SR 22-20 Dated 07/22

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES – DIVISION OF ECONOMIC AND HOUSING STABILITY

BUREAU OF FAMILY ASSISTANCE (BFA)

INTER-DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION

SUMMARY

This Supervisory Release (SR) releases the annual July updates to the Financial Assistance to Needy Families (FANF) Standard of Need (SON) used to determine the period of ineligibility for FANF cases receiving lump sum income and eligibility and benefit amount for FANF cases with deemed income.

BACKGROUND

RSA 167:7, II mandates annual updates to the SON to reflect changes in the cost of living, as implemented at administrative rule He-W 658.01. The FANF SON represents an approximate monthly amount that it would cost a family in NH for basic living necessities, including food, utilities, and rent.

POLICY

FANF SON Update

The annual July update to the FANF SON affects:

• FANF cash cases closed or denied due to lump sum income; and

• Open FANF cash, FANF medically needy, and FANF In and Out cases with a non- sanctioned deemer.

The SON is used to determine the period of ineligibility for cases receiving lump sum income, and eligibility and benefit amount for cases with deemed income. An increase in the SON may result in shorter periods of ineligibility for:

• those cases that are currently FANF-ineligible due to receipt of lump sum income, and

• in less income being counted as available for FANF medical assistance–only cases with deemed income.

A decrease in the SON may result in longer periods of ineligibility for:

• those cases that are currently FANF ineligible due to receipt of lump sum income, and

• in more income being counted as available for those FANF medical assistance–only cases with deemed income.

The maximum SON equals the Basic Maintenance Needs Allowance (BMNA) plus $342, the weighted average of the maximum shelter payment allowances. The 2022 BMNA and SON are noted below:

2022 Standard of Need

Lump Sum Calculations

Individuals who receive lump sum payments may be ineligible for assistance for the number of months resulting from dividing the lump sum amount (plus any other monthly income) minus any allowable reductions by the appropriate SON. Individuals whose cases were closed or denied due to receipt of lump sum income may reapply or request a recalculation due to the increase in the SON. If requested, the District Office must recalculate the client’s period of ineligibility. A new Notice of Decision (NOD) will be generated if the recalculation results in a different period of ineligibility.

Deemed Income Cases

The SON is used to determine the amount of income deemed to a household for FANF cases that include a non-sanction deemer ( i.e., households with ineligible alien parents, alien sponsors, and three generational households). Due to the increase in the SON, less deemed income would be counted as available to the assistance group (AG). New HEIGHTS will automatically recalculate benefit amounts for open cases with deemed income during this Mass Change. AGs whose cases were closed or denied due to excess deemed income may reapply or request to have their eligibility redetermined due to the increase in the SON. If requested, the District Office must recalculate the AG’s eligibility.

NEW HEIGHTS SYSTEMS PROCEDURES AND IMPLEMENTATION

July FANF SON

New HEIGHTS will update the reference table with the new figures effective July 1, 2022, and will use the new amounts for any cases computed or recomputed beginning on or after that date.

Clients Denied or Closed Prior to July 1. 2022 Due to Deemed Income or Receipt of Lump Sum

No District Office action is necessary unless a client requests to have their eligibility redetermined or their period of ineligibility recalculated. If a client requests this recalculation, the current SON released by this SR and effective July 1, 2022 will be automatically applied during the recalculation. If the client’s eligibility for assistance or length of ineligibility changes during the recalculation, a new NOD will be generated.

Open Cases With Deemed Income

New HEIGHTS ran an initial query to identify all open/on-going cash cases with a non-sanctioned deemer and all deductible cases with a non-sanctioned deemer whose grant amounts or spenddowns will change during the mass change and identified approximately 172 cases that may be impacted. The cases identified will be recomputed during the daily production run on the evening of June 16, 2022 Cases with deemed income whose grant amounts or spenddowns change will receive the appropriate message reflecting the new benefit level.

Because less deemed income may be counted as available in some cases, medical assistance only cases with a non-sanctioned deemer, and cases with a non-sanctioned deemer currently eligible for FANF cash assistance but not actually receiving the grant because the amount is under $10 per month, may now become eligible for a cash grant for the first time.

The latter cases described that do not have sufficient Benefit Issuance information during the daily production run of June 16, 2022 will appear on the MC Exception Report (NMC550RA) with the Reason for Exception listed as “No BI Payment Information.” District Offices must rerun eligibility and supply the missing Benefit Issuance information when that screen appears in the driver flow.

NOTE: The $10 minimum grant cases confirmed after the mass change will receive a standard opening message from New HEIGHTS. District Offices are not required to refer these cases to the NHEP team, as New HEIGHTS will have already referred mandatory NHEP participants to the NHEP team.

POST MASS CHANGE REPORTS

The following reports will be available with any July Mass Change related information beginning June 16, 2022.

NMC540RA: AG’s Affected by MC

This report lists all cases that the Mass Change ran successfully through confirmation. It contains the following information: D.O., Worker Name, Client Name, and Case Number.

NMC550RA: MC Exception Report

This report lists cases that were selected for computation during the Mass Change, but were not confirmed due to some discrepancy in data. These cases require further District Office action. The report contains the following information: D.O., Worker Name, Client Name, Case Number, Reason for Exception, and Mass Change Type.

POLICY MANUAL REVISIONS

Revised Family Assistance Manual Topics

Part 601, Table A FANF Basic Maintenance Needs Allowance and Maximum Standard of Need

Revised Medical Assistance Manual Topics

Section 605.03 Children with Severe Disabilities (CSD) Medically-Needy Resources Deduction Table

IMPLEMENTATION

New HEIGHTS will implement the SON updates on June 16, 2022 during the annual July Mass Change, effective July 1, 2022. The SON revisions identified in this SR are effective July 1, 2022, and will apply to all cases processed on or after that date.

CLIENT NOTIFICATION

FANF SON Update

Assistance groups experiencing a change in eligibility due to the mass change will receive the following text in the “Explanation” section of the Notice of Decision (NOD):

On July 1, the Financial Assistance to Needy Families Standard of Need, and the Child Care income limits changed. Your benefits,

 as shown in the old and new budgets below, may have been adjusted to reflect this or other changes that occurred in your case.

 He-C 6910.18; He-W 641.04(e); He-W 658.01; RSA 167:3-c, X; RSA 167:7, II

In addition to the client notice referenced above, clients will be notified, as needed, about the updates in the SON at the next case action or upon request.

No other client notification is planned.

TRAINING

No training is planned or needed due to the procedural nature of this SR.

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 BFA 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 July 1, 2022.

BFA/DMS:cm