211 SSI Households

Households which meet all the following conditions may apply for food assistance benefits and have their application interview at the SSA office: 1. All members are applying for SSI. 2. The household has not applied for food assistance in the 30 preceding days. 3. The household does not have an application pending at the food assistance office. Households applying simultaneously for SSI and food assistance shall be subject to food assistance eligibility criteria, and benefit levels shall be based solely on food assistance eligibility criteria until the household is considered categorically eligible. Households that are denied food assistance that have an SSI application pending shall be informed on the Notice of Denial of the possibility of categorical eligibility if they become SSI recipients. All fair hearing requests for households jointly applying for SSI and food assistance regarding their food assistance eligibility or benefit level must be handled by the Department of Human Resources as is now the case. The presence of Social Security Administration employees may not be compelled at any such hearings, but any negative findings concerning the Social Security Administration should be forwarded to the Social Security Administration for corrective action. Any civil rights complaints directed at Social Security Administration employees or other complaints about Social Security Administration employees, procedures or facilities should be directed to the Social Security Administration for review and appropriate action. A. Initial Application and Eligibility Determination Whenever a member of a household consisting only of SSI applicants or recipients transacts business at a SSA office, the SSA shall inform the household of: 1. It’s right to apply for food assistance at the SSA office without going to the food assistance office. 2. It’s right to apply at a food assistance office if it chooses to do so. The SSA office will accept and complete food assistance applications received at the SSA office from SSI households and forward them, within one working day after receipt of a signed application to the local food assistance office for the county in which the households resides. The food assistance application shall be attached to Form SSA-4233(6-81), Social Security Administration Transmittal for Food Assistance Applications when forwarded by SSA. County Department Action County departments shall act on food assistance applications received from SSA in accordance with the following procedures: 1. The county department shall make an eligibility determination and issue food assistance benefits to eligible SSI households within 30 days following the date the application was received by the SSA. Applications shall be considered filed for normal processing purposes when the signed application is received by SSA. The expedited processing time standards shall begin on the date the county department receives a food assistance application. 2. Food assistance applications and supporting documentation sent to an incorrect food assistance office shall be sent to the correct office, by the county department, within one working day of their receipt in accordance with Section 202(B) of this chapter. 3. Households in which all members are applying for or participating in SSI will not be required to see an eligibility worker, or otherwise be subjected to an additional county interview. 4. The food assistance application will be processed by the county department. 5. The county department shall not contact the household further in order to obtain information for certification for food assistance benefits unless one of the following applies: a) The application is improperly completed. b) Mandatory verification required is missing. c) The county department determines that certain information on the application is questionable. 6. In no event would the applicant be required to appear at the food assistance office to finalize the eligibility determination. 7. Further contact made in accordance with the above procedures shall not constitute a second food assistance certification interview. Households Where Not All Members Are Applying For or Receiving SSI The SSA office is not required to accept food assistance applications or conduct food assistance interviews for SSI applicants/recipients who are members of households which contain non-SSI applicants/recipients. An applicant for or recipient of SSI shall be informed at the SSA office of the availability of benefits under the Food Assistance Program and the availability of a food assistance application at the SSA office. Applications from such households shall be considered filed on the date the signed application is received in the appropriate food assistance office. Expedited Service Screening The SSA shall prescreen all applications for entitlement to expedited services on the day the application is received at the SSA office and shall mark “Expedited Processing” on the first page of all households’ applications that appear to be entitled to such processing. The SSA will inform households which appear to meet the criteria for expedited service that benefits may be issued a few days sooner if the household applies directly at the food assistance office. The household may take the application from SSA to the food assistance office for screening, an interview, and processing of the application. The county department shall prescreen all applications received from the SSA for entitlement to expedited service on the day the application is received at the correct food assistance office. All SSI households entitled to expedited service shall be certified in accordance with expedited service procedures except that the expedited processing time standard shall begin on the date the application is received at the correct food assistance office. SSI Applications by Phone If SSA takes an SSI application or redetermination on the telephone from a member of a pure SSI household, a food assistance application shall also be completed during the telephone interview. 1. In these cases, the food assistance application shall be mailed to the claimant for signature for return to the SSA office or to the food assistance office. 2. SSA shall then forward any food assistance applications it receives to the food assistance office. 3. The county department may not require the household to be interviewed again in the food assistance office. The county department shall act in accordance with the above section, “County Department Action”. SSI Applications by Mail To SSI recipients re-determined for SSI by mail, the SSA shall send a stuffer informing them of their right to file a food assistance application at the SSA office (if they are members of a pure SSI household) or at their local food assistance office, and their right to an out-of-office food assistance interview to be performed by the county department if the household is unable to appoint an authorized representative. Food Assistance Information Distributed By SSA The Department of Human Resources provides SSA with an information sheet, “Facts about Your Food Assistance Application”, for distribution to SSI households. Verification for Households Initially Applying for SSI and Food Assistance Verification for households initially applying are the same as for any other household initially applying. Households entitled to expedited services shall be processed in accordance with expedited service procedures. Certification Periods/Denial of SSI County departments shall follow the normal guidelines for certification periods for households applying for SSI and food assistance. In these households in which the SSI determination results in denial, and the county department believes that food assistance eligibility or benefit levels may be affected, the State agency shall: 1. Send the household a Notice of Expiration advising that the certification period will expire at the end of the month following the month in which the notice is sent and that it must reapply if it wishes to continue to participate. 2. The notice shall also explain that its certification period is expiring because of changes in circumstances which may affect food assistance eligibility or benefit levels and that the household may be entitled to an out-of-office interview. Changes in Circumstances These households shall be subject to the same change reporting requirements as all other households based on the type of budgeting the household is subject to. SSI Households Applying at the County Department The county department shall allow SSI households to submit food assistance applications to local food assistance offices rather than through the SSA if the household chooses. In such cases all verification, including that pertaining to SSI program benefits, shall be provided by the household or by SDX or BENDEX, rather than being provided by the SSA. Restoration of Lost Benefits The county department shall restore to the household benefits which were lost whenever the loss was caused by an error by the county department or by the Social Security Administration through joint processing. Such an error shall include, but not be limited to the loss of an applicant’s food assistance application after it has been filed with SSA. B. Recertification The county department shall complete the application process and approve or deny timely applications for recertification in accordance with Chapter 14. A face-to-face interview shall be waived if requested by a household consisting entirely of SSI participants unable to appoint an authorized representative. The county department shall provide SSI households with a Notice of Expiration in accordance with Chapter 14, except that such notification shall inform households consisting entirely of SSI recipients that they are entitled to a waiver of a face-to-face interview if the household is unable to appoint an authorized representative. Households shall be entitled to make a timely application for food assistance recertification at an SSA office under the following conditions: 1. SSA shall accept the application of a pure SSI household and forward the completed application, transmittal form and any available verification to the designated food assistance office. 2. Where SSA accepts and refers the application in such situations, the household shall not be required to appear at a second office interview, although the county department may conduct an out-of-office interview, if necessary.