Page 392

SNAP CERTIFICATION MANUAL – SECTION 8000 8900 Special Procedures at Initial Application 8000 Initial Application Process

physical abuse is involved, the perpetrator of the abuse may be removed from the home creating a serious hardship for the family. To ease this hardship, special consideration will be given to households in which: • There is a substantiated report of serious abuse (physical or sexual); and • The perpetrator is the primary wage earner where no formal determination of primary wage earner status is necessary; and • The perpetrator is out of the home by court order, incarceration, or voluntarily. DCFS or other authorities may identify such households. The county office may also identify such households during the application process. If such households are entitled to expedited processing as specified in SNAP 9200, the application will be handled according to the expedited processing standards contained in SNAP 9400-9446. If households are not entitled to expedited processing, the county office will schedule the household’s interview according to the expedited procedures. However, the household will be subject to all regular verification requirements. These requirements are summarized in a table in the glossary under the definition of “Verification.” Due to the household’s special circumstances, the eligibility worker will assist the household, whenever possible, to obtain any information or verification required to complete the application. 8981 Mandated Reporting SNAP Manual 01/01/2021 Employees of the Department of Human Services (DHS) are mandated reporters. A mandated reporter is a person who because of his or her profession is legally required to report any suspicion of child abuse or neglect to the Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-482-5964). These laws are in place to prevent children from being abused, and to end any possible abuse or neglect as early as possible. Act 530 of 2019, An Act Concerning School Safety, expands mandatory reporting to include the requirement to report when there is a serious and imminent threat to the public based on threats of school violence. If the threat of violence to a school has been communicated to a mandated reporter, he or she must notify law enforcement immediately.