Early Learning Scholarship Payment Policy and ELSA Payment Overview

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Angela Atkinson
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1 Leading for educational excellence and equity. Every day for every one. Early Learning Scholarship Payment Policy and ELSA Payment Overview for Regional Administrators (RAs) Kendra Lewis Early Learning Data Coordinator L ast Update d: 3/3/2017

Presentation Topics Slide # ELSA Payments: General Info. 3 Roles & Responsibilities.. 4-5 Invoicing Details... 6-8 Payment Requests.

2 Presentation Topics Slide # ELSA Payments: General Info. 3 Roles & Responsibilities Invoicing Details Payment Requests Scholarship Renewals Billing Errors Be Aware SSID Numbers Attendance Payment Pipelines & Statuses Payments: Misc Available Reports FAQ & Training

3 ELSA Payments since July 1 st, 2016 (Fiscal Year 2017) Funds are paid through the Early Learning Scholarship Administration system (ELSA) Head Starts and School Districts request Pathway II (PW-II) reimbursements directly in ELSA Child Care Pathway II and all Pathway I (PW-I) programs request payment through the RA RAs enter invoices into ELSA to validate each payment request [funds available, SSID assigned, etc.] --> This should eliminate the need to use internal systems. RAs request reimbursement for administrative costs through ELSA 3

4 Access Roles in ELSA Regional Scholarship Administrator [RA]: Initiates the payment request to MDE (enters program invoice information to create the payment request) Payment Approver (New FY2017): Reviews and then finalizes initiated payment requests, which submits the request to MDE Must not be the same person as the RA/SA 4

5 Access Roles in ELSA continued Payment Approver selection considerations: Suggested: Business Office staff, Finance staff, or a Supervisor The Payment Approver will see the total amount paid by Region, Pathway Type, and Program Name. This information may be used in the organization s finance system for the purposes of funds management, to pay Child Care programs or Pathway-I programs. This individual will be required to attest to the accuracy of the payment request before submission of the request. 5

6 Invoicing Details Programs must invoice on a monthly basis, at minimum. - If the RA s schedule allows, programs may invoice twice a month. Invoices must match the service periods in ELSA: Two per month: 1 st 15 th and 16 th 31 st OR Monthly: 1st 31 st --> Note: Submit monthly billing under the last service period of the month. (final date of the month to be adjusted as necessary) 6

7 Invoicing Details continued Rates - To determine billing rates, programs should use one of the following methods: A. Identify daily rates and bill for the number of scheduled attendance days within the service period. --> Note: A program with weekly or monthly rates may determine their daily rates by dividing that amount by the number of service days. OR B. For a set award, divide the amount by the number of months the program expects to serve the child. 7

8 Invoicing Details continued Program Detail fields related to billing (Child Award page): Base Tuition Amount Scheduled Attend Days Scheduled Attend Hours Expansion and/or Enhancement* CCAP Payment* CCAP ID* *to be used as applicable When creating a Payment Request, the following field entries will be pulled into the form: Base Tuition Amount - CCAP Payment - Scheduled Attend Days --> Note: These fields are editable on the invoice form. 8

9 Payment Requests The submission window for payment requests is 3.5 months (105 days) from the end date of a service period. --> Note: Various corrections may be made during this time period. ELSA flags all payment requests after the first one that is submitted for that service period. --> Note: This is not particular to submissions for each program. Since RAs will submit payments for multiple programs per service period, you will see this often. 9

10 Payment Requests: Renewals If a child s award will renew in the middle of a service period, the billing amount must be split between two fiscal years. Information icon The child list shown while building a payment request will display an i icon after the name of any child whose award will renew sometime during the month of your selected service period. The child will be listed twice in the service period in which their award renews --> Note: ELSA is unable to distinguish renewals from original awards, so some icons may indicate a renewal when it is really a first award. 10

11 Payment Requests: Billing Errors Corrections are for underpayments only. Submit another invoice with the additional funds for the same service period. Overpayments are handled in one of the following ways, depending upon the situation: A. Adjustments to future payment requests B. Outside of ELSA - After funds are returned to MDE, the child and program expended totals are updated by MDE staff. --> Note: Contact MDE as soon as billing errors are discovered MDE.ELSA@state.mn.us 11

12 Be Aware More than 105 days out from the end date of a service period, finalizing payment requests will not be available through ELSA. - Expectations are that all PW-I and PW-II programs will bill monthly. Adjustments cannot be made to payment requests after 105 days. Payment requests that have been initiated but not yet finalized will fall off the Payment Approver s viewing list after 180 days. The Held status will display for payment requests initiated after the 105-day submission window. --> Note: If there is adequate justification, MDE may release the hold on payment. 12

13 The Importance of SSID Numbers An SSID number must be assigned to the child record in ELSA in order to be eligible for payment. Children without an assigned SSID number are visible on your main Award List, but they will not be listed on the Eligible Child list when creating a payment request. SSID Maintainer/MARSS Coordinator in the child s resident school district completes the SSID number assignment in ELSA. MDE will monitor SSID assignment in FY2017 and followup with school districts as necessary to minimize payment impact. 13

14 Attendance: Data needed! Attendance data is just as important as financial data. Attendance data must be entered, even if funds are not being requested. - E.g. If CCAP covers all of the charges for a service period, but the child is still participating in the scholarship program, enter attendance. --> Note: Every service period will have a different number of business days, so review attendance data carefully. DO NOT pay the program invoice if: it does not include attendance data. the attendance data is clearly inaccurate. 14

15 Attendance: RA Focus Reviews of invoice forms have shown program confusion related to submitting attendance data. Some programs have had perfect attendance for all children. Some programs have children with 60+ absences It is the RA s responsibility to review attendance data and ensure quality data collection. Per scholarship policy, follow-up is expected when attendance data appears inaccurate. a child has 10 consecutive absences. See the Payment History Report in ELSA to review attendance. 15

16 Payment Pipeline: Award Funds Payment request initiated in ELSA ELSA access role: Regional Scholarship Administrator Payment request reviewed, then finalized ELSA access role: Payment Approver MDE receives the request and processes the payment > Payment completed Questions? Contact: Sandra.Myers@state.mn.us Time Notes o Finalized by Monday at 4:00pm sent to SWIFT for payment o Wednesday afternoon status Complete for most paid requests 16

17 Payment Pipeline: Administrative Funds Payment request initiated in ELSA ELSA access role: Regional Scholarship Administrator RA notifies MDE (by ); MDE reviews the request, then notifies the RA when they may finalize in ELSA RA Coordinator contact: Elizabeth.Stephens@state.mn.us Payment request reviewed, then finalized in ELSA ELSA access role: Payment Approver MDE receives the request and processes the payment > Payment completed Questions? Contact: Sandra.Myers@state.mn.us 17

18 Payment Status The Payment Status page allows you to view all payment requests that have been initiated. Open: the payment request has been created by the RA RA: edit / view / delete Payment Approver: view / finalize In Progress: the request has been created by the RA and finalized by the Payment Approver Complete: the payment has been made to the organization Held: the payment request was not finalized by the Payment Approver within the submission window (105 days) --> Contact MDE staff: MDE.ELSA@state.mn.us 18

19 Logged In: Payment Approvers The Payment Approver has access to the Payment Status screen only. What can the Payment Approver do in ELSA? I. View and finalize initiated payment requests II. View submitted payment requests, including the dates submitted and completed III. View Held payment requests (submitted outside of the 105-day window) 19

20 Viewing Payment Requests All payment requests Can be seen by both RAs and Payment Approvers in ELSA. Include totals by Region, Fiscal Year, and Pathway Type. --> Use this in your internal finance system for payments out to PW-I programs and PW-II child care programs. 20

21 Notes on Payment Requests Children who change programs will be listed under both programs during the service period of the change. Children who change sites within a program will be listed under both sites once the site change is made. Admin requests and programs that bill monthly are entered in the last service period of the month. To validate your data in ELSA: Be aware of the conditions that cause children on the child selection page to not be included in your invoice. SSID number not assigned No active award (not saved, no funds, outside of the of valid time) Program/site not selected 21

22 Available Reports for RAs Demographics - summary demographics of parents and children receiving early learning scholarships Includes: Eligibility Reason, Employment Status, Race, Ethnicity, Age, Gender, Screened Status Programs with Scholarships - list of programs receiving early learning scholarships HTML version: drill into the number of children in each pathway at the site level to get a list (Student Report) Invoice Report - lists all children receiving early learning scholarships Includes: Program, site, child name and DOB, parent name, resident school district, and award details (amount, status, etc.) 22

23 Available Reports for RAs continued Fiscal Allocation - provides an overview of obligated and expended funds against the fiscal allocations NEW [3.3.17] - HTML version: Child Level Fiscal Review: Pathway I and Pathway II funding type labels will link down this report level; Child Name links to further details, if that child has payment history Obligated funds (visible Reserved for Renewal); Admin Expended t.d. Program Payment History - lists all invoices submitted for a program and the status of the invoice. HTML version: option to drill into the invoice details (meaning you can get deeper details on that program, service period, or other by clicking on that detail s link) Administrative Funds Report - Coming in

24 FAQ Answers Award page: The Expended Amount updates once the service period s payment request has been saved. --> The update is not held until after the approval and/or submission of the payment request. Payment Request: Children listed in gold, who cannot be selected on the site-level View Children list do not have SSID numbers assigned in ELSA. --> See slide #13 The Importance of SSID Numbers Payment Request: A child is not listed on the site-level View Children list The Award does not indicate the child attended the selected program during the selected service period. 24

25 FAQ Answers continued Payment Request: A program/site is not listed No child awards indicate children attending that program/site during the selected time frame. Information icon: this is an indicator tied to award renewal that will sometimes display on the site-level View Children list --> See slide #10 Payment Requests: Renewals 25

26 ELSA System Training & Resources ELSA homepage - bulletins & system entry link: Early Learning Scholarship Administration System (ELSA) Early Learning Scholarship Wiki Early Learning Scholarships Wiki See Data Submissions tab ELSA Manual Data Entry Guide for RA/SA and SSID Maintainer Webinar Schedule questions to: MDE.ELSA@state.mn.us 26

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Invoice with BillPay

Invoice with BillPay Index- Introduction BackOffice 2 Contact BillPay 1. Login 2. Order search and overview 3. Activating the order 4. Move Payment due date 5. Apply a discount 6. Partial cancellation