ACF-696T—a Financial Reporting Form for Tribal CCDF Lead Agencies

Program Instructions

1. Log No: CCDF-ACF-PI-2023-05
2. Issuance Date: Sept. 27, 2023
3. Originating Office: Office of Child Care
4. Key Words:  Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF); ACF-696T; Financial Reporting Form for Indian Tribes

To

Tribal Lead Agencies administering child care programs under the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 1990, as amended and other interested parties.

Subject

Form ACF-696T—a Financial Reporting Form for Tribal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Lead Agencies.

This PI does not apply to Tribes that have consolidated their CCDF program into an approved Public Law 102-477 Plan under the Indian Employment, Training, and Related Services Demonstration Act.

References

The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. § 9857 et seq.); Section 418 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 618); 45 CFR Parts 98 and 99; the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136); the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act (Pub. L. 116-260); and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act (Pub. L. 117-2).

Purpose

This Program Instruction is a reminder of the ACF-696T Financial Reporting Form for the Tribal Lead Agencies.  The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the Form ACF-696T under OMB 0970-0510.

Background

Attached is a copy of the Tribal Child Care and Development Fund Financial Report (ACF-696T). regulations at 45 CFR 98.65(i) require Tribal Lead Agencies to submit financial reports annually as specified by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). Tribal Lead Agencies are required to use the ACF-696T to report expenditures for the Tribal Mandatory, Discretionary, supplementals (CARES, CRRSA, ARP), and construction and renovation funds issued under CCDF. OCC uses the ACF-696T to determine compliance with these spending requirements set forth in 45 CFR Part 98, Subpart H.
 
Spending Requirements: Tribal Lead Agencies must meet quality spending requirements. For funds awarded since Grant Year (GY) 2020, all Tribal Lead Agencies, regardless of allocation amount, must spend at least 9% of expenditures (line 12) on general quality activities (line 7).

Tribal Lead Agencies with medium or large allocations ($250,000 or more based on GY 2016 allocations) must spend an additional 3% of expenditures (line 12) on quality improvement activities for infants and toddlers (line 8) (in addition to the quality spending requirement mentioned above).

Tribal Lead Agencies may not spend more than 15% of their expenditures (line 12) on administrative activities (line 5). 

Obligation and Liquidation: Tribal CCDF funds awarded in GY 2023 must be obligated by September 30, 2024 and liquidated by September 30, 2025 (or later if the Tribal Lead Agency has an approved fiscal waiver). If a Tribal Lead Agency is unable to obligate the full GY 2023 Discretionary award within the required time period, the Tribal Lead Agency must report in a letter or email to ACF no later than April 1, 2024, the dollar amount from the GY 2023 grant that it will be unable to obligate by September 30, 2024. These unobligated funds may be reallotted to other Tribal Lead Agencies.

Supplemental CCDF Program Funds: The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136) and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act appropriated CCDF supplemental Discretionary funds for Tribal Lead Agencies. These funds were available for obligation until September 30, 2022, and for liquidation until September 30, 2023 (or later if the Tribal Lead Agency has an approved fiscal waiver).

The ARP Act appropriated CCDF funding for Tribal Lead Agencies.  Tribal CCDF supplemental Discretionary funds were available to obligate until September 30, 2023, and are available to liquidate until September 30, 2024 (or later if the Tribal Lead Agency has an approved fiscal waiver to extend the liquidation period). Tribal child care stabilization grants were available to obligate until September 30, 2022 and to liquidate until September 30, 2023 (or later if the Tribal Lead Agency has an approved fiscal waiver).

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328) appropriated $100 million in CCDF supplemental Discretionary funds for necessary expenses directly related to the consequences of Hurricanes Fiona and Ian. The funds will be distributed to eligible entities in two phases. Grants awarded in federal fiscal year (FFY) 2023 are available to obligate until September 30, 2026, and to liquidate until September 30, 2027. Grants awarded in FFY24 are available to obligate until September 30, 2027, and to liquidate until September 30, 2028.

Expenditures for Supplemental CCDF Program Funds: The ACF-696T form and completion instructions include reporting on supplemental CCDF program funds made available by the CARES Act, the CRRSA Act, and the ARP Act. The supplemental Discretionary funds are included on the report form with the same expenditure categories as other CCDF program funds (e.g., direct services, quality activities and infant/toddler quality activities, program administration, non-direct services, and construction and major renovation).

Expenditures for ARP Act Stabilization Funds: The ARP Act stabilization funds have two additional reporting categories, 1) subgrants to providers and 2) set aside amounts. Tribal Lead Agencies may use up to 20 percent of the ARP Act stabilization funds for subgrants administration, systems, technical assistance (TA) on applications and implementation, publicity, and activities to build supply. 

Revisions

Updates were made to the form to include reporting on the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328) for necessary expenses (including construction expenses) directly related to the consequences of Hurricanes Fiona and Ian.

Action Required

Tribal Lead Agencies must submit their ACF-696T electronically through Online Data Collection (OLDC; see Action Transmittal No. OGM-AT-13-01). OLDC reduces paperwork, allows for quicker processing, automatically completes required calculations, and checks for potential errors.

Electronically-submitted forms must be received by ACF within 90 days after the end of the Federal fiscal year (Friday, December 29th, 2023).

Tribal Lead Agencies must submit separate annual reports for each fiscal year in which CCDF funds were awarded.  Therefore, a Tribal Lead Agency may be submitting as many as three separate ACF-696T reports this year—one for funds awarded in GY 2021; one for funds awarded in GY 2022; and one for funds awarded in GY 2023. For funds that have approved fiscal waivers to extend the obligation and/or liquidation deadline, additional reports are required until the funds are expended or expire.

Tribal Lead Agencies may access the OLDC system at: https://home.grantsolutions.gov/home/ .  

For Tribal Lead Agencies that need a user account for OLDC, please request access using the OLDC User Account Request Form, which is available (along with OLDC help sheets, user guides, and tutorials) at: https://home.grantsolutions.gov/home/getting-started-request-a-user-account/ .  A completed OLDC User Account Request Form should be emailed to your ACF Office of Grants Management contact (see attached) for each staff person who will play a role in using OLDC.  ACF will create a User Identification (ID) based on the information provided on the OLDC User Account Request Form.  An email message is automatically sent to the staff member identified on the Request Form when an OLDC User ID and password is created for that person.

Submission of Real Property Form

Tribal Lead Agencies with real property in which the federal government retains an interest (i.e., real property that was constructed or renovated in whole or in part with CCDF dollars) must prepare and submit the SF-429 with Attachment A on an annual basis at the same time as their annual ACF-696T Financial Report is due (i.e., by December 29, 2023).  For more information, see Program Instruction CCDF-ACF-PI-2023-01 on the OCC website.

Non-Reporting Penalties

Failure to submit the ACF-696T report on or before the due date may be a basis for withholding financial payments, suspension, or termination.

Inquiries

Inquiries should be made to the appropriate ACF Office of Grants Management staff.

Attachments

A.  A copy of Form ACF-696T (PDF (PDF)) and (Excel (XLSX))
B.  Instructions for completing Form ACF-696T (PDF) 
C.  Request for Online Data Collection (OLDC) Access (PDF)
 

/s/
__________________________
Ruth Friedman, Ph.D.
Director
Office of Child Care