214 Confidentiality and Disclosure of Information

Every household which has at any time applied or been certified for food assistance is guaranteed confidentiality of the information in their case record. Use or disclosure of information shall be handled as explained in this Section. A. Use or Disclosure without the Household’s Permission Information in a household’s case record may be shared with the following individuals without the household’s permission: 1. Persons directly connected with the administration or enforcement of the provision of the Food Assistance Act or regulations, other federal assistance programs, or federally assisted state programs providing assistance on a means-tested basis to low income individuals. 2. Persons directly connected with the administration or enforcement of the programs which are required to participate in IEVS to the extent the food assistance information is useful in establishing or verifying eligibility or benefit amounts under those programs. NOTE: Information from the food assistance case record may not be shared with the Internal Revenue Service without the client’s permission. 3. Persons directly connected with the verification of immigration status of aliens applying for food assistance benefits through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program to the extent the information is necessary to identify the individual for verification purposes. 4. Persons directly connected with the Administration of the Child Support Program under Part D Title IV of the Social Security Act in order to assist in the administration of that program. 5. Employees of the Comptroller General’s Office of the United States for Audit examination authorized by any other provision of law. 6. Local, State or Federal law enforcement officials upon their written request for the purpose of investigating an alleged violation of the Food Assistance Act or regulations. The written request shall include the identity of the individual requesting the information and his authority to do so, violation being investigated and the identity of the person on whom the information is requested. 7. Local, State or Federal law enforcement officers upon written request shall be provided the address, social security number, and (if available) photograph of food assistance recipients if the officer furnishes the recipient’s name and notifies the agency that: a) Locating or apprehending the individual is an official duty. b) The request is being made in the proper exercise of an official duty and c) The individual is fleeing to avoid prosecution, custody, or confinement for a felony, the individual is violating a condition of probation or parole, law enforcement is actively seeking the individual to enforce the conditions of the probation or parole, or the individual has information necessary for the officer to conduct an official duty related to another member who is fleeing to avoid prosecution, custody, confinement for a felony, or has violated a condition of probation/parole. The county office must follow the same procedure for verifying through law enforcement whether an applicant or participant is a probation or parole violator as those used to determine if an individual is a fleeing felon. The county department shall terminate the participation of the member if the law enforcement officer provides documentation of the offense. A written request from law enforcement without the proper documentation of the offense will not be sufficient to terminate the member’s participation. NOTE: The information may be disclosed or released only upon written request that contains: (1) the name of the requestor, (2) the requestor’s position and authority, (3) crime being investigated, (4) the name of the person on whom information is requested, and (5) the information being requested. 8. Names and address only of participating households may be made available to Department of Human Resources employees assigned to public information and nutrition education efforts and to the Cooperative Extension System. 9. Employees of the Department of Human Resources in the official performance of their duties directly related to the administration or enforcement of any federal assistance program or federally assisted state program in order to aid in maintaining the integrity of the assistance programs and to prevent the abuse of government aid. This includes but is not limited to the Child Support Program, Protective Services and the Parent Locator Service. 10. The Medicaid Agency including Medicaid Quality Control. B. Use or Disclosure with the Household’s Permission Information in a household’s case record may be shared with the following individuals with the permission of the household: 1. Household members and currently authorized representatives shall be given access to their records or case file information when the household member or authorized representative provides in writing a request to the county department to review their record or to obtain information from their record. 2. Other individuals who may have access to a household case record with permission are non-household members (other than authorized representatives) acting on behalf of the household’s request. This may be a friend, attorney, congressman, etc. a) The non-household member may request information concerning the household’s food assistance case either orally or in writing. However, no information can be released or the food assistance record made available until this request is received in writing. This request may be accompanied by a responsible household member’s written statement in which the non-household member was asked to help the household with their food assistance. (This statement need not specifically state the non-household member be allowed to review the food assistance record or have access to the information in the record, but may simply be a request for the individual to help the client with his food assistance.) b) Should no written statement be attached to the request, the non-household member’s written request must specifically reference the household’s request to him/her for assistance with their food assistance. c) Should the state agency or county department have any doubts concerning the household’s permission to release information from their food assistance case, no information shall be released until further authorization is obtained from the household. d) If the request by the non-household member is made orally, the state agency or county department may begin to gather the requested information and inform the individual that upon receipt of his written request, the information will be made available as soon as possible. C. Making Records Available 1. Material and information from food assistance records shall be made available to authorized persons for inspection during normal business hours. In order to avoid interfering with efforts to enforce the requirement of the Food Assistance Act and applicable regulations, the county department may withhold confidential information such as the names of individuals who have disclosed information about a household without the household’s knowledge, or the nature or status of criminal prosecutions. 2. When questionable, the county department should request credentials before allowing access to records or case files. a) USDA reviewers have been instructed to present their pictorial identification upon entering a county office. b) If the identification of the visitors cannot be resolved, the Food Assistance Division should be contacted before allowing access to individual case files. [1] Revised 5-12-10 [2] Revised 3-13-12 [3] Revised 3-13-12 [4] Revised 3-13-12 [5] Revised 3-13-12 [6]Revised 8-28-13