SR 11-26 Dated 07/11

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

INTER-DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION

SUMMARY

This SR releases changes in the financial assistance grant determination process for the State Supplement Program (SSP), which includes the Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled (APTD), Old Age Assistance (OAA), and Aid to the Needy Blind (ANB) financial assistance programs. When an individual eligible for an SSP grant resides with others in an "independent living" arrangement but does not have any food or residence costs, the individual's SSP cash grant will be reduced by one-third. DFA Form 77c, NH State Supplement Program, was accordingly updated to add proof of residence or food expenses to the list of documents the SSP applicant should have available at their interview. This change is a result of budget reductions imposed by House Bill 2. SSP medical assistance is not impacted by these changes.

POLICY

An individual's State Supplement Program (SSP) financial assistance grant will be reduced by one-third when the SSP individual:

�   resides with others in an independent living arrangement;

�   does not receive Food Stamp benefits; and

�   does not have any food or residence costs.

SSP includes the Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled (APTD), Old Age Assistance (OAA), and Aid to the Needy Blind (ANB) financial assistance programs.

�   Independent living arrangement means that an individual eligible for an SSP grant lives in one of the following types of residences: apartment or house.

�   The "others" that the individual eligible for an SSP grant is living with can be anyone: relative or non-relative. Relationship to the individual eligible for SSP is not a factor; the pertinent criterion is that the SSP individual is not living alone.

�   Residence expenses means that the individual eligible for an SSP grant helps pay for household expenses such as rent, mortgage, electric, heat, phone, etc.

�   Food expenses means that the individual eligible for an SSP grant helps pay for the food in the household.

The one-third reduction in the SSP grant will not be applied in the following situations:

�   Individuals who do not live in an independent living arrangement. Individuals who are homeless or who live in CR or RCF housing types will not have the one-third reduction applied to their SSP grant and will not have to provide verification of food or residence costs.

�   Individuals who live alone. If the individual eligible for an SSP grant lives alone, the one-third reduction in the SSP grant does not apply, as the "living with others" criterion of the policy has not been met.

�   Individuals who are either receiving Food Stamp benefits or included in a Food Stamp household, regardless of living arrangement. These individuals are considered to have met the "paying towards the costs of food in the household" criterion.

�   ANB cases in which parental income and resources have been deemed to the case (see DFA SR 11-23 dated July 2011 for more information about ANB parental deeming). If parental deeming policy has already been applied to the ANB child's case, even if $0 income and $0 resources can be deemed from the parents, the one-third reduction in the SSP grant does not apply.

Example:

Verifications Needed for the New SSP One-Third Reduction Policy

Because paying towards food or residence expenses has never been a part of the SSP grant determination process, this information has not been collected by the Department. Effective July 1, 2011, however, verification requirements will change, but they will only change for SSP applicants who are:

�   living with others in an independent living arrangement; and

�   not receiving Food Stamps.

If the individual eligible for an SSP grant meets the circumstances listed above, the individual must provide proof of at least one of the following within the 10-day time period, or the one-third reduction will be automatically applied to the individual's SSP grant:

�   residence expenses: lease, rent receipt, utility bills in the individual's name, mortgage payment, taxes, statement from people the individual lives with stating whether or not the individual pays for rent or utilities, etc; or

�   food: client statement which includes the individual's name, address, case number and whether or not the individual pays toward the food the individual and the individual's household eats.

Note: Failure or refusal to provide the above verifications does not impact cash or medical assistance eligibility. Failure or refusal to provide the verifications impacts the SSP cash grant only. The grant will be automatically reduced if:

�   the individual eligible for an SSP cash grant fails or refuses to provide the verifications within timeframes; or

�   the individual does not have any residence or food expenses.

The one-third reduction in the SSP recipient's grant applies until the SSP recipient verifies a change in their circumstances. Once the SSP recipient supplies proof that the recipient has residence or food expenses, or that the recipient's living arrangement has changed, the one-third reduction must be removed from the grant applicable for the next payment period. New HEIGHTS will automatically remove the one-third reduction from any SSP recipient who begins to receive Food Stamp benefits.

NEW HEIGHTS AND DISTRICT OFFICE PROCEDURES AND IMPLEMENTATION

All the policies released in this SR have been incorporated into New Heights for the July 1, 2011 effective date.

The following statement was added to the "Living Arrangement Details" screen in New HEIGHTS: Both food and housing are provided by others residing in the household. A field with a dropdown of "Yes" or "No" follows this statement. The field can also be left blank:

�   If "Yes" is entered as the response to this statement, and the individual is not a Food Stamp recipient, New HEIGHTS will automatically apply the one-third reduction to the SSP recipient's grant. The following new reason message will then autopopulate the Notice of Decision (NOD) that will be generated on the case: You said you did not have food and housing expenses or you did not provide proof of these expenses. This is why your SSP cash grant was reduced by 1/3.

�   If "No" is entered as the response to this statement, or the statement is left blank, New HEIGHTS will not apply the one-third reduction to the SSP recipient's grant.

�   The statement will be optional for completion and will only be active for workers to fill-in when the living arrangement type selected for the SSP individual is "In apartment, house, etc." If the living arrangement screen is changed to a non-independent living arrangement type, the response to the new statement will default to a blank, the question will be disabled for completion, and if the one-third reduction had been applied to the SSP grant, the reduction will be automatically removed effective for the next payment period once eligibility has been run.

The statement will automatically default to a blank for all current SSP recipients once the policy is effective. The approximately 1,550 SSP recipients who reside in an independent living arrangement and are not receiving Food Stamp benefits will get a letter generated from State Office in early July. In the letter, the recipients will be provided with a July 29, 2011 deadline to provide proof of having residence or food expenses. A report listing the approximately 1,550 cases that may be 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 proof that they pay for food or residence expenses, so the one-third reduction does not apply to the case, the worker must enter "No" in the field for the new statement.

�   Do nothing (leave the field blank) for those cases who fail or refuse to supply the proofs by the July 29, 2011 deadline, or who provide proof indicating that the SSP recipient has no residence or food expenses.

Note: No "Yes" answers should be entered at all on these specific cases listed in the report because then the new policy will be applied inequitably, with different 1/3 reduction start dates for current recipients. To ensure that current recipients are treated equitably, either enter "No" into the field of the new statement, or leave the answer to the new statement blank, as dictated by the information received or not received from recipients by the July 29, 2011 deadline.

On August 18, New HEIGHTS will run a mass change on all the recipients who were sent the letter. For those cases in which a "No" has been entered into the field associated with the new statement, no change will occur to the SSP grant. For those cases in which the field was left blank, New HEIGHTS will switch the blank field to a "Yes," and the one-third reduction will be automatically applied to SSP grant. These people will get the following message on the NOD describing the new SSP grant amount: You said you did not have food and housing expenses or you did not provide proof of these expenses. This is why your SSP cash grant was reduced by 1/3.

DESCRIPTION OF REVISIONS MADE TO DFA FORM 77C

In addition to adding proof of residence or food expenses to the list of documents the SSP applicant should have available for their interview, the following changes were also made to DFA Form 77c, NH State Supplement Program:

�   the "Who May Be Eligible" section was merged with the first paragraph of the pamphlet and information in that section was moved into other sections of the form;

�   under the "How Do I Apply" section, additional text was added to emphasize that families may apply online at https://nheasy.nh.gov, that they can print an application from www.dhhs.nh.gov/dfa/apply, or the family can contact a District Office for an application;

�   text describing specific proof needed to verify citizenship and identity was removed from the "What Do I Need for My Interview" section, because changes at the federal level and implementation of the Social Security Administration cross-match in August 2010 removes the burden on most applicants to provide original paper proof of citizenship and identity as a condition of eligibility for financial and medical assistance (see SR 10-31 for more details);

�   the address and phone numbers for the Salem District Office were removed from the pamphlet, as that office has merged with Southern as of April 2011 (see SR 11-10 for more details). Additionally, the web address was corrected and the TDD access phone number was expanded to also include the option of dialing 7-1-1;

�   the "What Are My Responsibilities" section was revised so that it could be presented in bullet format to better align with the "What Are My Rights" section; and

�   the "Ask Questions" section was eliminated from the pamphlet as all notices supply information about how to contact the District Office.

Because the manner in which this form is used remains unchanged, the instructions for this form were not updated.

Offices are to use up the current supply of this form. When the current supply is exhausted, the new version will be printed. Continue to use the Spanish and Bosnian versions of this form, as needed, until the new English version can be retranslated.

POLICY MANUAL REVISIONS

Revised Adult Assistance Manual Topics

PART 617  GRANT DETERMINATION

Section 617.03  SSP One-Third Grant Reduction Principles

Section 617.05  SSP One-Third Grant Reduction Verification Requirements

IMPLEMENTATION

The policy released in this SR is effective July 1, 2011. District Offices are to use up the current supply of DFA Form 77c. When the current supply is exhausted, the new version of the form will be printed.

CLIENT NOTIFICATION

The first week of July 2011, a one-time mailing will be generated to the approximately 1,550 SSP cash cases that are coded as independent living and not receiving Food Stamps, to notify them of the state law changes and request proof of residence or food expenses. The letter has been attached for reference. Additionally, recipients whose SSP cash grant is reduced by one-third during the Mass Change on August 18th will receive the following special message in the "Explanations" section of the NOD generated:

You said you did not have food and housing expenses or you did not provide proof of these expenses. This is why your SSP cash grant was reduced by 1/3.

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.

FORMS MANUAL POSTING INSTRUCTIONS

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 Assistance and Forms Manuals.

DFA/JBV:s