Responsibilities of Group Living Arrangements

A. Each group living arrangement shall provide the local office with a list of currently participating residents. The local office shall require the list on either a monthly or semimonthly basis and the list shall be signed by a responsible center official attesting to the validity of the list. In addition, the local office shall conduct periodic random onsite visits to ensure the accuracy of the list and that the local office's records are consistent and up to date. B. If the resident has applied on his/her own behalf, the household is responsible for reporting changes to the local office in accordance with Section 4.603. If the group living arrangement is acting in the capacity of an authorized representative, the group living arrangement shall notify the local office of changes in the household's income or other household circumstances and when the individual leaves the group living arrangement. C. When the household leaves the group living facility, the group living arrangement, either acting as an authorized representative or retaining use of the benefits on behalf of the residents (regardless of the method of application), shall provide residents with their EBT card. The household, not the group living arrangement, shall be allowed to receive his/her authorized issuance. Also, the departing household shall receive its full allotment if no benefits have been spent on behalf of that individual household. These procedures are applicable any time during the month. However, if the benefits have already been issued and any portion spent on behalf of the individual and the household leaves the group living arrangement prior to the sixteenth (16th) of the month, the facility shall provide the resident with one half of his/her monthly allotment. If the household leaves on or after the sixteenth (16th) of the month and the benefits have already been issued and used, the household does not receive any benefits. Once the resident leaves, the group living arrangement no longer acts as his/her authorized representative. Under no circumstances shall the group living arrangement pull benefits from an EBT card after the resident or group of residents have left the group living facility. The facility shall return the authorized representative EBT card, and the resident’s card if it was left behind, to the issuing office within five (5) calendar days of the resident’s departure. The group living arrangement shall provide the household with a change report form as soon as it has knowledge of the household plan to leave the facility and advise the household to return the form to the local office within ten (10) days of any change the household is required to report. D. When acting as the authorized representative, a group living arrangement shall be responsible for any misrepresentation or fraud, which it knowingly commits in the certification of group living facility residents. The facility shall be knowledgeable about household circumstances as an authorized representative and should carefully review those circumstances with residents prior to applying on their behalf. The facility shall be strictly liable for all losses or misuse of benefits held on behalf of resident households and for all over-issuances that occur while the households are residents of the group living facility. However, the resident applying on his/her own behalf shall be responsible for over-issuance as would any other household. E. The group living arrangement may purchase and prepare food to be consumed by eligible residents on a group basis if residents normally obtain their meals at a central location as part of the group living arrangement services, or if meals are prepared at a central location for delivery to the individual residents. If residents purchase and/or prepare food for individual consumption, as opposed to communal dining, the group living arrangement shall ensure that each resident’s SNAP benefits are used for meals intended for that resident. If the resident retains use of their own allotment, they may either use the benefits to purchase meals prepared for them by the facility or to purchase food to prepare meals for their own consumption.