.23 Sections 63-503.23 et seq.(MR) shall become inoperative in a county on the date QR/PB becomes effective in that county, pursuant to the Director's QR/PB Declaration.

(MR) Households Subject to Retrospective Budgeting After the Beginning Months FOOD STAMP REGULATIONS (Continued) (MR) .231 Prospective Eligibility The CWD shall continue to prospectively determine Food Stamp eligibility after the beginning months. The prospective eligibility determination determines whether or not a household continues to be eligible for benefits, and does not determine what benefit level a household is entitled to receive. A household is neither eligible for a restoration of benefits, nor shall a claim be established against a household for an inaccurate estimate of a household's prospective eligibility. Categorically eligible households shall be considered eligible for Food Stamps because of their status as PA recipients. The prospective eligibility determination for other households shall be made as follows. (MR) (a) Determining Resources Each month any reported changes in the household's resources shall be used in conjunction with the resources at the time of the interview to determine the household's prospective eligibility, in accordance with Sections 63-501 and 63-409.12. (MR) (b) Determining Income When the household's benefits are retrospectively budgeted, the CWD shall continue to prospectively determine food stamp eligibility according to the household's gross and/or net income as specified in Section 63-503.32. The CWD, in determining the household's prospective eligibility shall consider the household's actual reported budget month income or income that has been averaged for the budget month and anticipated income changes in the issuance month. For this actual, averaged, and anticipated income, the CWD shall determine what sources are exempt from consideration as income, per Sections 63-502.14 and 63-502.2. (MR) (c) Household Composition The CWD shall determine food stamp eligibility using the household's composition during the issuance month. FOOD STAMP REGULATIONS Regulations ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATIONS 63-503 (Cont.) (Continued) (MR) .232 Retrospective Budgeting The CWD shall use the following income to retrospectively budget the household's level of benefits. (MR) (a) Actual Income For purposes of determining the household's level of benefits for the issuance month, the CWD shall take into account the household's actual reported income for the budget month, except for child/spousal support disregard payments, which shall be based on the CWD information. (MR) (b) Averaged Income For purposes of determining the household's level of benefits for the issuance month, the CWD shall take into account any income that has been averaged for the household for the budget month. (MR) (1) Self-employment income received less often than monthly. Households which derive their annual income in a period of time shorter than one year shall have that income averaged over a 12-month period. (MR) (2) Nonexcluded scholarship, deferred educational loan, and educational grant income as specified in Section 63-503.212(b)(2). Such income shall not effect more benefit months than the number of months in the period over which it is averaged. (MR) (3) Contract income as specified in Section 63-503.212(b)(3). Such income shall not effect more benefit months than the number of months in the period over which it is averaged. (MR) (c) Income Only in the Month Received When determining the household's level of benefits for the issuance month, the CWD shall count as income only that amount actually received by the household in the budget month, except as provided below: FOOD STAMP REGULATIONS (Continued) (MR) (1) Income that has been averaged, in accordance with Section 63-503.212(b). (MR) (2) The CWD shall budget stable earned and unearned income which is received on a regular basis as a monthly or semi-monthly payment for the month such income is intended to cover. Households receiving such income shall not have their monthly income varied merely because mailing or payment cycles, or because weekends or holidays may cause two payments to be received in one month and none in the next month. (MR) (3) A GA/GR payment, covering a period which begins in the current month and ends in a future month, received in the current month is counted as income in the current month. HANDBOOK BEGINS HERE (MR) (A) For example, a GA/GR payment received in June which is intended to cover the last two weeks in June and the first two weeks in July is counted as income for June. HANDBOOK ENDS HERE (MR) (4) Wages held at the request of the employee shall be considered income to the household in the month the wages would otherwise have been paid by the employer. (MR) (5) All AFDC, GA/GR, RCA, and ECA payments (initial, regular monthly, and additional/corrective) for the issuance month shall be anticipated with reasonable certainty, as defined in Section 63-503.212(a). The CWD shall ensure that any additional/corrective payments to the regular grant received in and for the issuance month are counted prospectively. FOOD STAMP REGULATIONS Regulations ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATIONS 63-503 (Cont.) (Continued) (MR) (A) Federally funded AFDC additional/corrective payments that the CWD could not anticipate with reasonable certainty or did not have time to budget prospectively shall be budgeted retrospectively. (MR) (B) State-only AFDC, GA/GR, RCA, and ECA payments that the CWD could not anticipate with reasonable certainty or did not have time to budget prospectively shall not be budgeted retrospectively. (MR) (C) Repealed by Manual Letter No. FS-91-10, effective 12/1/91. FOOD STAMP REGULATIONS (Continued) HANDBOOK BEGINS HERE (MR) (D) The following case situations illustrate the distinction between an additional/corrective payment and a regular monthly payment: (MR) 1. Example 1: An ongoing Food Stamp household reported the birth of a child in March. As a result, the CWD issued two supplemental PA payments in April, the first for prorated March benefits, the second for April benefits, and added the child to the Food Stamp household effective April 1. The prorated supplement for March benefits would be considered a nonrecurring lump sum payment because it is a retroactive payment for a previous month and is counted as a resource in April. The supplemental PA payment received in and for the month of April would be considered an additional/corrective payment which would be budgeted retrospectively for the June issuance month. (MR) 2. Example 2: An ongoing Food Stamp household filed a March CA 7 (Rev. 1) which caused the CWD to reduce the May PA grant amount to $0. The CWD used $0 income to compute the Food Stamp benefit level for the issuance month of May. Subsequent to this action, the CWD discovers that an error was made in the determination of the Food Stamp household's PA grant and recomputes the PA budget to an appropriate grant amount of $400. HANDBOOK CONTINUES FOOD STAMP REGULATIONS Regulations ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATIONS 63-503 (Cont.) (Continued) HANDBOOK CONTINUES The $400 would be considered a regular monthly PA payment. This is because no other grant amount for the issuance month had been established and paid. Therefore, the amount issued would be considered a regular monthly PA payment. However, if the CWD had established and actually paid a grant amount (e.g., $50), any adjustment to this amount would be considered an additional/corrective payment amount and budgeted retrospectively regardless of how the additional/corrective payment was issued (i.e., one check, two checks, etc.). (MR) 3. Example 3: An ongoing Food Stamp household filed a March CA 7 (Rev. 1) which resulted in a determination that the monthly PA grant would decrease from $400 to $50 for May. The $50 PA grant level was used to determine the food stamp benefits for the issuance month of May. Subsequently, the Food Stamp household filed an administrative appeal and received aid paid pending (APP) in the amount of $400. In this instance, the $350 ($400-$50) would not be budgeted retrospectively as an additional/corrective payment. This is because APP is required by state administrative appeals procedures. The $350 + $50 would be considered a regular monthly payment under the requirements of the partial settlement agreement. HANDBOOK ENDS HERE FOOD STAMP REGULATIONS (Continued) (MR) (d) Discontinued Income For the purposes of this section, discontinued income is any income that a household received in a budget month from a source that no longer provides income to the household, except when the income has been discontinued due to participation in a strike or, a household member other than the primary wage earner voluntarily quits a job without good cause in accordance with Section 63-408.4. (MR) (1) In a Beginning Month Discontinued income which was included in the household's prospective budget shall be disregarded when the beginning month becomes the budget month. (MR) (2) After the Beginning Months For households receiving AFDC, GA/GR, RCA, or ECA payments in the issuance month, discontinued income from the corresponding budget month shall be disregarded provided: (MR) (A) The household has reported the termination of the income on the CA 7 for the budget month or in some other manner, (MR) (B) The CWD has sufficient time to process the change and affect the allotment in the issuance month corresponding to the budget month in which the income stopped, and (MR) (C) The AFDC, GA/GR, RCA, or ECA payments are increased as a result of the termination of the income. FOOD STAMP REGULATIONS Regulations ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATIONS 63-503 (Cont.) (Continued)