Definitions and General Provisions Relating to Determining Allowable Costs

Section 900 TITLE 89: SOCIAL SERVICES CHAPTER V: ILLINOIS PURCHASED CARE REVIEW BOARD PART 900 ILLINOIS PURCHASED CARE REVIEW BOARD SECTION 900.310 DEFINITIONS AND GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO DETERMINING ALLOWABLE COSTS Section 900.310  Definitions and General Provisions Relating to Determining Allowable Costs a)         The Illinois Purchased Care Review Board (Board) approves costs for special education programs and related services and also room and board for children whose educational needs, because of their disabilities, cannot be met by the special education program of the district in which they reside, or which are provided in separate public special education day schools. b)         Each public and nonpublic program is subject to prior approval of the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). Each separate public facility must have been approved as eligible by ISBE. Beginning with costs reported for the 2026-2027 school year, the Board will not approve costs or approve a rate for a public program that has not submitted to ISBE an accurate, written description of the program for which ISBE approval is requested that includes: the disability categories and ages of students that the program serves or is able to serve; the disability and instructional style for each listed eligibility category; the maximum number of students the program can serve based on the current level of staffing, facility size, and any other constraints to program size; programmatic outcomes and the data that will be collected on the programmatic outcomes achieved by those students; a description of the program's philosophy and methodology to reintegrate students into the general education environment or supporting students towards their least restrictive environment; and a description of what related services will be offered, how they will be provided, and by whom they will be provided. c)         Nonpublic providers must comply with the minimum educational standards as found in ISBE's rules regarding Nonpublic Special Education Facilities (23 Ill. Adm. Code 401), except for providers providing emergency and student-specific placements pursuant to 23 Ill. Adm. Code 226.330(g) or (i). Public providers must comply with all requirements and standards found in 23 Ill. Adm. Code 226 and with Article 14 of the School Code. d)         When a provider purchases goods or services from a related organization, the cost of the goods or services shall be allowable only to the extent that it does not exceed the cost to that related organization. That is, a provider may not build a profit for a related organization into its cost structure. e)         A "rate" for a program is set pursuant to this Part and in accordance with the costs approved by the Board for each program. A program's per diem rate is equal to the expenses in its cost report, modified as appropriate (e.g., non-allowable costs, revenue offsets, etc.), excluding excess above the calculated medians, subject to appropriate inflation adjustment factors as determined by the Board, divided by its census. 1)         "Allowable costs" are approved by the Board pursuant to Sections 900.321, 900.322 and 900.330 of this Part. 2)         "Revenue offsets" are specified in Sections 321(b)-(c) of this Part. 3)         A program's "census" is equal to the total number of enrollment days divided by the total number of school days for the fiscal year for which costs are being examined multiplied by the number of school days in the school year for which a rate is being calculated. 4)         This subsection (e) describes the rate calculation generally. Nothing in this subsection shall supplant a more specific description of rate, allowable costs, revenue offsets, or census calculation elsewhere in this Part. f)         Definitions. 1)         "Administrative costs" means costs normally associated with the overall organizational leadership and direction of the various program service entities within the provider's organization. Such costs include salaries, wages, fringe benefits and supplies related to executive officers and assistants, clerical and bookkeeping staff and other costs and fees associated with organizational leadership and direction. 2)         "Facility" means the physical premises where a provider offers services. 3)         "Nonpublic provider" means any provider that is not a public provider and operates a program that has been approved as a nonpublic special education facility under 23 Ill. Adm. Code 401.2. 4)         "Occupancy costs" means those costs associated with the operation and maintenance of the physical plant, and all depreciation, all lease or rental, and all interest. 5)         "Organization" or "organizational" means the business and administrative structure of an entity that serves as a provider under this Part. 6)         "Private for-profit provider" means a provider that is registered as a for-profit corporation, limited liability company or partnership by the Secretary of State in the provider's principal location and not recognized as a not-for-profit entity by the Internal Revenue Service. 7)         "Program" means a set of special education services designed to serve students who have similar educational needs. Costs approved pursuant to this Part are approved for a particular program. 8)         "Provider" means any organization, public or nonpublic, that offers special education and/or residential services to students with disabilities under Section 14-7.02 of the School Code. 9)         "Public provider" means any public organization that offers special education services to students with disabilities at a separate public special education day school, as defined under Section 14-108a of the School Code [105 ILCS 5]. 10)       "Related organization" means an organization that: A)        directly or indirectly controls, or is controlled by, the provider; B)        influences, or is influenced by, the provider in terms of financial and operational policies; or C)        is controlled or influenced by another organization that also controls or influences the provider. 11)       "School code" means 105 ILCS 5. 12)       "School health services" means those direct or indirect services normally associated with the function of a school nurse, limited to all health counseling, health education, personal hygiene/grooming, first aid/emergency care, administration and monitoring of medications, safety, and health protection (prevention) services provided by licensed, registered, or certified nurses or other non-physician health care professionals employed by a provider for the purpose of serving students placed in such facilities and those services required by the students' Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). 13)       "Separate public special education day school" has the meaning given to that term under Section 14-1.08a of the School Code. 14)       "Support costs" means those costs normally associated with the provision of food and dietary services, laundry services, housekeeping services, and other costs associated with the provision of domestic services, including salaries, wages, fringe benefits, and supplies used in providing such services.