SR 11-23 Dated 07/11

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

INTER-DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION

SUMMARY

This SR releases a change in the Aid to the Needy Blind (ANB) financial assistance eligibility determination process for ANB applicants and recipients under the age of 18. Parental income and resources must now be deemed to ANB applicants and recipients under the age of 18 when determining the child's eligibility for ANB cash assistance. These changes bring the Department into compliance with Section 1902(a)(17)(D) of the Social Security Act [42 USC 1396a(a)(17)(D)] and are a result of budget initiatives amending RSA 167:3-b.

The ANB medical assistance determination process is not impacted by these changes due to the maintenance of effort (MOE) requirements of the Affordable Care Act (PL 111-148), signed into law on March 23, 2010.

POLICY

Parents' income and resources are deemed to Aid to the Needy Blind (ANB) financial assistance applicants and recipients who:

�   are under 18 years old; and

�   reside with their parent or parents.

In this new ANB deeming process, "parent" is defined in the same manner as in the FANF program and means the biological, adopted, or step-father and/or mother of the ANB cash applicant or recipient under the age of 18.

The ANB medical assistance determination process remains unchanged; parental deeming does not apply when determining eligibility for ANB medical assistance.

Deeming Principles

Deeming principles are based on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) methodology, not on current ANB or FANF deeming principles. However, if the parents identified for deeming in the ANB cash case are already receiving any category of FANF or State Supplement Program (SSP) cash assistance, the parents' income will not be deemed to the ANB cash applicant or recipient under the age of 18.

Parental deeming to an ANB applicant or recipient ends as of the month following the month in which the child turns 18. This means that parental deeming principles apply through the month the ANB applicant or recipient turns age 18, regardless of whether an application has been filed before or after the day the ANB applicant turns 18. For example, the ANB applicant's date of birth (DOB) is 8/1 and the individual applies for ANB cash assistance on 8/15. Parental income and resource deeming policy applies through 8/31. As of 9/1, parental deeming no longer applies to the ANB cash case. However, at that point policy related to reducing an SSP recipient's cash grant by one-third may apply, if the ANB applicant or recipient has no food or residence expenses and is not receiving Food Stamp benefits. See SR 11-26, dated July 2011 for more information.

When determining the available deemed income (ADI) for parents of ANB applicants and recipients under the age of 18, the following process must be used. This process is based upon the SSI methodology used to determine SSI eligibility:

�   a "Child Allocation" deduction is allowed. This deduction is subtracted from the parents' unearned income for each unmarried sibling who is not receiving assistance and is verified to be currently living in the home of the ANB applicant or recipient. The sibling must be under age 18, or under age 20 if a student. The figure assigned to this deduction is the difference between the SSI Maximum Benefit for a couple and an individual (i.e., $1,011 - $674 = $337). For each sibling verified to be living in the home of the ANB child add an additional $337, as listed in the table below. The total Child Allocation deduction is then subtracted from the parents' combined unearned income. If the parents' combined unearned income is less than the Child Allocation deduction, or the parents have no unearned income, the remaining allocation amount is subtracted from the parents' combined earned income:

* For each additional child, add $337.

The figures above will be updated annually during the January Mass Change, beginning in January 2012 with DFA SR 12-01.

�   A flat $20 general income exclusion is then deducted from any remaining parental unearned income. If there is not enough unearned income from which to deduct the $20, the remainder of the $20 is deducted from the parents' combined earned income;

�   The parents also get a flat $65 earned income disregard (EID) from the parents' combined earnings. Only one EID is allowed in the deeming process; both parents are not allowed a $65 EID, even if both parents are working. However, the other allowable deductions listed in AAM 605, DEDUCTIONS, are also allowed;

�   After the EID is deducted from the parents' combined earned income, one-half of the remaining earned income is deducted; and

�   a special "Parental Living Allowance" is allowed as a final income deduction. This allowance is subtracted from the parents' combined earned and unearned income after all the above deductions are applied. This final deduction is based on the number of parents in the household. The SSI Maximum Benefit for a couple is allowed for a 2-parent family, and the SSI Maximum Benefit for an individual is allowed for a single-parent family, per the table below:

These figures too will be updated annually during the January Mass Change, beginning in January 2012 with DFA SR 12-01.

The following table outlines how the new ANB deeming principles will be applied when determining the parental ADI:

Note: Only one ADI amount is calculated for the ANB cash case even if there is more than one eligible ANB child in the household. If there is more than one eligible ANB child in the household, the parental ADI is divided equally between or among the other eligible ANB recipients. For example, If a family has 2 ANB children in the household and the parental ADI is $3,000, the ADI deemed to each child is $1,500 ($3,000 / 2 = $1,500.) when determining the children's eligibility for ANB cash assistance.

When determining the available deemed resources for parents of ANB cash applicants and recipients under the age of 18, a "protected" resource amount is allowed. Any parental resources that exceed the protected amounts in the table below, are deemed to the ANB cash applicant or recipient under the age of 18. Current policy regarding counted and excluded resources, and current policy regarding the ANB resource limit apply during the parental resource deeming process:

Example: An ANB applicant under the age of 18 is living with both parents and the parents' countable resources using current policy regarding countable and excluded resources, totals $15,000. The protected amount is $3,000 for the parental ANB resource deeming process when the applicant lives with both parents, so a total of $12,000 is deemed towards the ANB applicant's financial assistance case. Since the ANB resource limit is $1,500, the ANB applicant is over the resource limit for ANB cash assistance and is therefore ineligible for an ANB cash grant. ANB medical assistance eligibility is determined using current policy which does not deem parents' income or resources towards the case.

Verifications Needed for the New ANB Deeming Principles

Because the ANB recipient is considered to be a household of one and generally only the ANB applicant's or recipient's income and resources are counted, information about the ANB individual's family members is not currently collected by the Department unless the family member is a spouse or needy essential person. Effective July 1, 2011, certain information will be required from non-household members of ANB cash applicants and recipients under the age of 18:

�   the name, date of birth, and marital status of parents of ANB cash applicants and recipients under the age of 18 must now be supplied to the Department. A verbal declaration is sufficient for this information. Failure or refusal to supply this information will result in the denial of ANB cash assistance.

�   verification of all parental income and resources of parents of ANB cash applicants and recipients under the age of 18 must be supplied to the Department. Current ANB policies regarding what constitutes acceptable proof of income and resources apply. Failure or refusal to supply this information will result in the denial of ANB cash assistance.

�   verification of the number of unmarried siblings in the household, the unmarried siblings' dates of birth, and proof that the unmarried siblings are still living in the household, must be supplied to the Department for the parent to receive the Child Allocation deduction. A copy of the birth certificates for each sibling for which a deduction is requested is required, as is a signed statement from the parent living in the home certifying, under penalty of perjury, that the sibling is unmarried and lives in the home with the ANB recipient. For siblings 18 and older but under the age of 20, proof of student status is also required. Failure or refusal to supply this information will result in no Child Allocation deduction being allowed from parental income for the specific child.

NEW HEIGHTS AND DISTRICT OFFICE PROCEDURES AND IMPLEMENTATION

The ANB parental deeming changes released in this SR have been incorporated into New Heights for the July 1, 2011 effective date.

The first week of July, State Office will be sending a letter to the ANB recipients under the age of 18 to notify them of the changes and request the proofs needed to implement the new deeming policy. Recipients will have until July 29, 2011 to provide the required proofs. A report listing the approximately 100 cases impacted by this policy will be generated at the end of July and provided to the District Office. For those cases on the list:

�   who provide the required proof, enter the information into New HEIGHTS in the appropriate screens and rerun eligibility. The deeming principles will be applied according to the policy released in this SR. Individuals who experience a change in their ANB grant will receive a Notice of Decision (NOD) explaining the change; or

�   who fail or refuse to supply the proofs by the July 29, 2011 deadline, the Family Services Specialist (FSS) must go to the Program of Assistance (POA) screen in New HEIGHTS and manually close the case for "Failed to Provide Verifications." The effective date of closing must be 8/1/11. Note: Workers must manually add the following text to the NOD that is generated to have the text appear on the notice: We are now required, due to changes in state law, to count parental income and resources when a child under the age of 18 applies for or gets ANB cash. You did not give us the proof we needed. Because of this, you cannot get ANB cash.

POLICY MANUAL REVISIONS

Revised Adult Assistance Manual Topics

PART 511  INCOME TYPES: DEEMED INCOME

Section 603.01  Earned Income Disregard

Section 615.01  ANB Parental Deeming Principles

Section 615.03  ANB Parental Deeming Verification Requirements

IMPLEMENTATION

The policy released in this SR is effective July 1, 2011.

CLIENT NOTIFICATION

A one-time client letter will be generated the first week of July to the approximately 100 ANB financial assistance cases who are children under the age of 18, notifying them of the state law changes and requesting the required proofs. The letter has been attached to this SR for reference.

TRAINING

This policy change was discussed at the June 9, 2011 Supervisor's Meeting in Concord, NH. Additionally, the DFA Training Unit conducted a statewide training for Family Services Specialists (FSS) at the end of June 2011. No other special training is planned.

DISPOSITION

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

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 www.dhhs.nh.gov/DFA/publications.htm, effective August 1, 2011. Additionally, this SR, and printed pages with posting instructions, will be distributed under separate cover to all internal hard copy holders of the Adult and Family Assistance Manuals.

DFA/JBV:s