5101:9-6-95. Ohio retaining employment and talent after injury/illness network (RETAIN) demonstration project allocation

(A) The Ohio department of job and family services (ODJFS) issues the department of labor (DOL) office of disability employment policy (ODEP) allocations to fund a multi-agency demonstration project, designed to improve health care results by implementing a patient-centered return-to-work/stay-at-work (RTW/SAW) model. Phase one of this pilot project utilizes early intervention by a health services coordinator (HSC) to facilitate treatment and to shorten the duration of work separation by workers primarily with non-occupational musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries.

(B) This allocation consists of one hundred per cent federal funds. The catalog of federal domestic assistance (CFDA) number for this allocation is 17.720.

(C) ODJFS will communicate the funding and liquidation periods through the county finance information system (CFIS). The local workforce development area (local area) can incur obligations through the funding period and disburse and report expenditures no later than the end of the liquidation period.

(D) The Ohio retaining employment and talent after injury/illness network (RETAIN) demonstration project focuses on serving individuals aged eighteen to sixty-five, who are employed and experience a non-occupational injury to the back, knee and/or shoulder and who work in the manufacturing industry with an employer who has two hundred fifty or fewer employees. Individuals seeking care through a HSC, shall be assisted with communication with their employer, health care provider/insurer, and referral to "OhioMeans Jobs" (OMJ) if needed.

(E) Program components

Additional program components include:

(1) Initiation of a RETAIN roundtable comprised of stakeholders in government agencies and business and medical sectors to identify and share RTW/SAW best practices;

(2) Communications and outreach strategies for different stakeholders;

(3) Development of HSC and health services provider training plans;

(4) Establishment of a nurse hotline for the manufacturing sector;

(5) Data sharing agreements among partners to facilitate evidence-based research;

(6) Third party evaluation using rigorous methodology to determine program outcomes; and

(7) Exploration of strategies for targeting medicaid, mental health, and drug addiction populations.

(F) Methodology

RETAIN funding shall be allocated using the following methodology:

(1) ODJFS will issue local areas seventeen (Columbiana/Mahoning) and eighteen (Trumbull) an allocation of fifty thousand dollars during phase one of the RETAIN project.

(2) Local areas shall not exceed the twelve per cent limitation on administrative costs of funds that are awarded under the RETAIN grant as described in 20 C.F.R. part 683.215 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

(3) Sub-recipients and contractors performing program functions that are funded with RETAIN funds do not report the costs associated with performing program functions as administrative costs against the area's twelve per cent administration expense limit.

(4) ODJFS may monitor grant recipients for compliance with administrative cost limitations during the grant's period of performance.

(G) Allowable activities

Allowable activities using RETAIN funds include:

(1) Incentives for participating health care providers and possibly employers;

(2) Project staff to work with and support the evaluation conducted by the independent evaluation contractor, to connect or establish systems to collect program data elements, and to conduct routine, internal program management activities, such as those within the required continuous quality improvement (CQI) plan;

(3) Reasonable and necessary expenses to plan for and establish infrastructure necessary for effective program implementation of the RETAIN demonstration project; and

(4) Support of the related independent evaluation.

(H) Unallowable activities

Local areas using RETAIN funds shall not:

(1) Spend more than ten per cent of their total budget in any given year on providing incentives;

(2) Pay for existing, billable direct health care services;

(3) Use these funds for other evaluative purposes other than as stated in paragraph (G)(2) of this rule; and

(4) Use these funds for construction costs.

(I) The WIOA local area shall maintain documentation as described in rule 5101:9-9-21 of the Administrative Code. This documentation may be subject to inspection, monitoring, and audit by the ODJFS office of fiscal and monitoring services (OFMS) and the Ohio auditor of state (AOS).

(J) The definitions, requirements, and responsibilities contained in rule 5101:9-6-50 of the Administrative Code are applicable to this rule.

Effective: 4/1/2019
Promulgated Under: 111.15
Statutory Authority: 5101.02
Rule Amplifies: 5101.02