In some cases, such as when there is a belief that matching requirements will not be met for the State or when one State VR agency can benefit from additional funding, a State may opt to transfer funds between its General and Blind agencies.
Note:If you are in a State with a General and Blind agency and wish to transfer funds between the agencies, YOU MUST formally request that RSA transfer the funds between awards. The VR and Supported Employment funds allotted to each agency by RSA may ONLY be used for the provision of the VR or Supported Employment services assigned to the agency under the vocational rehabilitation services portion of the Unified or Combined State Plan. For example, a VR agency that serves individuals who are blind may not use its VR funds for the provision of VR services to individuals that are not eligible to receive services through the blind agency. VR agencies that serve all disabilities do not face similar limitations as they are statutorily required to serve all groups.
Because the VR funds awarded under a Unified or Combined State Plan can only be used for consumers that are included in that agency’s plan, RSA must officially transfer funds between General and Blind agency awards. DO NOT use internal accounting adjustments to transfer funds between the two programs.
RSA processes the transfer by reducing the Federal funds allotted to one agency and then transfers the funds to the other agency. State VR agencies must ensure sufficient Federal award funds remain to be transferred and that sufficient non-Federal share was/can be met in the year of appropriation for the transferred Federal award funds. Requests to transfer funds during the carryover period of an award take additional time for RSA to process. Upon receipt of such a request, RSA must first de-obligate the funds being transferred and then submit a request for approval to award prior year funds. After obtaining permission to obligate prior year funds, RSA will obligate the funds to the receiving agency. This process may take up to 30 calendar days to complete. The Department of Education reserves the right to deny any transfer of funds requests submitted near the end of the period of performance for an award. VR agencies must provide RSA sufficient time to transfer the funds and ensure the receiving agency has time to obligate and liquidate the additional funds received prior to the end of the period of performance.
Contact your RSA Financial Management Specialist for details regarding how to submit a request to transfer funds between Blind and General awards.
Resources
Optimizing Collaboration: A Guide to Cooperative Agreements Between Blind and General VR Agencies - Coming soon