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Dear Colleagues,

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced fellows/trainees supported full time by Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA) Individual Fellowships (F series) or Institutional Training Grants (T series) are eligible to request an allowance of up to $2,500 per budget year to defray childcare costs.  Additional information regarding the allowance can be found in the notices below:

  • NOT-OD-21-074 Announcement of Childcare Costs for Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Fellows
  • NOT-OD-21-177 Announcement of Childcare Costs for Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional Research Training Awards
  • NIH FAQ: Childcare Costs

Eligibility

  • Fellows/trainees must be supported full time by one of the NRSA award types listed above.
  • Reimbursement covers dependent children living in the fellow’s/trainee’s home until age 13, or until age 18 for disabled children. It does not apply to elder or non-child dependent care costs.
  • All childcare costs must be provided by a licensed childcare provider and Departments are responsible for maintaining all supporting documentation.

Restrictions

  • Childcare allowance is restricted and may not be re-budgeted without prior written approval from the awarding NIH Institute.
  • Childcare costs incurred in previous budget periods are not eligible for reimbursement.
  • Childcare allowance is exempt from Facilities and Administration (F&A) costs and Composite Benefit Rate (CBR) assessment.

Federal Financial Report (FFR)

  • Report childcare costs that cross over budget periods as unliquidated obligations.
  • At the time of award closeout, any unused funds must be reported as an unobligated balance on the FFR. The awarding IC will offset any unused funds in future years.

Reimbursement Process at UCLA

Postdoctoral Fellows and Trainees:

  • Departments will process the childcare allowance reimbursement through UCPath using the same Earn and Title Codes as the fellow’s/trainee’s stipend payment.
    • When the childcare allowance posts to the general ledger, it will post to the same Sub Code and Object Code (7770) as the stipends.
  • To simplify the reconciliation process, Departments can process the childcare allowance reimbursements separate from stipend payments.

Predoctoral Fellows and Trainees:

  • Departments submit a Fellowship Award Transmittal to process the childcare allowance reimbursement through Go GRAD system in the same manner as stipends are requested.
    • When the childcare allowance posts to the general ledger, it will post to the same Sub Code and Object Code (7501) as the stipends.
  • The stipend amount entered in Fellowship Award Transmittal must be the cumulative of the stipend amount the fellow/trainee is to receive plus the childcare allowance reimbursement being requested. 

Monthly reconciliation

  • Applicable F&A will assess on all childcare allowance reimbursements for both Predoctoral and Postdoctoral fellows/trainees, and CBR will assess for Postdoctoral fellows/trainees processed through UCPath.
  • Department should take the following steps during monthly reconciliation to calculate total expenses:
    1. Segregate childcare allowance costs from stipends payments charged to stipend object codes listed above to ensure accuracy of payments.
    2. Calculate F&A and CBR associated with the allowance and exclude from expenses.
    3. Use adjusted CBR as the base to calculate unallowable benefits, as adjusted CBR now represents only CBR assessed on stipend payments.
  • To remove unallowable F&A and CBR referenced in step 2, the department will need to request EFM to remove these expenses off the fund.
    • Departments to request EFM to process an F&A adjustment, removing the F&A assessed to childcare expenses.
    • Departments should request a Benefit Cost Transfer (BCT) to remove all CBR assessed on the childcare allowance.

Fund Closeout

At the time of fund closeout, Departments will need to make manual adjustments to the Closeout Packet (COP).  Information regarding how to manually adjust the COP for the childcare allowance will be shared at the Research Administration Forum (RAF) on Thursday, September 8th.

For more information, contact your EFM Accountant or Manager.

Thank you and have a great day!

Yoon Lee
Senior Director, UCLA Extramural Fund Management