MANUAL TRANSMITTAL
Arkansas Department of Human Services
Division of County Operations
Executive Directive
Issuance Number: FSC 92-7
MS 92-7
Food Stamp Certification Manual
Medical Services Policy Manual
Issuance Date: 4-1-92
From: Kenny Whitlock
Expiration Date: Until Superseded
Director
Subj: Program Initiatives – Food Stamp Lawsuit
BACKGROUND
A court date for the application processing lawsuit has been scheduled for July. The Department wishes to comply with federal regulations on 30-day processing. In order to do this, several measures to reduce the workload have been taken. Some of these changes are to be implemented in all counties and some to be implemented only in those counties that have pending food stamp applications that have been pending over 30 days. Additionally, each county with food stamp applications pending over 30 days that cannot become timely by May 31 under current procedures must submit a plan that indicates the county’ short range plan for being in compliance with application processing standards by May 31. This plan will list activities and time frames which the county proposes to implement. Your plan must be submitted to your Field Manager for approval within one week following the area meeting.
Policy on application processing has changed. These new provisions will be implemented on any initial application or untimely recertification that has not been interviewed at the time this directive is received in the county. The policy on certification periods should be implemented on approvals that are done after receipt of this directive.
The normal processing standard for initial food stamp applications is 30 days. Eligible households which complete the initial application process must be given an opportunity to participate in the Food Stamp Program as soon as possible but no later than 30 calendar days following the date the application was filed.
Note: "Opportunity to participate" means receipt of coupons by
Household. In order to give a household an opportunity to participate by the 30th day, the coupons must be mailed by the 28th day. This means application approvals must actually be keyed so the household’s food stamp allotment will extract on daily issuance,, be mailed and reach the household before the 30 day processing period ends. See FSC 8501 for instructions.
An application is filed the day the appropriate county office receives an application which contains the applicant’s name and address and which has been signed by either a responsible member of the household or the household’s authorized representative. See FSC 8100 through 8141 for a full explanation of the filing process. Whenever a household or its representative expresses an interest in obtaining food stamp assistance (in person or by phone) the county office will encourage the household to file an application that same day. The county will issue or mail (whichever the household chooses) the application on the day of the contact.
As per FSC 8502, households found to be ineligible must be sent a notice of denial as soon as possible but not later than 30 days following the date the application was filed. If the 30th day falls on a non work day, the notice of denial must be sent on the first work day after the 30th day.
This directive makes no changes in the processing standards; however, there are changes in the way initial and untimely subsequent applications will be handled ion the 30th day of the application period.
These procedures are effective for all non-expedited initial and untimely subsequent applications. Expedited applications will continue to be processed under the standards specified in FSC 9400. Recertifications will continue to be processed under the standard specified in FSC 10610-10640.
At the time of the application interview, the household will be issued an EMS-206, Notice of Delayed Application if the application is pending. Before the form is issued to the household, a county worker must explain the actions the household must take and offer to assist the household in obtaining the verification. The county worker must check the appropriate nbox on the REMS-206 to show if assistance was offered.
On the 30th day following the date of application the county will determine the cause of the delay. (If the 30th day falls on a weekend or holiday, this will be the first work day after the 30th day.) A county worker will review the information found in the record to determine if the household or the county caused the delay in processing the application.
If the county is at fault for the delay in processing, the application will not be denied. Instead, the county office must take any actions necessary to complete the application process. For example, if all the information required to complete the application has been provided by the household, but the application has not yet been processed, the county must process the application immediately. If this is not done, a notice (EMS-1) must be sent to the household explaining the delay.
If the household has not been notified by EMS-206 of the information which must be provided to process its application, an EMS-206 will be prepared and mailed to the household. For example, if the delay in application processing is due to the fact tht the household has not been notified via EMS-206 of its responsibility to provide verification of its income, an EMS-2206 requesting verification of income must be completed and sent to the household. This EMS-206 must specify the date by which this information must be provided. (This is the 60th day after the date of application. Or, if the 60th day falls on a weekend or holiday, this is the first working day after the 60th day.)
A delay will be considered the fault of the household if the household has failed to complete the application process even though the county office has taken all the actions it is required to take to assist the household.
For households that have failed to complete the application form, the county office must have offered, or attempted to offer, assistance in its completion on or before the 30th day of the application period. (This will apply if the household is interviewed on or before the 30th day of the application period and refuses to provide the information needed to complete the application form and determine the household eligibility.)
In cases where verification is incomplete, the county office must have:
- Provided the household with a statement of required verification (properly completed DMS-206);
- Offered to assist the household in obtaining required verification (see the bottom of the front page of the revised EMS-206); and
- Allowed the household sufficient time to provide the missing verification.
If the household’s first interview is scheduled between the 20th and 30th day of the application period and the household appears for the interview but does not provide all required verification, the household will be notified of the missing verification via EMS-206. The household’s application must be held for 60 days before denial unless the household is otherwise determined to be ineligible. If the household completes the application process and is found eligible, the county office will be considered to be ar fault for the delay in processing and benefits will be provided from the date of application.
If the household fails to appear for an interview scheduled on or before the 20th day of the application period and makes no request to reschedule its interview, the application will be denied on the 30th day. The household must submit another application if it wishes to reapply.
If a household fails to appear for its first interview scheduled between the 20th and the 30th day of the application period and makes no request to reschedule its interview, the application will be denied on the 30th day. However, if before the end of the 60th day following the date of application the household requests its interview be rescheduled, the county office will reinstate the household’s original application and if the household is determined eligible, benefits will be provided from the original date of application.
If the county office schedules at least two interviews during the first 30 days of the application processing period and the household appears for neither interview, the application will be denied on the 30th day. The household must submit another application if it wishes to reapply. Additional request for rescheduling of interviews will have no effect on either the denial of the application on the 30th day or the fact that the household must submit another application if it wishes to participate in the program.
If the household has failed to appear for its first interview and a second interview is requested but cannot be rescheduled until after the 20th day before the 30th day following the date the application was filed, the household must appear for the interview and provide verification by the 30th day; otherwise the delay will be the fault of the household and the application will be denied on the 30th day.
If the household has failed to appear for its first interview and has requested its second interview be rescheduled after the 30th day, the application will be denied on the 30th day. If the household appears for the interview, the same application form will be reregistered with the date of the interview as the date of application.
- Client Caused Delays
If the client is at fault for the delay in processing the application, the application will be denied on the 30th day or if the 30th day falls on a weekend or holiday, the first working day after the 30th day. When the 30th day falls on the weekend or holiday the "Denial Date" on the EMS-211 or EMS-223 will be the actual 30th date. The date signed will be the workday that the document is completed. For example, an application becomes 30 days old on Saturday, April 7. Although the caseworker must wait until Monday, April 9 to take the denial action, the "Denial Date" will be April 7. This will improve the application reports.
A manual EMS-1, Notice of Action, will be prepared to advise the household that:
- Its application has been denied;
- The reason for the denial (specify what information has not been provided); and
- The household may continue the application process until (specify day 60 of the application period) by providing the required information.
NOTE: The procedures which follow do not apply to households which miss an appointment scheduled before the 20th day of the application period and do not request a second appointment. Should a household denied for this reason contact the county office after its application has been denied, the household will be advised to submit another application.
Although the application will be denied, the applicant retains his right to complete his application for a full 60 calendar days after the date of application by supplying all needed information. Therefore, if an applicant whose application has been denied on the 30th day supplies all needed information before the 60th calendar date following the dat4e of application, the county must take the following actions:
- Locate the denied application;
- Reregister the denied application using the date on which all needed information 3as supplied as the date of application; and
- Dispose of the application.
The household must not be required to either submit a new application form nor have a second interview. If the household reports any changed information then this information must be acted upon before approval of the application.
It is recommended that each county develop a system to insure that applicants who were denied on the 30th day retain their right to complete the original application when all needed information is submitted before the 60th day. No system is mandated, but each county must be able to demonstrate compliance with these provisions.
- Certification Periods - (FS) The entire revised policy on certification period is as follows:
- A six-month certification period may be assigned to households which were granted separate household status because the parent and minor child(ren) reside with the parent’s parents, and they declare that they are purchasing and preparing meals separate from each other.
- Households in which all members are included in a single AFDC case (or AFDC and SSI) will be assigned a certification per to coincide with the AFDC re-evaluation.
- Households consisting totally of aged/disabled members who have no earnings will be assigned certification periods up to 24 months.
- Households whose primary source of income is from self-employment (including self-employed farmers) or from regular farm employment with the same employer may be assigned a 12-month certification period if the income is readily predictable and household circumstances are not likely to change.
- All other households will be assigned the longest certification periods possible based upon the predictability of the household’s circumstances. A minimum certification period of 3 months may be assigned based on this policy, except in the following situations:
- Households which cannot reasonably predict what their circumstances will be in the near future or those which are very likely to have significant changes in income or household status will be assigned a 1 or 2 month certification period.
- Households certified under the expedited service provisions in which verification is pending will be assigned a 1-mointh certification period.
Households with fluctuating income may be certified for a maximum of six months if the fluctuations in income are taken into account at certification (i.e., two or more months of income were used).
Because of the need for county office workers to devote more time processing Food Stamp applications, some procedural changes are being made in the management of existing Medicaid caseloads and new applications for Medicaid assistance. The items below represent initiatives that will reduce Medicaid workload and will, therefore, allow county office workers to devote more time to processing Food Stamp applications.,
Reevaluation of cases requiring six-month review will be suspended for the months of March, April, May, June, and July, 1992. This includes reviews of Categories 16, 22, 26, 36, 46, 51, 52, 56, 61, 63, 65, 66, 76, 86, 91, 92, and 96. In order to prevent large numbers of cases appearing on the overdue reevaluation lists and in order to generate EMS-75s for the reviews which must be completed in august and later, an EMS-56 (EMS—57 for Cat. 16, 36, 46, 91, 92, and 96) must be completed for system entry with the following data: Action Date, Action Type "O", Worker No., Action Reason "201", Reeval Date, Worker Signature, and Date,. A note should be written in the comment section or on the margin of the form to indicate that "This RE has been suspended for 6 months, according to Central Office instructions". When returned from the terminal operator, the form should be filed in the case record, along with the EMS-75.
Any reviews pending, which were due 3/92, when these instructions are received should be handled as instructed above. Enter the Reeval, Date on the EMS-56 or EMS-57 on which the review should have been completed, i.e., enter for March, 1992, in the Reeval,. Date field on the form. THESE INSTRUCTIONS DO NOT APPLY TO CASES DUE FOR COMPLETION OF REVIEW 2/92 or EARLIER. Cases with reevaluation due dates of 2/92 or earlier MUST BE COMPLETED.
Pending or scheduled case changes which could result in ineligibility and case closure MUST be followed through and completed.
NOTE: If a Cat. 26 or Cat. 46 is scheduled for MRT review during the four month suspension, the MRT review must be completed as usual ad the system data showing completion f the reevaluation will not be entered until an EMS-109 has been received from MRT. Also, Long Term Care and other Medicaid cases requiring ANNUAL review cannot be waived and MUST be completed, in order to be in compliance with federal regulations.
When an EMS-645 or other information is received regarding coverage for a newborn infant, cou ties will be given 20 days, instead of the current 5 days, to certify the infant in the appropriate category,. If the infant can (or must ) be added to an existing case, for example Cat. 61 or Cat. 20, take necessary action to obtain an application, determine eligibility and add the infant to the case, without completing a certification in Category 52 or Category 63. In other situations, for example, infants born to SSI mothers or to mothers who will not remain Medicaid eligible, Cat. 52 and Cat. 63 will be utilized, and counties should complete the certifications as soon as possible, but no later than 20 days after receipt of the EMS-645. INFANTS BORN TO MEDICAID ELIGIBLE MOTHERS MUST BE GIVEN THE 12 MONTH MEDICAID COVERAGE (MS 2080).
Previously, counties were told that they need not schedule office interviews for PE pregnant women and that they could alternate, every other six months, office interviews with telephone interviews for AFDC related Medicaid cases. Counties will now be given the option of completing reevaluations by mail and/or telephone in lieu of conducting office interviews for reevaluations for ALL Medicaid categories. Interviews currently scheduled for pending reevaluations may be canceled. When reviewing forms for completion of reevaluations, workers may telephone (or use mail service) to clarify questionable information, to contact collaterals, or for any other reason deemed necessary. If a worker has reasons fore wanting to interview a client, or if a client requests an office interview, an office interview will be scheduled.
These instructions for Newborn Certifications and Office Interviews for Reevaluations will be continued until further instructions are issued by Central Office.
If a household fails to provide verification of a deductible expense by the 30th day following the date of application or by the end of its certification period (if timely filed), then the household may be certified omitting the expense, provided it is otherwise eligible. See FSC 6410 and FSC 6524
In addition to the above options, a county should include any additional proposed workload reduction activities in the Plan that the county believes will enable them to be in compliance.