Fiscal Assistance of Dane County, Inc. - Frequently Asked Questions

Dane County Department of Human Services

Frequently Asked Questions & F.A. Tips

Documentation & Communication

If a Consumer has a Guardian, the Guardian should sign the paperwork and the Consumer’s signature is not required; although they may certainly do so if they wish.
If a Consumer is not on the CIP Roster, an April recertification date is used, even if they are in the process of applying for CIP with a different recertification date. Once a Consumer has been accepted on CIP and a recertification date is known, existing paperwork will be adjusted to correspond with the new recert date.
A suggestion to ease the paperwork headache in instances where a Consumer starts services shortly before his or her recertification date would be to prepare two vouchers at the same time … one for the few months up to the recertification date, and another for the next twelve months, beginning with the recertification date. Both vouchers may be submitted to Fiscal Assistance at the same time.
Care should be taken to prepare all documents as accurately as possible. Vouchers submitted with Provider names crossed out and changed rather than preparing new vouchers with the proper name reflects poorly on the SDS program and is not recommended. A properly submitted voucher avoids future problems. If you are unsure how to fill out a particular voucher for any reason, do not hesitate to contact Fiscal Assistance for guidance.
It is suggested that the Broker and the Consumer/Guardian sign the voucher before sending it to the Provider for signature. The Provider can then send the fully-signed voucher directly to Fiscal Assistance for processing.
Sometimes it is difficult, if not impossible, to get the Guardian’s signature on a voucher. Rather than holding up payments until a Guardian’s signature can be obtained, it is recommended getting a County Manager to approve the voucher. All efforts should be made, of course, to obtain the Guardian’s signature.
Fiscal Assistance must have the taxpayer ID for all individuals receiving payment for services. It is suggested that this number be entered on the first voucher submitted for payment to an individual. If Fiscal Assistance does not receive the taxpayer ID within a timely manner, it is possible that payment to that individual could be delayed.

If the Broker would like the check sent to him/her rather than mailed directly to the Payee (for those payments outside of the DD system), that should be noted on the voucher.
Checks are issued twice a month. Voucher deadlines and check dates are posted on our website as well as sent to the Brokers on an annual basis.
If a Consumer does not have sufficient funds on hand, a voucher will not be paid. No notification of non-payment is issued to a Broker; it is the Broker’s responsibility to keep track of how much each Consumer is entitled to spend based on their individual budget. Feel free to call Fiscal Assistance at any time if you have any questions on how much a Consumer has available in their account.
Exceptional expenses should generally not be included on the same voucher as on-going expenses. A separate voucher should be prepared for any exceptional expenses. A problem occurs when the exceptional expense expires at a different time than the ongoing expense and both items are on the same voucher. If both the exceptional expense and ongoing expense are submitted on a single voucher, the entire voucher will expire with the expense item with the earlier end-date; and a new voucher will have to be submitted for the remaining expense item.

Voucher submitted with effective dates that don't match recert year.
If all the CIP/recert paperwork is not completed on a timely basis, Fiscal Assistance receives notification from the County to withhold ALL payments until the paperwork is received by the County.
If an exceptional expense request has not been approved by the County and forwarded to Fiscal Assistance, payment for any exceptional expense vouchers will be delayed until the approved EER is received.
A voucher may have been submitted to Fiscal Assistance for an amount exceeding the budgeted amount, resulting in a negative bottom line.
Fiscal Assistance might have received a request from a County Manager to hold up payment for one reason or another.
If County funding has not been received by Fiscal Assistance for any reason, no money can be paid out on the Consumer's behalf. When funding is not received, the Consumer has, to put it very simply, a 'negative checking account balance'.

Goodwill Co-Employment vouchers must be for the calendar year. All other ongoing vouchers should correspond to the Consumer’s recertification date. Consumers who are not on the waiver program and who use Goodwill Co-Employment have a January recert.
Goodwill Co-Employment submits monthly invoices to Fiscal Assistance based on staff wages. Vouchers with Goodwill Co-Employment should be written for “an amount not to exceed” each month “as invoiced”.

Elder Care Day Center submits monthly invoices based on the number of days a Consumer spends there. Vouchers with Elder Care Day Center should be written for “an amount not to exceed” each month “as invoiced”. These invoices should be mailed to the Broker and then faxed to Fiscal Assistance by the Broker. Elder Care Community Bridges is paid via an ongoing voucher that runs with the recertification date.
Please distinguish between Elder Care Day and Community Bridges and Goodwill Supp. Employment and Co-Employment on vouchers.