Current through Register Vol. 30, No. 38, September 20, 2024
1. On or before March 1 of each year, provide
the Board with a handbook, developed in consultation with parents of children
on the Program, that includes information relating to policies and processes of
ESAs and complies with A.R.S. §
15-2401 et seq and this Article.
The Board shall adopt the handbook on or before May 1 of each year. The Board
shall limit substantive changes to the handbook to once every three years. The
Board may approve changes to the handbook more frequently than every three
years to conform and comply with changes to statute or this Article or at the
Board's discretion. The handbook shall be posted on the Department's website
and distributed to parents and shall clearly identify changes from the prior
version, and include the date and time the new handbook was changed:
a. The yearly handbook, when adopted, shall
become effective July 1st of each fiscal year.
b. If the yearly handbook is adopted after
July 1st, the newly adopted handbook would become effective immediately
following adoption.
2.
Establish a dedicated call center for exclusive use for the ESA Program that
works in conjunction with the Exceptional Student Services division of the
Department or its successor division. Subject to review and approval by the
Board, the Department may contract with a third party to operate the call
center;
3. Implement customer
service performance management policies, procedures, and metrics;
4. Provide training to parents who use the
private financial management firm contracted to assist with financial
management of the program;
5.
Provide a quarterly report to the Board on the ESA Program, including:
a. The number of students in the program
disaggregated by eligibility, grade level and the school district or charter
school associated with each student:
i. The
total number of special needs students by grade level,
ii. The number of special needs students by
disability category, and
b. The annual award amount associated with
each student;
c. The number of ESA
applications received, approved and denied in the preceding quarter, including
the justification for the denied applications;
d. The number of applications processed
within 30 days of receipt and the number of administratively incomplete
applications. Provide the reasons the administratively incomplete applications
were not approved;
e. A summary of
any parent input or feedback collected pursuant to
R7-2-1503(6) and
how the Department is responding to concerns submitted as part of the
process;
f. Information on the
private financial management firm contracted to assist with financial
management of the Program, including:
i. The
number and eligibility type of accounts utilizing the firm,
ii. The number of providers and vendors on
the firm's platform,
iii.
Communications and training provided to parents,
iv. Concerns from parents submitted to the
Department, the Treasurer and the private financial management firm and how the
Department, Treasurer and private financial management firm are addressing the
concerns, and
g.
Information regarding appeals filed with the Board that were resolved prior to
a hearing;
h. Information related
to the audits completed, including:
i. scope
of the audit,
ii. data and
narratives on audit findings from the Quarter,
iii. data and narratives of finding outcomes
from the Quarter, and
i.
Summary of all outages within the Department, private financial management
firm, Department of Treasury, GAO, ADOA, etc. that cause a delay of the ESA
program;
j. Information related to
MCC Codes, including:
i. Cumulative list of
all MCC code expansions requested and specific reason for each
denial,
ii. Cumulative list of all
MCC code expansions and exceptions granted by the Department, and
k. Data related reimbursement
submissions, including:
i. The average number
of days it takes a reimbursement submission to be assigned to a Department
staffer,
ii. The average number of
days it takes a reimbursement submission to be reviewed by a Department
staffer,
iii. The average number of
days it takes a reimbursements submission to be approved by a Department
staffer, and
l. Provide
data related to Help Desk Tickets, including:
i. The quantity of help desk tickets not
responded to within three business days,
ii. The quantity of help desk tickets
prematurely closed and reopened, and
m. Provide data related to the escalation of
Help Desk Tickets, including:
i. The quantity
of escalated help desk tickets by category type,
ii. The average number of days to
resolution,
iii. A summary of
resolutions, and
n.
Provide updates on the bidding process for all eligible Department contracts,
including:
i. A.R.S. §
15-2403(A): The
treasurer may contract with private financial management firms to manage
Arizona empowerment scholarship accounts,
ii. A.R.S. §
15-2403(B): The
Department shall conduct or contract for annual audits of Arizona empowerment
scholarship accounts to ensure compliance with section §
15-2402, subsection B, paragraph
4,
iii. A.R.S. §
15-2403(B): The
Department shall also conduct or contract for random, quarterly and annual
audits of Arizona empowerment scholarship accounts as needed to ensure
compliance with section §
15-2402, subsection B, paragraph
4,
iv. A.R.S. §
15-2403(J): The
Department shall contract with an independent third party for the purposes of
determining whether a qualified student is eligible to receive educational
therapies or services pursuant to section §
15-2402, subsection B, paragraph
4, subdivision (c),
v.
R7-2-1503(2):
Subject to review and approval by the Board, the Department may contract with a
third party to operate the call center,
vi. Any other eligible Department contracts,
and
o. The date of the
most recent update to the online database of approved expenses and disallowed
expenses. A summarization of the changes made.
p. An approximation of the most common award
amount. Provide the method or methods and Formula utilized to calculate award
amounts
q. Any other information
the Board requests.
6.
Establish and provide to the Board a process to collect parent input and
feedback regarding the Program.
