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HHS explains FTE block grant flexibility, conversions and House underfunding concerns
Summary
Donna Aukland, HHS CFO, told the committee the FTE block grant gives the department salary-dollar flexibility to fill immediate needs, convert long-term temps to FTE and address overtime in crisis services.
Donna Aukland, Chief Financial Officer for HHS, detailed the department's use of the FTE block grant, conversion of long-term temporary positions to permanent FTE, and the hiring flexibility the grant affords.
Nut graf: The committee was briefed on how the block-grant approach to salary authority permits the department to respond quickly to caseload changes, cover overtime, hire temporary staff in rural areas and convert long-term temps to FTE. Aukland said the House reduced the department's requested block-grant funding by $30 million in the draft bill and the current appropriation carries an earlier underfunding of $19.5 million.
What the block grant permits Aukland said the block grant lets HHS manage compensation (salary, overtime, promotional increases, benefits) within a single appropriation rather than by headcount. The department has used the flexibility to hire temporary staff when recruitment is slow in rural areas, to add overtime capacity for crisis care, and to convert long-term temps to FTE (she said 53 positions were converted last biennium and additional conversions were done this biennium).
Vacancy and hiring workflow Aukland described multi-phase vacancy accounting: as of December 1 the department had 374.63 vacancies broken into phases (some positions actively recruiting, some with offers pending). She said HHS typically carries a 10'15% vacancy rate and uses the resulting "churn" to redeploy salary dollars. An internal FTE committee reviews all hiring requests.
House changes and underfunding Aukland said the department's current FTE block-grant appropriation for the coming biennium was $551.7 million and that the House underfunded the department by $30 million relative to the executive request. She said the earlier biennium had an underfunding of $19.5 million and emphasized the department remains required to stay within the appropriation provided.
Ending Aukland said HHS is compiling transparency reports and will provide additional detail as requested by the committee.
