Provider Notice issued 01/18/2024

This notice informs Supportive Living Program (SLP) providers of reporting requirements related to the $26 per day rate increase funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) for services between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022. 

Per the April 15, 2022 Provider Notice, Illinois received federal approval to use a portion of the ARP funding to assist SLP providers with staff recruitment and retention by temporarily increasing the SLP payment rate by $26 per day for 12 months. The increased funding was intended to be spent on allowable activities including salary/wage increases, bonuses and other employment and hiring initiatives. As part of the federal approval process, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) committed to require provider reporting on how the funds were spent as well other metrics for evaluation purposes.

HFS has developed a reporting template for SLP providers to document the allowable expenditure of their ARP funding, as well as report performance metrics. The reporting template is separated into four specific sections which include:

-Submittal Instructions – instructions on returning the completed reporting template.

-Beneficiary Information – contact information regarding the person and entity completing the reporting template.

-Costs Claimed – report for the SLP provider to document allowable expenses for which the ARP funds were utilized.

-Performance Measures – report for the SLP provider to document employee hours worked and wages paid for the second quarter of each calendar year from 2019 through 2023.

The reporting template is attached to this provider notice and is being loaded to a specific record created for each provider in the HFS CARES/ARPA Portal. The reporting template includes a drop down on the Costs Claimed section where you can select your provider to populate the total amount of ARP funding that HFS has calculated to have been received by your SLP provider. Cost claimed must equal or exceed the amount listed.

If a provider disagrees with the amount of ARP funds received, but has eligible expenditures that are equal to or greater than the funding that HFS has calculated, no further action is required so long as at least the amount calculated is reported. If a provider disagrees with the amount of ARP funds received and does not have eligible expenditures that are equal to or greater than the funding that HFS has calculated, please complete the report with the eligible expenditures that are available and include a letter with your report, on provider letter head, signed by an authorized official of your organization that includes at a minimum:

·The amount of funding which the provider has determined it received, and

·The number of resident days which the provider was paid the additional $26 per day rate for from April 1, 2021, through March 31, 2022, separated by payer (HFS or applicable MCO).

HFS is scheduling a webinar on Tuesday January 30^th at 11 a.m. to review instructions for the reporting template as well as answer questions from providers.  Following is a link to attend the webinar:  ARP Reporting Webinar - Tuesday January 30th at 11am

If possible, please provide HFS with questions in advance so that answers can be provided during the webinar. Questions can be sent to: HFS.SLF@Illinois.gov.    

If you need assistance accessing the HFS CARES/ARPA Portal or need to identify the contact associated with your provider, please contact the HFS COVID-19 technical support line from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST, Monday through Friday at (866) 385-0600.

Kelly Cunningham, Administrator
Division of Medical Programs

Excel Reporting Template