SR 22-28 Dated 09/22 |
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES – Bureau of family assistance (bfa)
INTER-DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION
FROM THE OFFICE OF: |
Administrator IV, BFA, Debra E. Sorli |
BFA SIGNATURE DATE: |
August 16, 2022 |
AT (OFFICE): |
Bureau of Family Assistance
|
TO: |
BFA Management Team District Office Supervisors Family Services Specialists
|
SUBJECT: |
Updates to Allowable Deductions for Financial Assistance for Needy Families and State Supplemental Program (SSP) Financial Assistance |
EFFECTIVE DATE: |
Upon Receipt |
SUMMARY
This Supervisory Release (SR) releases updates to PART 605 DEDUCTIONS of the Adult Assistance Manual (AAM) and Section 603.09 Other Allowable Deductions of the Family Assistance Manual (FAM) to clarify the types of deductions that are allowable for financial assistance applicants and recipients.
FORMER POLICY |
NEW POLICY |
State Supplemental Program (SSP): Allow the actual mandatory payment made by the individual, provided the DFA Supervisor approves the deduction. Obtain written approval from the Supervisor. Example: Court-ordered guardian fees |
State Supplemental Program (SSP): Allow the amount stipulated in the court order whether or not the individual makes the payment.
Example: A court-order is received showing the individual is now charged $350 (current amount) for their guardian fee. The court order is sufficient proof of the incurred expense and no additional verification is needed to allow the deduction. |
Financial Assistance for Needy Families (FANF): Allow allocation of income as a deduction when the applicant or recipient of FANF assistance pays for the unmet needs of a dependent outside of the FANF AG. |
Financial Assistance for Needy Families (FANF): Allocation of income is no longer an allowable deduction. |
POLICY
State rules provide that when determining eligibility and the amount of assistance for the state supplemental categories of financial assistance (ANB, APTD, and OAA), an allowable deduction from income available to the assistance group shall be made, in an amount which has been or must be paid by an individual for non-employment-related expenses. This means any court-ordered payment which must be paid by an individual shall be an allowable deduction, regardless of whether the individual actually makes the payment. Examples of court-ordered payments include alimony, child support, guardianship fees, and representative payee fees. The exception to this is restitution, which remains a non-allowable deduction. AAM 605, DEDUCTIONS, will be updated effective September 1, 2022 to reflect this clarification.
For financial assistance to needy families (FANF), allocated income is no longer an allowable deduction, meaning an applicant or recipient is not able to allocate any portion of their income to a dependent that is not included in the FANF assistance group. FAM 603.09, Other Allowable Deductions, will be updated effective September 1, 2022.
POLICY MANUAL REVISIONS
Revised Adult Assistance Manual Topics
Revised Family Assistance Manual Topics
Section 603.09 Income Allocated to Dependents
Section 603.09 Other Allowable Deductions
Section 603.09 Other Valid Deductions
CLIENT NOTIFICATION
No special client notification is planned or needed.
TRAINING
No special training is planned or needed.
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 Manual effective September 1, 2022.
DISTRIBUTION
This SR will be distributed according to the electronic distribution list for BFA policy releases. This SR, and revised On-Line Manual, will be available for agency staff in the On-Line Manual Library, and for public access on the Internet at https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/sr_htm/sr.htm, effective September 1, 2022. 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 Manual and Family Assistance Manual.
BFA:sh