Year 6 Window Closes - Now What?
Message Posted February 12, 2003

Congratulations to everyone who successfully submitted and postmarked or ecertified their Form 471s by midnight last Thursday.

The next phase in the funding process is for the SLD to review the 36,000+ applications that were filed in order to determine if they have complied with all program rules and deserve funding. Several steps are involved that may require an applicant's attention.

If you want to see the submitted copy of your 471, or find out the status of your 471, go to the SLD website under "Apply Online" and choose the appropriate button under the 471 column. To see a list of what everyone in PA applied for, use the Date Retrieval Tool on the SLD's homepage (please note that only certified FRNs appear in this database, so it only has about 2500 of PA's normal 5000 FRNs showing at this time. A complete list will be showing in about 2 weeks.)

1) ITEM 21 ATTACHMENTS: If you haven't done so already, don't forget to submit your Item 21 attachments. As of last year, the attachments were not required to be postmarked within the window, although the SLD cannot review your application until these are submitted. My advice is to fax them to the SLD per my previous message.

2) PROBLEM RESOLUTION FOR PAPER FILERS: If you submitted an application via mail, and they have questions during data-entry, you may receive a call from the Problem Resolution Team. If you filed online, you have passed the minimum processing standards and won't be receiving calls from the Problem Resolution Team.

3) RECEIPT ACKNOLEDGEMENT LETTER REVIEW: For each 471 submitted, you will be receiving a yellow envelope containing your Receipt Acknowledgment Letter ("RAL"). The RAL acknowledges receipt of the application and summarizes each of your funding requests. REVIEW THIS DATA PROMPTLY. If the summarized data is accurate, no applicant action is required. If errors are found, there are limited circumstances whereby you can have your application corrected -- and only 3 weeks to do it. They are:

-- SPIN correction (not an outright SPIN change)
-- Block 1 contact information
-- Unbundling of requests – for example, if you forgot to separate Verizon
and Sprint charges in a funding request.
-- Discount percentage
-- Funding amount

Unfortunately, you cannot increase your request... you can only decrease or cancel your request.

To make a correction, copy the first and last page, cross out the incorrect information and write in the correct information beside it (or write CANCEL next to the FRN). Then fax to the SLD per the instructions on the RAL.

4) PROGRAM INTEGRITY ASSURANCE REVIEW: This is a detailed application review conducted by PIA staff in Whippany, New Jersey. Inquires from PIA reviewers (identified by direct telephone numbers with a 973 area code) generally involve requests for clarification and/or additional documentation on product or applicant eligibility, discount rate calculations, contract status, etc. These are serious inquires that must be addressed in a timely fashion. PIA inquiries typically provide 7-day deadlines for response, although extensions may be granted upon request. PIA review is often a multi-step process. A reviewer may request additional data once he (or a higher-level review team) has reviewed an initial response, or may initiate a second request on an entirely different application issue.

5) SELECTIVE OR ITEM 25 REVIEWS: Special reviews are conducted by PIA under certain circumstances deemed questionable by the SLD. In our experience, such reviews are most often triggered by unusually large requests (relative to an applicant's size) or the use of certain service providers. Selective reviews typically begin with a faxed request (4-5 pages for a "mini-Item 25" or 13-14 pages for a full Item 25 review) for additional information on an applicant's procurement, planning, or budgetary situation.

The "Item 25" designation refers to the Form 471 certification that the applicant has "...secured access to all the resources....necessary to make effective use of the services purchased as well as to pay the undiscounted charges for eligible services." Any applicant subject to a special review should assume that the SLD is seeking more than a simple clarification of a funding request. Failure to respond appropriately may lead to an extended funding delay and/or full denial of an application. As a first step in responding to such a review, it is worth discussing the request with the PIA reviewer; often it is possible to focus the response to specific issues of concern to the SLD.

6) FUNDING COMMITMENT DECISION LETTER RECEIPT: After your application has gone through all of these reviews, you'll receive your Funding Commitment Decision Letter! Although we have no idea when they will begin to send these letters, a good guess would be late March or early April. They usually come in waves that are issued every other week throughout the spring and summer (and sometimes fall). Notice will come from the listserve each time a funding commitment wave is mailed.. and we'll then provide instructions on what to do at that time.

Julie Tritt Schell