208 Expedited Service

A. Entitlement to Expedited Service The following households are entitled to expedited service: 1. Households with less than $150 in monthly countable gross income provided their liquid resources (i.e., cash on hand, checking or savings accounts, savings certificates, and lump sum payments) do not exceed $100. Note: Income that is excluded for food assistance purposes shall not be considered in determining the household’s entitlement to expedited service. 2. Migrant or seasonal farm worker households who are defined as destitute in Section 1004C provided their liquid resources (i.e. cash on hand, checking or savings accounts, savings certificates, and lump sum payments) do not exceed $100. 3. Households whose combined monthly gross income and liquid resources are less than the household’s monthly rent or mortgage and actual utilities, except that the telephone standard rate shall be substituted for actual telephone bills. B. Identifying Households Needing Expedited Service The Food Assistance Application (and the Joint Application for Public Assistance and Food Assistance, short form) are designed to identify households eligible for expedited service at the time the household requests assistance. (When the Joint Application is filed without the short form, the worker shall determine, based on the interview, if the household is entitled to expedited service.) Applications shall be screened for entitlement to expedited service as they are filed or as individuals come in to apply for assistance. A receptionist, volunteer, or other employee may conduct the screening. C. Processing Standards The county department shall use the following procedures for expediting issuance to households entitled to expedited service and determined eligible in accordance with Section 208 below. Food assistance must be available not later than the seventh calendar day following the date the application was filed. (This provision includes all expedited service households, regardless of whether such households reside in drug addict or alcoholic treatment rehabilitation centers or group living arrangement facilities.) There are no exceptions to the seven calendar day processing standard for weekends or holidays. 1. If the seventh calendar day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the household shall have the opportunity to pick up their food stamps on the last working day prior to the weekend or holiday. 2. If food assistance is mailed, sufficient time shall be allowed for the assistance to reach the household by the seventh calendar day after the application is filed. Entitlement to Expedited Service and Waiver of the Office Interview If the household is entitled to expedited service and is also entitled to a waiver of the office interview, the county department shall conduct the interview (unless the household cannot be reached) and complete the application process within the expedited service standards unless a telephone interview is conducted. If the county department conducts a telephone interview and must mail the application to the household for signature, the mailing time involved will not be calculated in the expedited service standards. Mailing time shall only include the days the application is in the mail to and from the household and the days the application is in the household’s possession pending signature and mailing. Late Determinations/Changes in Expedited Status If the screening of applications required in B above fails to identify a household as being entitled to expedited service and the county department subsequently discovers that the household is entitled to expedited service, the county department shall provide expedited service to households within the processing standards described in this section, except that the processing standard shall be calculated from the date the county department discovers the household is entitled to expedited service. If a household loses its entitlement to expedited service between the date of application and the interview, the application shall be processed using normal processing standards. If a household is not eligible for the month of application, but is eligible and qualifies for expedited service for the following month, it shall be provided an opportunity to participate within seven days from the date of application or the first day of the second month, whichever is later. D. Special Procedures The county department shall use the following special procedures for expediting certification to households entitled to expedited service: 1. In all cases, the applicant’s identity (i.e., the identity of the person making the application) shall be verified through a collateral contact or readily available documentary evidence. 2. All reasonable efforts shall be made to verify through collateral contact or readily available documentary evidence the following items within the expedited processing standards: a) Residency b) Income statement (including a statement that the household has no income). c) Liquid resources. d) All other factors for which verification is required if the application is an initial application or if it is a recertification application. Food assistance benefits shall not be delayed beyond the 7-day processing standards in this section solely because the above eligibility factors (other than identity) have not been verified. County departments should attempt to obtain as much verification as possible during the interview, but should not delay the certification of households entitled to expedited service for the full 7-day timeframe if it has been determined it is unlikely the other verification can be obtained within the 7 days. Specific nonfinancial eligibility criteria shall be handled as follows for expedited cases. Social Security numbers: Households will be requested to provide a SSN or apply for one for each person before the first full month of participation (or before the second full month of participation if the household receives a combined allotment). Household members who are unable to provide the required SSN can continue to participate only if they satisfy the good cause requirements in Chapter 6. If the household is unable to provide proof of application for an SSN for a newborn, the household must provide the SSN or proof of application at its next recertification or within 6 months following the month the baby is born, whichever is later. If the household is unable to provide an SSN or proof of application for an SSN at its next recertification or within 6 months following the baby’s birth, determine if the good cause provisions of Chapter 6 are applicable. Work registration: With regard to the work registration requirements, the county department shall, at a minimum, require the applicant to register (unless exempt or unless the person being interviewed is the authorized representative). The county department may attempt to register other household members but shall postpone the registration of other household members if it cannot be accomplished within the expedited service timeframes. The county department may attempt work registration of other household members by requesting that the applicant complete the work registration forms for other members to the best of his or her ability. The county department may also attempt to accomplish work registration for other household members in a timely manner through other means, such as calling the household. The county department may attempt to verify questionable work registration exemptions, but such verification shall be postponed if the expedited service timeframes cannot be met. Collateral Contact When Documentary Evidence Is Not Readily Available Once an acceptable collateral contact has been designated, the county department shall promptly contact the collateral contact, in accordance with the provisions in Section 205 D. Although the household has the primary responsibility for providing other types of verification, the county department shall assist the household in promptly obtaining the necessary verification. Certification Periods Households that are certified on an expedited basis and have provided all necessary verification required in Section 205 shall be assigned normal certification periods; semi-annual reporting households shall be assigned a certification period of twelve months. If verification was postponed, the county department may certify these households for: 1. The month of application (the month of application and the subsequent month for those households applying after the 15th of the month), or 2. A normal certification period for those households whose circumstances would otherwise warrant longer certification periods than one or two months as described above. When Verification Is Postponed Verification of all eligibility factors other than identity may be postponed in accordance with Section 208D to meet the timely processing standard for expedited applications. The signed Penalty Warnings, Perjury Statement, and Signature page may be treated as postponed verification for expedited households; however, the Signature page must be signed in order for the household to continue to receive ongoing food assistance benefits. When certified only for the month of application, households must reapply and complete the verification, which was postponed, unless they have been certified under normal processing standards since the last expedited certification. All households applying between the 1st and 15th of a month, who are assigned certification periods greater than one month, shall have verification postponed for the month of application, if needed, and are entitled to receive the first month’s prorated benefit within the expedited timeframe if otherwise eligible. The State agency shall notify the households in writing that no further benefits will be issued until the postponed verification is completed. The notice must also advise the household that if verification results in changes in the household’s eligibility or level of benefits, the county will act on those changes without advance notice of adverse action. Households applying after the 15th of the month, who is assigned certification periods greater than one month, shall have verification postponed for the first month and the subsequent month, if verification cannot be secured within the expedited timeframe, and shall receive the first month’s benefit and the following month’s benefit as a combined allotment, if they are otherwise eligible. The State agency shall notify the households in writing that no further benefits will be issued until the postponed verification is completed. The notice must also advise the household that if verification results in changes in the household’s eligibility or level of benefits, the county will act on those changes without advance notice of adverse action. Migrant households applying after the 15th of a month, who are assigned certification periods greater than one month shall: 1. Receive the first month’s benefit and the following month’s benefit within the expedited timeframe, if otherwise eligible. 2. Be notified in writing that they shall provide postponed verification from sources within the state before the third month’s benefits are issued. 3. Be notified that they shall provide all verification from out-of-state sources before being issued benefits for the fourth month. The notice shall also advise the household that if verification results in changes in the household’s eligibility or level of benefits, the county department shall act on those changes without advance notice of adverse action. Migrant households shall be entitled to postpone out-of-state verification only once each season. If a migrant household requesting expedited service has already received this exception during the current season, the county department shall grant a postponement of out-of-state verification only for the initial and second month’s issuance and not for the third month’s issuance. When households which applied for benefits after the 15th of the month provide the required postponed verification, the county department shall issue the third month’s benefits within five working days from receipt of the verification or the first day of the third calendar month, whichever is later (regardless of the household’s scheduled issuance day). The actual first working day of the calendar month issuance provision shall also apply to issuance in the fourth month for those migrant households needing out-of-state verification. Except for migrant households needing out-of-state verification, when the postponed verification is not completed by the end of the second month, the county department shall terminate the household’s participation and shall issue no further benefits. When Verification Is Not Postponed Households who have applied for benefits after the 15th of the month and who have been determined eligible to receive benefits for the initial month of application and the subsequent month shall receive their prorated allotment for the month of application and the first full month’s allotment at the same time within the expedited timeframe. 1. If the prorated allotment is less than $10, the second month’s allotment shall be issued in accordance with the expedited service timeframe. 2. The period of intended use for the combined allotment is two months regardless of the date of issuance; therefore the household is entitled to receive both months’ allotments at the same time in either the first or second month. 3. Unless the migrant or seasonal farm work household has been out of certification at least 30 days, this household is not entitled to a combined allotment even if he meets the criteria for entitlement to a combined allotment. Recertification There is no limit to the number of times a household can be certified under expedited procedures, as long as prior to each expedited certification, the household either completes the verification requirements that were postponed at the last expedited certification or was certified under normal processing standards since the last expedited certification. Non-entitlement to Expedited Services Households requesting, but not entitled to, expedited service shall have their applications processed according to normal standards.