SR 01-17 Dated 06/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

INTER-DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION

SUMMARY

This SR releases miscellaneous policy revisions, clarifications, and technical corrections to Food Stamp policy due to finalization of federal regulations implementing the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, the Defense Authorization Act of 2001, and several provisions of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA). Family Assistance Manual (FAM) Chapter 300, Adult Assistance Manual (AAM) Chapter 300, and Food Stamp Manual (FSM) Chapters 100, 200, 300, 500, 600 and 700 were revised accordingly.

Form 219, Food Stamp Work Programs, was also revised to reflect new ABAWD work requirements. A copy of the revised form is attached to this SR for reference.

POLICY

Revised Family Assistance Manual Topics

Section 305.01 Definition of U.S. Citizen

Revised Adult Assistance Manual Topics

Section 305.03 Definition of U.S. Citizen

Revised Food Stamp Manual Topics

Section 101.01 Individual Rights

PART 111 AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES (AR)

Section 161.05 Processing Redeterminations/Recertifications

Section 161.09 Untimely Reapplication

Section 239.01 Student Eligibility

Section 239.03 Required Verification

Section 245.03 Criteria for Exemption from ABAWD Work Participation

Section 245.05 ABAWD Work Participation Requirements

Section 245.07 Determining the 36 Month and 3 Month Periods of Eligibility

Section 245.09 The One Time "Cure": Reestablishing Eligibility After Closing for Failure to Meet ABAWD Requirements

Section 245.15 Verification Requirements

Section 305.01 Definition of U.S. Citizen

Section 305.05 Verification of Citizenship

Section 305.15 Qualified Aliens Eligible Only for the First 7 Years in the U.S.

Section 305.19 Crediting SSA Work Quarters

PART 511: COMMON TYPES OF INCOME: SELF-EMPLOYMENT

PART 513 LESS COMMON TYPES OF INCOME: MILITARY PAY AND ALLOWANCES

Section 603.09 Other Allowable Deductions: Self-Employment Expenses

Section 713.03 Disqualification Periods

Section 713.05 IPV Court of Appropriate Jurisdiction

Section 713.07 IPV Administrative Disqualification Hearing

Citizenship

New policy grants automatic U.S. citizenship to certain foreign-born children. A child born outside of the United States automatically becomes a U.S. citizen when all of the following conditions are met:

·   at least one birth or adoptive parent of the child is a U.S. citizen by birth or naturalization;

·   the child is under the age of 18; and

·   the child is residing in the U.S. with their birth or adoptive parents.

FAM 305.01, Definition of U.S. Citizen, AAM 305.03, Definition of U.S. Citizen, and FSM 305.01, Definition of U.S. Citizen, were revised accordingly.

Current policy requires verification of U.S. citizenship only when a household member’s citizenship status is questionable. When the acceptable forms of proof are not available and the household can reasonably explain why, policy also allows household members whose status is in question to provide an affidavit verifying citizenship. Revised policy no longer requires a formal affidavit if the household is unable to provide the required verification, but instead allows the less restrictive option of a signed statement from a third party with personal knowledge of the household member’s citizenship. Policy remains unchanged that, absent verification or third party attestation of U.S. citizenship, the household member whose status is in question is ineligible to participate until the issue is resolved. FSM 305.05, Verification of Citizenship, was revised to include the less restrictive verification requirement.

Alien Eligibility Requirements

Aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence who cannot be credited with 40 qualifying quarters of work, according to SSA records, and who accept SSA’s determination, are ineligible for food stamp benefits. New policy, however, allows aliens to participate in the Food Stamp Program if they believe they should be credited with more quarters of work and have requested an SSA investigation into their work history. Pending the results of this SSA investigation, food stamp benefits are available to the alien for up to 6 months from the date of the SSA’s original finding that the number of quarters was insufficient for eligibility, when all of the following conditions are met:

·   the alien is a lawfully admitted permanent resident and is otherwise eligible for benefits;

·   SSA has determined that fewer than 40 qualifying quarters of work can be credited towards eligibility; and

·   the alien provides documentation produced by SSA indicating SSA is investigating the number of quarters creditable to the alien.

FSM 305.19, Crediting SSA Work Quarters, was revised accordingly.

Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs)

Work Requirements

The averaged monthly ABAWD work requirement has been decreased from 86.66 hours (20 hours a week X 4.33 weeks per month) to 80 hours a month. FSM 245.05, ABAWD Work Participation Requirements, was revised to incorporate the decreased hourly requirement.

Unpaid work and work for in-kind services are now counted as "work" and may be used to meet the 20 hours a week, 80 hours a month, ABAWD work requirement. FSM 245.05, ABAWD Work Participation Requirements, and FSM 245.15, Verification Requirements, were revised accordingly. Technical corrections were also made to FSM 245.15 to enhance readability.

Exemptions

ABAWDs are now exempt from work requirements if they live in a household in which a member is under the age of 18, regardless of relationship to or responsibility for the minor, and regardless of whether the minor is eligible for Food Stamps. FSM 245.03, Criteria for Exemption from ABAWD Work Participation, and FSM 245.15, Verification Requirements, were changed to reflect this new ABAWD work exemption.

FSM 245.03 was also rewritten for clarity and reorganized to eliminate redundant information listed in FSM 809, EXEMPTIONS FROM FOOD STAMP WORK REQUIREMENTS. The "job-attachment" work exemption was removed from both FSM 245.03 and FSM 245.15. This exemption does not apply to ABAWDS and its removal was inadvertently overlooked when clarifications to the Food Stamp job-search and work registration exemptions were released in SR 00-38, dated December 2000.

3-Month Period

SR 00-19 dated June 2000, revised policy to specify that only full months of receipt of Food Stamp benefits count toward the initial 3-month period in which an individual may receive benefits as a non-exempt, non-participating ABAWD. New policy similarly restricts partial months from being counted towards the 3 additional "cure" months a "cured" ABAWD individual may receive while non-exempt and not participating. A countable month for both 3-month periods of receipt is one in which an ABAWD receives a full month’s benefit.

In addition, the 3-month initial period of continued Food Stamp eligibility and the 3 additional consecutive months of benefits a "cured" ABAWD individual may receive while non-exempt and not participating, begins on the date the ABAWD individual reports he or she is no longer working, not the date the job was actually lost.

Example: At recertification on April 16th, a cured ABAWD individual informs her case worker that she lost her job the previous week. The 3 consecutive months of food stamp receipt while non-exempt and not satisfying ABAWD work requirements begins as of 4/16, not the date the job was actually lost. However, since partial months do not count, she will receive full benefits for the months of April (the month she lost her job), as well as May, June, and July (the 3 full consecutive "cure" months), before having her benefits terminated effective the 1st day of August.

Current policy regarding the 10-day reporting requirement, however, remains unchanged. Therefore if the date the ABAWD reports losing his or her job exceeds the 10-day requirement, proceed per policy in FSM 157, FAILURE TO REPORT A CHANGE, and assign the begin date for the receipt of Food Stamp benefits while non-exempt and not satisfying ABAWD work requirements no later than the end date of the 10-day reporting period.

Example: A cured ABAWD is recertified for 3 months on May 17th. She loses her job on May 20th but does not report that she lost it until her recertification interview on August 17th. Because she does not report this change during the required 10-day reporting period, the begin date for her 3 consecutive months of receipt of benefits while non-exempt and not satisfying ABAWD work requirements will not be the August 17th reporting date, but 10 days after she actually lost the job, or May 30th. As partial months do not count towards the 3 consecutive months, her 3-month count begins June 1st. At her recertification on August 17th, she will have already received benefits for June and July and will continue to receive them in August. Terminate her benefits effective the 1st day of September.

Note: Any time an ABAWD individual can later provide verification that he or she indeed fulfilled ABAWD work requirements while receiving Food Stamp benefits when non-exempt and thought to be not participating, adjust the individual’s 3 month count accordingly. Revise any months counted towards the 3-month period while the ABAWD individual was actually working, even if the work was not reported in the 10-day required reporting period. This policy, however, does not apply to cured ABAWDS who, when failing to meet ABAWD work requirements for a 2nd time, may receive Food Stamp benefits for an additional 3 consecutive months. Cured ABAWDs who verify that they fulfilled work requirements while receiving their 3-consecutive months of benefits, do not have any additional months credited, as specified in FSM 245.13, The 3 Consecutive Month "Cure" Period.

FSM 245.07, Determining the 36 Month and 3 Month Periods of Eligibility, and FSM 245.09, The One Time "Cure": Reestablishing Eligibility After Closing for Failure to Meet ABAWD Requirements, were revised to include this new policy.

Self-Employment Deduction

Capital costs are now an allowable expense when determining self-employment income. FSM 511, COMMON TYPES OF INCOME: SELF-EMPLOYMENT, and FSM 603.09, Other Allowable Deductions: Self-Employment Expenses, were revised accordingly.

Penalty for Violating Food Stamp Program Rules

The penalty for a conviction involving the trading of controlled substances for Food Stamp benefits has been increased from a 12 month disqualification to a 24 month disqualification. FSM 713.03, Disqualification Periods, was revised to reflect this increased penalty.

Family Subsistence Supplemental Allowance (FSSA)

The Department of Defense (DoD) is providing qualifying enlisted members and their families with a cash allowance, called the Family Subsistence Supplemental Allowance (FSSA), of up to $500 per month to address the issue of enlisted members relying on Food Stamps to make ends meet. The FSSA program does not change eligibility criteria for the Food Stamp Program and service members receiving FSSA will continue to be eligible for the Food Stamp Program on the same basis as any other low-income household.

FSSA benefits are treated as unearned income in determining Food Stamp eligibility and benefit amounts. FSM 513, LESS COMMON TYPES OF INCOME: MILITARY PAY AND ALLOWANCES, was revised to include this new military allowance.

POLICY CLARIFICATIONS

Alien Eligibility Requirements

Determining Qualifying Quarters

Current policy specifies that aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence may participate in the Food Stamp program if they meet program eligibility requirements and can be credited with 40 qualifying quarters of work as verified by the SSA. An alien’s qualifying quarters of work, as well as qualifying quarters of work from his/her parents before the alien’s 18th year of age, and/or qualifying quarters of work from spouse(s) during the alien’s marriage(s), can all, with some restrictions, be combined to attain the 40 qualifying quarters required for potential eligibility. Clarifications have been made to the conditions under which qualifying quarters can be considered from former spouses and stepparents. Qualifying quarters can be considered from:

·   the applicant's former spouse(s) only if the marriage(s) ended by death, and only those quarters earned during the marriage; and

·   the applicant's stepparent, provided the step relationship still exists, and only those quarters earned while the relationship was in existence and through the calendar quarter the applicant became age 18. The stepparent's relationship to the child is based on the marital relationship to the child's natural parent. Therefore, if the marital relationship ends other than by death, the relationship also ends.

FSM 305.19, Crediting SSA Work Quarters, was revised to reflect the clarifications in determining qualifying quarters.

Alien Eligibility Status

A change in an alien’s eligibility status to a more restrictive eligibility status does not override the alien’s former, less-rigorous eligibility status. For example, a refugee eligible for Food Stamp participation for 7 years who becomes a lawful permanent resident during that 7 year time period, would not have to be credited with 40 qualifying quarters of work for continued Food Stamp participation; the individual would continue to be eligible for Food Stamp participation based on his or her former, less rigorous, refugee status for the remainder of the 7 years.

In addition, the expiration of an alien’s Food Stamp eligibility under one status does not prevent renewed eligibility under another status. For example, when the individual’s refugee status expires after 7 years, the individual may then be eligible for continued Food Stamp participation under another status, such as military service or disability.

FSM 305.15, Qualified Aliens Eligible Only for the First 7 Years in the U.S., was revised to incorporate both clarifications to alien eligibility status.

Authorized Representative (AR)

Individuals have the right to choose an authorized representative (AR) to assist them with some or all of the responsibilities of applying for or receiving financial, medical, or Food Stamp benefits. AR policy has been clarified to reflect that any adult, regardless of household membership or relationship, may be designated as an AR and may act in all phases of eligibility, not just during the individual’s application. Current policy specifying that clients may only choose individuals or employees of an institution as ARs, and not name an institution as the AR, remains unchanged.

FSM 101.01, Individual Rights, and FSM 111, AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES, were revised accordingly.

Administrative Disqualification Proceedings

Clarifications to Administrative Disqualification proceedings specify that an Administrative Disqualification Hearing (ADH) and a civil and/or criminal proceeding can be initiated by the state against a client, but not simultaneously. Policy specifying that civil and/or criminal proceedings may be initiated against a client regardless of the outcome of the ADH, remains unchanged. FSM 713.05, IPV Court of Appropriate Jurisdiction, and FSM 713.07, IPV Administrative Disqualification Hearing, were revised accordingly.

Prorated Benefits

Current policy requiring benefits to be prorated if there has been any break in certification following the last month of certification, was amended to include an exception for migrant and seasonal farmworker households. Migrant and seasonal farmworkers’ benefits are not prorated unless the break in participation has been longer than 1 month. Benefits are not prorated for any household, however, if the time period for providing verification extends beyond the end of the certification period.

Example: Both a non-migrant household and a migrant household close for food stamp benefits at the end of April and reapply May 6th. The non-migrant household’s May benefits are prorated from the 6th of May, while the migrant household’s benefits are not prorated. However, a migrant household that closes for food stamp benefits at the end of April and reapplies June 12th would have their benefits prorated for June because the household’s break in participation was longer than 1 month.

FSM 161.09, Untimely Reapplication, FSM 161.05, Processing Redeterminations/ Recertifications, and FSM 161.09, Untimely Reapplication, were revised accordingly.

CLARIFICATIONS AND TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO THE FSM

Much of the ABAWD "curing" policy in FSM 245.09, The One Time "Cure": Reestablishing Eligibility After Closing for Failure to Meet ABAWD Requirements, was rewritten for clarity. Organizational changes were also made to improve readability.

Policy in FSM 245.05, ABAWD Work Participation Requirements, FSM 239.01, Student Eligibility, and FSM 239.03, Required Verification, was revised to correct references to obsolete programs. References to the Job Partnership Training Act (JTPA) were replaced with the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998. As of July 1, 2000, the WIA replaced JTPA providing services to individuals under the same programs that JTPA funded. Similarly, a reference to the New Hampshire Job Training Council (NHJTC) in FSM 245.05 was replaced with Southern New Hampshire Services (SNHS). As of January 1, 2000, SNHS replaced NHJTC in providing employment services to participants.

In addition, an editing error in the first sentence of FSM 603.05, Child/Dependent Care Deduction, was corrected by replacing the word "earned" with "gross," so as to now read "Deduct the actual verified unreimbursed cost of care for a dependent child or incapacitated parent from the individual’s adjusted gross income."

FORMS REVISIONS

Form 219, Food Stamp Work Programs

Form 219, Food Stamp Work Programs, was revised to specify that the average monthly ABAWD work requirement is now 80 hours. Updates to NHES Office telephone numbers and addresses were made as appropriate.

HEIGHTS PROCEDURES

Procedures for New HEIGHTS are noted under the appropriate heading below:

Alien Eligibility Requirements

For aliens who verify that SSA is conducting an investigation to determine if more quarters can be credited, answer "YES" to the question, "Did this individual meet the 40 qualifying work quarter criteria?" on the "Alien Refugee Details" Screen. Note under Function "Caseload Management," Screen Name "Expected Change Information," that the case status will need to be reviewed after 5 months.

Do not change the "Status" of the Alien in the "Alien/Refugee Status Information" box on the "Alien Refugee Details Screen" for aliens that change status to a more limited or restrictive alien eligibility status during their 7 year time period of food stamp eligibility.

Pro-Rated Benefits

To avoid prorating benefits for migrant and seasonal farm workers, continue to use the current workaround in which the effective date and application date are manually changed to the first of the applicable month.

IMPLEMENTATION

The revised policy is effective June 1, 2001 for all initial applications and at the next case action or recertification occurring on or after June 1, 2001, whichever is sooner, for all current participants.

Forms

Continue to use the current version of Form 219 until the revised version has returned from printing and an initial distribution has been made. Upon receipt of the initial distribution, all remaining Forms 219, dated 12/00, should be destroyed or recycled.

CLIENT NOTIFICATION

No special client notification is planned or needed. Clients will be advised of the new and revised Food Stamp policy at initial eligibility interviews, redeterminations, or at the next case action.

TRAINING

No training is planned.

POSTING INSTRUCTIONS

DISPOSITION

This SR may be deleted or destroyed once its contents have been noted and the revised manual topics released by this SR have been posted to the On-Line Manual.

DISTRIBUTION

This SR will be distributed according to the electronic distribution list for Division of Family Assistance policy releases. This SR, and revised On-Line Manuals, will be available for agency staff in the On-Line Manual Library, and for public access on the Internet at http://www.dhhs.state.nh.us/PMIndex.htm, effective July 1, 2001.

This SR, and printed pages with posting instructions, will be distributed under separate cover to all hard copy holders of the Family Assistance, Adult Assistance, and Food Stamp Manuals.

DFA/JBV:s

CERTIFICATE OF DESTRUCTION

I hereby certify that all copies of Form 219, dated December, 2000, SR 00-38, have been destroyed or recycled upon receipt of Form 219, dated June, 2001, SR 01-17.

Office Manager: _____________________ District Office: ______________________

Please return this to Stock Control, 6 Hazen Drive, upon receipt of revised forms.