[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 7, Volume 4]

[Revised as of January 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 7CFR275.16]



[Page 860-861]

 

                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE

 

    CHAPTER II--FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

 

PART 275_PERFORMANCE REPORTING SYSTEM--Table of Contents

 

                       Subpart E_Corrective Action

 

Sec. 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 cause for non-entitlement to enhanced funding for any 

reporting period (actions to correct errors in individual cases however, 

shall not be submitted as part of the State agency's corrective action 

plan);

    (3) 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);

    (4) Are identified by FNS reviews, GAO audits, contract audits, or 

USDA audits or investigations at the State agency or project area level 

(except deficiencies in isolated cases as indicated by FNS); and,

    (5) Result from 5 percent or more of the State agency's QC sample 

being coded ``not complete'' as defined in Sec. 275.12(g)(1) of this 

part. This standard shall apply separately to both active and negative 

samples.



[[Page 861]]



    (6) Result in under issuances, improper denials, or improper 

terminations 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 Sec. 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]