Utah Code § 53F-6-405 — Utah Code / Title 53F / Chapter 53F-6 / § 53F-6-405
§ 53F-6-405. Program manager duties -- Audit -- Prohibitions.
Status: in_force

(1) The program manager shall: (a) administer the program, including: (i) maintaining an application website that includes information on enrollment, relevant application dates, and dates for notification of acceptance; (ii) reviewing applications from and determining if a person is: (A) an eligible school under Section 53F-6-408; or (B) an eligible service provider under Section 53F-6-409; (iii) establishing an application process that: (A) opens March 1 of each year for existing scholarship students; (B) opens April 1 of each year for new scholarship students; (C) closes May 1 of each year; (D) aligns with the acceptance deadline established under Subsection 53F-6-402(11) that shall be prior to July 1 of each year; and (E) provides an eligible student with a decision regarding the eligible student's application within 30 days of the application deadline specified in this Subsection (1)(a); (iv) reviewing and granting or denying applications for a scholarship account; (v) determining the eligibility of scholarship expenses, including establishing necessary policies and procedures; (vi) approving qualifying providers in accordance with Section 53F-6-403; (vii) maintaining a list of approved qualifying providers; and (viii) coordinating with the Department of Operations on policy interpretations, compliance issues, and customer service standards; (b) direct the financial administrator to: (i) provide an online portal for the parent of a scholarship student to access the scholarship student's account; (ii) facilitate payments to a qualifying provider from the online portal; (iii) ensure that scholarship funds in a scholarship account are readily available to a scholarship student within five business days after receipt of funds from the state board; (iv) process scholarship payments in accordance with the payment schedule established in Section 53F-6-411, unless otherwise authorized; (v) in accordance with program administration when needed, develop and implement a commercially viable, cost-effective, and parent-friendly system that: (A) processes scholarship payments; (B) maximizes payment flexibility; (C) allows scholarship students and scholarship student's parents to publicly rate, review, and share information about qualifying providers; and (D) provides the program manager with continuous, real-time, view-only access to all scholarship account transactions and balances, payment processing status, provider payment history, reimbursement tracking, and account reconciliation data; (vi) upon receiving notification under Subsection (1)(c): (A) obtain reimbursement of scholarship funds from a qualifying provider that provides the services in which a scholarship student is no longer enrolled or with which the scholarship student is no longer engaged; and (B) expend all revenue from interest on scholarship funds or investments on scholarship expenses; and (vii) implement accounting procedures to track partial payments and remaining balances; (c) require a parent to notify the program manager if the parent's scholarship student is no longer enrolled in or engaging a service: (i) for which the scholarship student receives scholarship funds; and (ii) that is provided to the scholarship student for an entire school year; (d) each time the program manager makes an administrative decision that is adverse to a scholarship student or the scholarship student's parent, inform the scholarship student and the scholarship student's parent of the opportunity and process to appeal an administrative decision of the program manager in accordance with the process described in Section 53F-6-417; (e) maintain a protected internal waitlist of all eligible students who have applied to the program and are not yet scholarship students, including any student who removed the student's application from the waitlist; (f) provide aggregate data regarding the number of scholarship students and the number of eligible students on the waitlist described in Subsection (1)(e); (g) contract for annual and random audits on scholarship accounts conducted: (i) by a certified public accountant who is independent from: (A) the program manager; and (B) the financial administrator's accounts and records pertaining to scholarship funds; and (ii) in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards; (h) require the financial administrator to demonstrate financial accountability through annual reporting requirements described in Section 53F-6-405.5; (i) develop and implement an annual orientation for qualifying providers; (j) administer the appeals process described in Section 53F-6-417; (k) in accordance with Subsection 53F-6-411(4), manage scholarship rollovers; (l) track and ensure compliance of allowed scholarship expenses; (m) comply with enhanced accountability measures, including independent audits and public disclosure of third-party contracts and fees related to the administration of the program; and (n) process parent reimbursement requests within 10 business days after the program manager approves the expense and direct the financial administrator to process approved reimbursements within this time frame. (2) The program manager shall: (a) require the financial administrator to submit monthly financial reports including: (i) a statement of financial position; (ii) a statement of activities; (iii) account reconciliation statements; (iv) detailed transaction reports; and (v) exception reports highlighting any unusual activity; and (b) oversee the financial administrator's compliance with requirements regarding: (i) except for a reimbursement authorized under this part, the use of scholarship funds from the online portal directly to a qualifying provider to pay for scholarship expenses without the availability of withdrawal or other direct access to scholarship funds by an individual; and (ii) system compliance with industry standards for data privacy and cybersecurity, including ensuring compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 34 C.F.R. Part 99. (3) In advance of the program manager accepting applications in accordance with Section 53F-6-402 and as regularly as information develops, the program manager shall provide information regarding the program by publishing a program handbook online for scholarship applicants, scholarship students, parents, service providers seeking to become qualifying providers, and qualifying providers, that includes information regarding: (a) the policies and processes of the program; (b) approved scholarship expenses and qualifying providers; (c) the responsibilities of parents regarding the program and scholarship funds; (d) the duties of each contracted entity; and (e) the opportunity and process to appeal an administrative decision of the program manager in accordance with the process described in Section 53F-6-417. (4) To ensure the fiscal security and compliance of the program, the program manager shall: (a) prohibit any person from handling, managing, or processing scholarship funds, if, the person poses a risk to the appropriate use of scholarship funds, as determined by background checks the program manager conducted in accordance with Section 53F-6-407; (b) establish procedures to ensure a fair process to: (i) suspend scholarship student's eligibility for the program in the event of the scholarship student's or scholarship student's parent's: (A) intentional or substantial misuse of scholarship funds; or (B) violation of this part or the terms of the program; and (ii) if the program manager or financial administrator obtains evidence of fraudulent use of scholarship funds, refer the case to the attorney general for collection or criminal investigation; and (iii) ensure that a scholarship student whose eligibility is suspended or disqualified under this Subsection (4)(b) or Subsection (4)(c) based on the actions of the student's parent regains eligibility if the student is placed with a different parent or otherwise no longer resides with the parent related to the suspension or disqualification; and (c) notify the financial administrator, scholarship student, and scholarship student's parent in writing: (i) of the suspension described in Subsection (4)(b)(i); (ii) that no further transactions, disbursements, or reimbursements are allowed; (iii) that the scholarship student or scholarship student's parent may take corrective action within 10 business days of the day on which the program manager provides the notification; and (iv) that without taking the corrective action within the time period described in Subsection (4)(c)(iii), the program manager may disqualify the student's eligibility. (5) (a) A program manager may not direct the financial administrator to: (i) disburse scholarship funds to a qualifying provider or allow a qualifying provider to use scholarship funds if: (A) the program manager determines that the qualifying provider intentionally or substantially misrepresented information on overpayment; (B) the qualifying provider fails to refund an overpayment in a timely manner; or (C) the qualifying provider routinely fails to provide scholarship students with promised educational services; or (ii) reimburse with scholarship funds an individual for the purchase of a good or service if the program manager determines that: (A) the scholarship student or the scholarship student's parent requesting reimbursement intentionally or substantially misrepresented the cost or educational purpose of the good or service; or (B) the relevant scholarship student was not the exclusive user of the good or service. (b) A program manager shall notify a scholarship student if the program manager: (i) stops disbursement of the scholarship student's scholarship funds to a qualifying provider under Subsection (5)(a)(i); or (ii) refuses reimbursement under Subsection (5)(a)(ii). (6) (a) At any time, a scholarship student may change the qualifying provider to which the scholarship student's scholarship account makes distributions. (b) If, during the school year, a scholarship student changes the student's enrollment in or engagement with a qualifying provider to another qualifying provider, the program manager may direct the financial administrator to prorate scholarship funds between the qualifying providers based on the time the scholarship student received the goods or services or was enrolled. (7) A program manager may not subvert the enrollment preferences required under Section 53F-6-402 or other provisions of this part to establish a scholarship account on behalf of a relative of a contracted entity employee or contracted employee officer. (8) In regards to customer service needs related to the program, the program manager shall: (a) provide customer service regarding: (i) program eligibility determinations; (ii) application status; (iii) qualifying provider approvals; (iv) scholarship expense eligibility; (v) program policies and requirements; (vi) appeals and grievances; (vii) accessibility for disabled individuals; and (viii) general program information; (b) ensure the financial administrator provides customer service regarding: (i) scholarship account access; (ii) payment processing status; (iii) technical support for the payment portal; (iv) account balance inquiries; (v) transaction history; and (vi) reimbursement status; (c) establish customer service standards that the program manager and the financial administrator must meet; (d) require the financial administrator to: (i) maintain adequate customer service staffing; (ii) meet specified response time requirements; and (iii) track and report on customer service metrics; (e) coordinate with the financial administrator to ensure seamless referral of inquiries between contracted entities; (f) maintain call center capacity adequate to serve current program participation levels, including: (i) sufficient staffing to handle call volume during standard and peak enrollment periods; (ii) scalability plans to increase customer service capacity as program enrollment grows; and (iii) regular capacity assessments to ensure staffing and infrastructure meet program demands; and (g) continue improvement of customer service based on parent feedback. (9) Contracted entities may not charge processing fees to an eligible student or pass on third-party fees related to the use or management of scholarship funds. (10) The program manager shall establish and maintain a pre-approval process for scholarship expenses that: (a) allows parents to submit expense requests for review before incurring the expense; (b) provides a response within seven business days indicating whether: (i) the expense is approved as an allowable scholarship expense; (ii) the expense requires additional information or documentation; or (iii) the expense is not an allowable scholarship expense, with a clear explanation of the reason for denial; (c) is accessible through the online portal, email, and telephone; and (d) maintains documentation of all pre-approval requests and decisions. (11) If the program manager operates a marketplace for educational products or services: (a) prices shall reflect fair market value; (b) parents may purchase substantially similar items elsewhere and seek reimbursement; (c) the program manager may not require exclusive marketplace purchases; (d) the program manager may not resell used or returned goods through the marketplace; and (e) nothing in this subsection prohibits parents from purchasing used or resale educational materials, supplies, or equipment from third parties and seeking reimbursement through the scholarship account reimbursement process in accordance with this part.