SR 96-51 Dated 09/96

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

INTER-DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION

SUMMARY

On August 22, 1996, President Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996. This Act changed many aspects of food stamp eligibility and mandated several to be implemented within 30 days of enactment. These initial mandated changes in Food Stamp law are described in this SR and affect a range of food stamp policy: household composition, the definition of "homeless individuals", treatment of earnings of students, switching between the standard utilities allowance and actual costs, disqualification of fugitive felons, proration of food stamp benefits following recertification, new and stricter work requirements and penalties for failure to comply with those requirements, and eligibility restrictions for individuals who are lawfully admitted resident aliens.

POLICY

Revised Household Definition Affecting Children under Age 22 Who Live with Their Parents

All children under age 22 who live with their parents are now considered members of the same household as their parents. Previously, children under age 22 who were living with a parent(s), or children living with a parent(s) who were parents themselves of children living in the same household, and/or lived with their spouses, could claim separate household status.

However, when a married couple, with or without children, lives with a parent or parents, and only one member of the couple is under 22, the revised household composition policy in which all children under age 22, regardless of marital or parental status, must be included in a household with their parents applies only when the person under 22 is the child of the parents with whom they are living. For example, if Bill and Martha Jones, aged 23 and 20 respectively, live with Bill’s parents, they may apply as a separate household if they purchase and prepare separately. If they live with Martha’s parents, however, they cannot be separate and must be included in one food stamp case with her parents.

Exception: This change does not affect current policy relating to individuals age 60 and older who cannot prepare food separately due to a permanent disability. They can claim separate household status regardless of whether their children under age 22 live at home.

Earnings of Students

The earnings of full-time elementary and high school students are now excluded only through age 17. When a student turns age 18, their earnings are counted in full. Previous policy allowed the exclusion of student earnings until the student turned age 22. See Procedures for additional information.

Switching between the Standard Utilities Allowance and Actual Costs

Households are now allowed to switch between the standard utilities allowance and actual costs only at recertification. Previous policy allowed switching between the standard and actual costs at the beginning and end of each certification period, when an assistance group moved, and once during the 12-month period following the initial certification.

Definition of Homeless Individuals

A homeless individual is now defined as someone who has a primary night time residence that is a temporary accommodation of no more than 90 days in the (same) residence of another individual. After 90 days, the individual is no longer considered homeless. According to the Food and Consumer Service (FCS), this provision was crafted to prevent individuals who are, for example, roommates, from applying as homeless persons and taking advantage of both expedited food stamp service and the homeless shelter deduction. Case technicians must determine if the individual has a stable living situation, even if they have occasional, or even frequent, absences from that situation. If the individual does appear to have a stable residence, they cannot qualify as homeless if it has been their residence for more than 90 days. Previously "homeless individual" was not defined and there was no limit on the number of nights a homeless person could spend in the residence of another and still be considered homeless.

Homelessness No Longer Qualifies for Expedited Food Stamps

Homelessness is no longer by itself a valid eligibility criterion for expedited food stamp service. Individuals must now meet some other criterion in order to qualify.

12 or 24 Month Certification Periods

Certification periods may be no longer than 12 months, except for households in which all members are elderly or disabled. These households may have certification periods up to 24 months so long as there is at least one contact every 12 months.

Vendor Payments for Transitional Housing for the Homeless

Vendor payments made on behalf of a homeless individual or household for purposes of providing shelter only in designated "transitional housing project" are now counted as unearned income. Previous policy excluded these payments from income. See FAM 511, VENDORED SHELTER PAYMENTS TO HOMELESS HOUSEHOLDS, for a definition of "transitional housing." See also FAM 703.09, Emergency Assistance Payments for Temporary and Transitional Housing, and SR 95-64/July 1995.

To be countable, a payment made for transitional housing must

 be in the name of a specific individual, such as an Emergency Assistance payment for transitional housing for which the individual had applied, and

 be made specifically to secure housing in a designated transitional housing project as defined in FAM 511.

NOTE: Homeless individuals and families affected by this provision are allowed the Homeless Shelter Allowance. See FAM 603.09.

Disqualification of Fugitive Felons and Probation or Parole Violators

Fugitive felons and probation or parole violators are ineligible to participate in the Food Stamp Program. A fugitive felon is someone who runs away to avoid prosecution, or custody or confinement after conviction, under the law of the place which the individual is fleeing, for a crime, or attempt to commit a crime, that is a felony under the law of the place from which the individual is fleeing or violating a condition of probation or parole imposed under a Federal or State law. Currently there is no report available to identify these individuals, so enforcement of this provision is problematic at this time.

Note: In New Jersey, the equivalent crime would be classified as a high misdemeanor rather than a felony.

Proration of Food Stamp Benefits for Households with a Break in Participation

When Food Stamp households experience any break in their participation, such as failing to recertify or applying for benefits in NH after terminating in another state, these households are now treated as initial applicants for benefit issuance purposes. The first month’s benefits are prorated based on the date of the household’s meeting all eligibility requirements. Previous policy allowed issuance of a full month’s benefits if recertification was completed within one month of the expiration of the current certification period or of any other break in participation.

EXAMPLE

The household’s recertification period expires in September. On September 20, the household reapplies, but fails to submit required verification in a timely manner, and the case closes on September 30. On October 2, the household provides all required verification to complete recertification. Benefits for October are prorated from the 2nd. The District Office enters the 3rd day of the month (10/03/96) as the determ/elig. date in Field E- 13 so that EMS will issue prorated benefits for the month of October. NOTE: there are no "good cause" reasons, other than agency error, for a break in participation that does not result in proration of benefits.

Exception: Households that are recertified on the first day of the month after the expiration of their current recertification period are entitled to a full month’s benefits.

If the break in participation is the result of the client not completing recertification (as in the example above), District Offices must change the application date to the date on which eligibility was determined so that EMS can correctly prorate the first month’s benefit.

Legally Admitted Aliens and Immigrants

Several policy changes restrict food stamp eligibility for lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens and immigrants. These changes must be applied immediately for all new applicant households with resident alien members. Current food stamp households with alien members must have these policies applied at the next recertification. Exception: Recognizing the challenge of implementing legislative reforms, the President has instructed the USDA to allow states the option of extending the certification periods of all households containing alien members, provided no certification period is extended to longer than 12 months, but not beyond August 22, 1997. Based on this option, the state has chosen to automatically extend current certification periods for potentially affected households to the maximum allowable 12 months, or through August 22, 1997, whichever is earlier. Those households have been notified of the change. For further information, see IMPLEMENTATION.

Citizenship/Alien Status

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for food stamps, noncitizens have to meet at least one of the requirements below. Current food stamp recipients that do not meet one of these requirements will become ineligible for food stamps at the end of their current certification period and will remain ineligible for food stamps until they become a US citizen or meet alien eligibility criteria:

 The individual has been admitted to the US by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) as a refugee or asylee, or an individual is an alien whose deportation has been withheld by a federal judge or INS. Individuals meeting this requirement may be eligible for food stamps for five years from the date they were granted status as a refugee, parolee or asylee, or from the date their deportation was withheld. Do not assume this date coincides with date of entry. Often these dates will be different, as, for example, in the case of an alien student who studies in the U.S. for a period of time and then applies for, and receives, refugee or asylee status.

 An individual is a lawfully admitted resident who has worked at least 40 creditable work quarters for Social Security purposes. If an individual meets this requirement, their spouse is also considered eligible. Aliens who have worked qualifying quarters for SSA purposes may use not only quarters they have worked, but also those of a spouse or, if the alien is a child, the child’s parents. For example, if husband X and wife Y have both worked 20 quarters, they have both achieved 40 quarters of work.

 NOTE: Receipt by an alien individual of SSA retirement payments is considered to be verification that the individual has worked the required 40 quarters. Receipt of any other form of SSA or SSI payment is not considered evidence that the individual has worked the 40 quarters required to achieve eligibility.

 An individual is a lawfully admitted resident who is an honorably discharged veteran of, or is still on active duty in, the United States Armed Forces. If this requirement is met, the individual’s spouse and unmarried children are also considered eligible.

NOTE: Lawfully admitted aliens who qualify under either of the last 2 exceptions above may remain eligible indefinitely so long as they meet all other food stamp program requirements.

At the next recertification interview, District Offices must review alien status carefully to determine whether the individual still qualifies for food stamps. A recent client mailing advised aliens and immigrants to bring any proof they have of their alien status, work or military history with them to their next recertification interview.

District Offices must maintain controls to track citizenship or immigration status of individuals who meet the above requirements. In addition, alien status must be reviewed at each redetermination and whenever the client reports a change in citizenship or immigration status.

Note: It is essential to code refugee/asylee exceptions correctly as R (refugee or asylee) in the I-23 block. Use code I (immigrant) for all other eligible aliens. Enter all refugee/asylees on the Change Screen using the month and year in which a refugee’s 5 year eligibility period ends to track the 5 year time limit.

Verification

Aliens whose deportation has been withheld may submit a letter from a federal court judge or any INS document which shows that deportation has been withheld and the date of withholding. Passports and Green cards may bear an INS stamp or annotation which designates this special status. District Offices no longer need to request verification of alien ID numbers through the State Office SAVE system.

To determine if an alien has enough creditable work quarters for SSA purposes, District Offices should refer clients to SSA to obtain a printout of Social Security earnings. This printout, called a "Sequy," is available upon the presentation of proper identification and SSN to any SSA office. It is the client’s responsibility to obtain information from SSA. However, local SSA offices may not yet have been instructed by their own federal office on how to proceed, so delays in obtaining verification of quarters worked may not be easily obtainable at this time. Unless it is probable that an individual has the necessary quarters, do not routinely refer them to SSA. Countable quarters of work for SSA are measured by the amount of SSA income earned during a quarter, with the qualifying income limits varying annually. If necessary, District Offices may contact either Robert Young or Terry Smith for these annual limits in order to do manual calculations of quarters worked by income earned.

The Family Assistance Manual, Sections 305.11 and 305.13, contains the information on verification of alien status. Refugee status, and the date that status was granted by INS, may be verified by contacting the Office of the Refugee Coordinator, 271-2611.

Treat the income and resources of excluded aliens in a food stamp household according to current policy (see FAM 611.05, Income of Disqualified and Excluded Individuals).

Deeming of Income for Alien Sponsors

If any lawfully admitted resident alien and/or their spouse has an alien sponsor, deem 100% of the income (treated as unearned income) and resources of the sponsor and the sponsor’s spouse as available to the alien when determining eligibility for benefits. This policy replaces the calculation of available deemed income for Alien Sponsors detailed in FAM 611.03. Make a Pen and Ink notation to FAM 611.03 referencing this SR.

Failure to Comply with the Requirements of Other Means-Tested Assistance Program

When a recipient household’s income is reduced (i.e., decreased, suspended, or terminated) because of a penalty imposed under a state, Federal or local welfare or public assistance program, such as AFDC, APTD, ANB, OAA, or SSI, for failure to comply with a program requirement, an increase in food stamp allotments is prohibited. Under previous policy, the decrease in income could have resulted in an increase in food stamps except in cases where the decrease in financial assistance was fraud-related (see FAM 511, Assistance Payment). Other changes in a household’s circumstances which are unrelated to the penalty are not affected by this policy. For example, if a penalized household’s earned income drops, then the household could be eligible for an increase in their allotment commensurate to the decrease in earned income.

The issue of failure to comply involves programmatic requirements such as refusal or failure to comply with child support requirements, to participate in the Alternative Work Experience Program (AWEP), or an Intentional Program Violation (IPV). An individual whose financial assistance is terminated by a failure to complete a redetermination, for example, would not be affected by the prohibition on an increase in food stamps. This type of failure to comply is not considered a penalty for purposes of this provision.

Verification that a decrease in financial assistance is the result of a penalty may be made by contacting the other agency for confirmation, or reviewing written correspondence that explains the reduction in benefits, and must be documented in the case record. If the other agency will not cooperate to verify the sanction, the penalty cannot be applied.

NOTE: Do not apply this policy to applicant households. Applicants denied financial assistance due to a failure to comply with a programmatic requirement never receive a grant, so no reduction in benefits can take place.

Disqualification for Failure to Comply with Food Stamp Work Requirements

Physically and mentally fit individuals over the age of 15 and under age 60 become ineligible if they

 refuse without good cause to provide sufficient information to allow a determination of their employment status or job availability, to register for employment if required, to participate in an employment or training program, or to accept suitable employment if offered,

 quit a job voluntarily and without good cause, or

 reduce their work effort to less than 30 hours a week.

This provision alters current policy in several respects:

 Determination of voluntary quit has been simplified. Individuals are now subject to voluntary quit penalties if they quit a job in the 60 days preceding application or at any time thereafter without good cause, but there is no longer a special disqualification for households if the head of household voluntarily quits. Previous policy applied penalties only to households and only when the head of household quit.

 Individuals are considered to have voluntarily quit if they reduce their work hours. Previous policy did not apply voluntary quit penalties if hours of employment were voluntarily reduced but the individual continued working for the same employer. Now any voluntary reduction of work hours below 30 hours per week is treated as a voluntary quit.

 The hourly definition of employment for voluntary quit purposes is raised from 20 hours to 30 hours per week. See FAM 315.

In addition, lack of adequate child care is no longer considered an explicit good cause exemption for refusal to participate in an employment or training program. Other good cause reasons under current policy remain in effect.

New Mandatory Minimum Disqualification Periods are established for those who fail to comply with food stamp employment or training requirements, including those above. They are:

 One month for the first violation

 Three months for the second violation

 Six months for the third violation.

If the individual does not comply with the requirements of an employment or training (E&T) program, the penalty period continues until the later of the date individual complies or the one, three or six months disqualification periods. Previous policy ended the disqualification period when the individual either complied, became exempt, left the current household, or after two months, whichever came first (see FAM 835.01). This provision also removes the requirement of a conciliation process to resolve situations in which a mandatory E&T participant fails to comply with a work requirement.

FORMS REVISIONS

Form 808, Proof Needed to Determine Your Assistance, and Form 808i, Instructions, have been revised to advise clients about the new proration policy.

PROCEDURES AND SYSTEMS REQUIREMENTS

Revised Treatment of Student Earnings

Pending EMS changes to income code 100 that will allow exclusion of student income up to and including age 17, the following Interim Procedures for treatment of student

earnings are to be used:

Open Cases With Students Under Age 18

When a student turns age 18, District Offices must change the income code 100 (excluded student earnings) to 101 (gross earned income) and, if necessary, change the student status code to E. This will permit both the counting of student income in the food stamp case and the 6 month exclusion of student income from an AFDC case. Changes should be made effective the month of the student’s 18th birthday.

Open Cases With Students Aged 18 through 21

As of the effective date of this SR, cases with students aged 18 through 21, who have earnings, should have the income codes manually converted from income code 100 to income code 101, and the student status code changed to E, if necessary, at the next recertification.

District Offices will be notified when the correlation edits for income code 100 have been changed, and will be instructed at that time of any actions that need to be taken on affected cases.

New and Revised NOD Closing and Denial Messages for Cases with Alien Members

 To close individuals currently open but who become ineligible at the end of the current certification period, issue a manual NOD with the following reason message:

BECAUSE OF A CHANGE IN FEDERAL LAW, YOU ARE NO LONGER ELIGIBLE FOR FOOD STAMPS SINCE YOU ARE NOT A US CITIZEN OR ANY OTHER TYPE OF ELIGIBLE ALIEN. SUPERVISORY RELEASE 96-51.

 To close cases for individuals who meet one of the exceptions, such as refugees, but whose 5 years have expired or who no longer qualify as exceptions according to INS, issue a manual NOD with the following reason message:

YOU NO LONGER MEET THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE FOOD STAMP PROGRAM BECAUSE YOU NO LONGER QUALIFY AS AN ELIGIBLE REFUGEE, ASYLEE, OR ALIEN WHOSE DEPORTATION HAS BEEN WITHHELD. SUPERVISORY RELEASE 96-51.

To use either of these messages, enter closing code 950 (Change in Law or Policy), suppress the notice and enter the text given above. Allow a 10 day advance notice period (ANP).

 For denials of new applicants processed on or after the effective date of this SR, use existing Code 055. The Reason Message has been revised to read:

YOU ARE NOT A US CITIZEN OR ANY OTHER TYPE OF ELIGIBLE ALIEN. SUPERVISORY RELEASE 96-51.

Transitional Housing Payments for the Homeless

Enter the amount of any vendor payments made on behalf of a homeless household for purposes of obtaining transitional housing as code 307, Other Income FS.

12 or 24 Month Certification Periods

There is currently no way to set a certification period of longer than 12 months on EMS. Systems is working on this change, but does not expect to have the programming done until December, 1996. Therefore, to provide a 24 month certification period at this time, case technicians must certify a qualifying household for 12 months, document in the case record that the household is eligible for the 24 month certification period, and enter the month ending the period on a change screen. As soon as systems completes the programming, District Offices will be notified and instructed on what steps to take to change these certification periods to the correct 24 months. Maintain the change screen, however, as a reminder to make contact with the household at the 12 month point. Additional information will be contained in a forthcoming SR.

Deeming of Income of Alien Sponsors

Use income code 150 to enter an alien sponsor’s income on EMS.

Failure to Comply with a Means Tested Financial Assistance Program

For DHHS Programs

To prevent food stamp allotments from increasing, manually compute the difference between the pre-penalty assistance payment amount and the actual amount received and enter on the I-line of the noncomplying individual, using code 307 (other income, FS). Apply this policy at the same time the financial assistance penalty is applied.

For SSI

Enter the amount of the penalty as verified by SSA on the I-line of the noncomplying individual using Code 307 (Other Income, FS).

Continue using the pre-penalty grant amount in the food stamp case until the penalty is removed or the individual is no longer required to comply with the requirement.

When implementing this sanction, it is extremely important to document in the case record why code 307 is being used, including reference to any verification. The use of Code 307 is an interim method to be used only until EMS is programmed with a separate code specific to this situation. Also, when a drop in SSI income is noted, case technicians should consult the SDX report to determine whether the cause is a penalty for failure to comply with a program requirement or some other reason. Request further verification from SSA whenever the reason for a decrease in SSI is suspected to be due to a penalty for failure to comply with a program requirement.

Revised NOD Denial and Closing Messages for Voluntary Quit

Until EMS programming can be completed, use the following manual procedures to deny or close an individual from the food stamp case for voluntarily quitting a job without good cause:

 To deny the individual, enter denial code 118, suppress the NOD, and issue a manual notice with the following reason message:

 YOU VOLUNTARILY QUIT YOUR JOB LESS THAN 60 DAYS BEFORE YOU APPLIED FOR FOOD STAMPS. YOU CANNOT GET STAMPS FOR AT LEAST(1 MONTH/3 MONTHS/6 MONTHS)* UNLESS YOU BECOME EXEMPT. YOU MUST REAPPLY TO GET FOOD STAMPS. SUPERVISORY RELEASE 96-51.

 To close the individual, enter closing code 478, suppress the NOD, and issue a manual notice with the following reason message. Allow a 10 day advance notice period:

 YOU VOLUNTARILY QUIT YOUR JOB. YOU CANNOT GET STAMPS FOR AT LEAST(1 MONTH/3 MONTHS/6 MONTHS)* UNLESS YOU BECOME EXEMPT. YOU MUST REAPPLY TO GET FOOD STAMPS. SUPERVISORY RELEASE 96-51.

*Manually insert the correct penalty in place of the parentheses depending on whether the voluntary quit is the individual’s first, second, or subsequent offense.

A systems request has been made to revise existing codes and, if necessary, add new codes to reflect the new penalty structure. When these changes have been made, district offices will be notified via separate EMS Handbook release.

REPORTS

Current Cases Containing At Least One Alien Member

A Magna report by case, individual, and District Office of open food stamp cases containing at least 1 individual currently coded I, L, R, or P has been generated and will be mailed to District Offices under separate cover.

Current Cases With Student Earnings

A Magna report by individuals with student status code of E or F and income code 100 indicates only 22 individuals match this description statewide. Because this policy appears to affect a very small number of current cases, no further EMS report targeting the affected age group is being requested at this time.

IMPLEMENTATION

For new applicants, the new policies are applied to all eligibility determinations made on or after September 23, 1996 regardless of application date (see exception below). Eligibility determinations made prior to the effective date should be made using previous policies. Apply the new provisions, however, at the next recertification.

Exception: Individuals who applied prior to the effective date, but whose eligibility is determined on or after the effective date, will have September benefits determined in the following manner. Because the policy is effective mid-month, these applicants will have their eligibility and benefit levels for the month of September (or for earlier months) determined using the old policy. For October, compute eligibility and benefits using the new policies. This may require processing the case as a variable basis of issuance.

For recipients, apply the revised policies at the next recertification interview.

Exception: President Clinton has authorized a waiver of 7CFR 272.1(f) to permit the extension of certification periods of all food stamp cases containing at least 1 qualified alien to 12 months or through August, 1997, whichever is earlier. State Office has reviewed all affected cases and has automatically extended the certification periods of these cases to 12 months. NOTE: cases certified for 12 months prior to the effective date of this SR, and whose current certification period ends after September, 1996, have not had the current certification period extended and must have the new policies applied at the next recertification.

Cases with extended certification periods will show an E transaction with special State Office batch number 121212 on the IS display. These cases will receive a special recertification NOD with the following message:

YOUR CURRENT CERTIFICATION PERIOD HAS BEEN AUTOMATICALLY EXTENDED AS ALLOWED BY FEDERAL POLICY. THE ENCLOSED LETTER EXPLAINS NEW FOOD STAMP POLICY REGARDING NONCITIZENS. YOUR ELIGIBILITY WILL BE REVIEWED ACCORDING TO THESE NEW POLICIES NO LATER THAN THE END OF YOUR NEW CERTIFICATION PERIOD.

Due to the short time frame given to implement these new policies, it was judged to be unreasonable to first ask District Offices to review each affected case to determine those households with unstable circumstances prior to extending certification periods. Therefore, District Office Supervisors should review the Alien Report (see above) for their District Office to identify any error-prone cases. For those cases, a Desk Review or client contact should be done to determine if case circumstances warrant the extended certification period. District Offices may shorten certification periods per current policy.

CLIENT NOTIFICATION

There are three separate client mailings associated with this SR:

1. All open food stamp households with at least one alien member and whose current certification period was 12 months received one version of a letter informing them of the new provisions on the treatment of lawfully admitted aliens for food stamp purposes.

2. A slightly different version of the first letter was sent to households whose certification period was extended by State Office. This letter was mailed with the special Notice of Decision advising them of the extended certification periods.

3. The third letter describes other changes mandated by PRWORA that will be included in the October Mass Change (SR 96-49) as well as the policy changes in this SR. The third letter will be mailed out with food stamps for the October major run.

All three letters are attached for reference.

TRAINING

No training is planned. Questions may be directed to Regional Administrators on an individual basis.

MANUAL PAGES

Family Assistance Manual

Due to time constraints, manual pages will be issued at a later date under separate SR.

EMS Handbook

Because of the timeliness issue, one EMS Handbook page with the revised reason message for denial Code 055 is being released under this SR rather than a separate EMS Memo.

Forms Manual

Photocopy and begin using the revised Form 808 with the effective date of this policy. An initial distribution of the printed copies will be sent to D.O.’s as soon as they are received from Graphic Services.

POSTING INSTRUCTIONS

DISPOSITION

This SR must be retained in the Family Assistance Manual until a forthcoming SR releases manual pages associated with these policy changes.

DISTRIBUTION

This SR only will be distributed according to the narrative distribution list for the FAM. The SR and pages will be distributed to all holders of the FAM and Forms Manual.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------CERTIFICATE OF DESTRUCTION

I hereby certify that all copies of Form 808, Proof Needed to Determine Your Assistance, dated 4/95 (SR 95-25) have been destroyed in this office.

Office Manager      District Office   

NOTE: Please return this certificate to Stock Control upon completion of the forms destruction.

OES/SJC/MGD/s