Click HERE to download the Memo.
The Financial Assistance and
Social Service Report (FASSR) is the only report that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Regions, Agencies,and Tribes operatingunder Pub. L. 93-638 Contracts, Pub. L. 102-477 Plans, and Self-Governance Annual Funding Agreements are required to submit for the Welfare Assistance (WA)
program.
The Office of Indian Services
(OIS), Division of Human Services (DHS) uses the FASSR to determine the amount
of WA funding to distribute to Tribes and BIA Agencies each Fiscal Year (FY). The BIA Regional Offices,
Office of Self Governance (OSG), and the OIS, Division of Workforce Development (OIS, DWD) are responsible for collecting the FASSRs, certifying that the FASSRs are complete, and submitting them to the OIS,
DHS. These offices are also in charge of distributing funds to the BIA Agenciesand Tribes based on the approved methodology and supporting documentation.
The BIA Agencies and Tribes must submit the FY 2022 FASSR to receive a final
distribution of FY 2023 WA funds.
The Assistant Secretary –
Indian Affairs, Indian Affairs Manuel (IAM) 70 Chapter 3 provides direction on the WelfareAssistance Methodology and FASSR submission process. The IAM is
located at FinancialAssistance and Social Services Reporting (bia.gov)
The BIA will use the same process
and form to report the FY 2022 WA data. The form is available online at the BIA website’s main page at: https://www.bia.gov/policy-forms/online- forms
To facilitate the timely
distribution of FY 2023, Welfare Assistance funds all FY and Calendar Year (CY) Tribes and BIA Agenciesoperating this programmust submit the 2022 FASSR to the respective program by:
Due Dates
for Tribes and BIA Agencies to submit the FASSR:
Fiscal Year (FY) Tribes/BIA Agencies: Friday,December 16, 2022
Calendar Year (CY) Tribes: Monday, January 16, 2023
Due Dates for BIA Regional Offices,OSG, and OIS DWD to submit the FASSR to OIS,DHS:
Reports
by FY Tribes/ BIA Agencies: Tues.,
January 31, 2023
Reports by CY Tribes: Thursday, March 2, 2023
The BIA, Regional Offices,
OSG, and OIS, DWD must certify and submit the 2022 FASSR for their program’s Tribes and/or BIA Agencies, to the OIS, DHS. The BIA RegionalOffices, OSG, and OIS, DWD is
also responsible for:
Distributing the BIA 2022 end-of-year
FASSR form to Tribes and Agencies. - Providingtechnical assistance to Tribes and Agencies for the accuratecompletion of reports, using
the BIA FASSR form.
- Collecting reports from Tribes and BIA Agencies within their regionor program; and
- Verifying accuracy and certifying the completionof all reports.
The OIS, DHS will certify the FY 2022 FASSR form:
If it is in the required MicrosoftExcel format (handwritten reports are accepted)- Is signed by an Agency representative and/orTribal representative.
- Is signed by the respective Regional Office, OSG, or OIS, DWD verifyingthat the FASSR is complete
and accurate.
- Contains both the data and narrative sections of the form. Reportsthat do not include a narrative will not be considered
complete. The narrative section of the report provides the “story” to the data.
- The allocations, expenditures, and
carryover amounts/shortfall information reported are accurate. Each Tribe and Agency must identify carryoverfunds into FY 2022 or previous
year(s) in the narrative portion of its report as well as in Column Q with
Amount Allocated. Carryover/shortfalls into FY 2022 should be identified in the
data section of the FASSR (Column R).
The BIA Regional Office,OSG, and OIS, DWD representative are responsible for submitting all certified Tribal and BIA Agency FASSRS
and the Check List at: https://doimspp- my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/babette_howe_indianaffairs_gov/EsTzjUNfXTFIjBg6lgv62A MBqk9R-j9dr9VAg1Iea5yWVA?e=0LiDs3
Please note the BIA Regional
Offices, the OSG, and OIS, DWD are not responsible for consolidating their program reports.The OIS, DHS will consolidate the reports electronically to facilitate analysis.
The OIS, DHS is available to provide technicalassistance and will provide FASSR training on November 30, 2022, from 1:00pm,
Eastern Standard Time. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Evangeline
M. Campbell at: evangeline.campbell@bia.gov; or Elias Picard at: elias.picard@bia.gov.