§ 275.16 - Corrective action planning.

§ 275.16 Corrective action planning.

(a) Corrective action planning is the process by which State agencies shall determine appropriate actions to reduce substantially or eliminate deficiencies in program operations and provide responsive service to eligible households.

(b) The State agency and project area(s)/management unit(s), as appropriate, shall implement corrective action on all identified deficiencies. Deficiencies requiring action by the State agency or the combined efforts of the State agency and the project area(s)/management unit(s) in the planning, development, and implementation of corrective action are those which:

(1) Result from a payment error rate of 6 percent or greater (actions to correct errors in individual cases, however, shall not be submitted as part of the State agency's corrective action plan);

(2) Are the causes of other errors/deficiencies detected through quality control, including error rates of 1 percent or more in negative cases (actions to correct errors in individual cases, however, shall not be submitted as part of the State agency's corrective action plan);

(3) Are identified by FNS reviews, GAO audits, contract audits, reports to FNS regarding the implementation of major changes (as discussed in § 272.15) or USDA audits or investigations at the State agency or project area level (except deficiencies in isolated cases as indicated by FNS); and,

(4) Result from 5 percent or more of the State agency's QC sample being coded “not complete” as defined in § 275.12(g)(1) of this part. This standard shall apply separately to both active and negative samples.

(5) Result in underissuances, improper denials, improper suspensions, improper termination, or improper systemic suspension of benefits to eligible households where such errors are caused by State agency rules, practices, or procedures.

(c) The State agency shall ensure that appropriate corrective action is taken on all deficiencies including each case found to be in error by quality control reviews and those deficiencies requiring corrective action only at the project area level. Moreover, when a substantial number of deficiencies are identified which require State agency level and/or project area/management unit corrective action, the State agency and/or project area/management unit shall establish an order of priority to ensure that the most serious deficiencies are addressed immediately and corrected as soon as possible. Primary factors to be considered when determining the most serious deficiencies are:

(1) Magnitude of the deficiency as defined in § 275.15(c)(3) of this part;

(2) Geographic extent of the deficiency (e.g., Statewide/project area or management unit);

(3) Anticipated results of corrective actions; and

(4) High probability of errors occurring as identified through all management evaluation sources.

(d) In planning corrective action, the State agency shall coordinate actions in the areas of data analysis, policy development, quality control, program evaluation, operations, administrative cost management, civil rights, and training to develop appropriate and effective corrective action measures.

[Amdt. 160, 45 FR 15909, Mar. 11, 1980, as amended by Amdt. 169, 46 FR 7263, Jan. 23, 1981; Amdt. 262, 49 FR 50598, Dec. 31, 1984; Amdt. 266, 52 FR 3409, Feb. 4, 1987; Amdt. 328, 56 FR 60052, Nov. 27, 1991; 68 FR 59523, Oct. 16, 2003; 75 FR 33438, June 11, 2010; 81 FR 2741, Jan. 19, 2016]