVID-19 and be in effect for the period specified therein.