Connecticut Department of Social Services Uniform Policy Manual: 0200 Instructions for Use

CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF INCOME MAINTENANCE UNIFORM POLICY MANUAL

_______________________________________________________________________________ Date: 1-1-89 Transmittal: UP-88-55 0200 _______________________________________________________________________________

INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE

CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF INCOME MAINTENANCE UNIFORM POLICY MANUAL

INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE

_______________________________________________________________________________ Date: 1-1-89 Transmittal: UP-88-55 0200 _______________________________________________________________________________

BASIC COMPONENTS

The Uniform Policy Manual (UPM) has two basic components, POLICY and PROCEDURES, which serve distinct purposes and should be used according to their particular function.

POLICY pages have the power of regulation and should be used by DIM staff as a legal basis upon which to make decisions on eligibility issues and related matters in a consistent and uniform manner. Legislators, attorneys, and other interested parties should use the POLICY pages as a reference book which reflects the laws governing the Department’s administration of its various programs.

PROCEDURES pages are for the exclusive use of the DIM staff. They provide a guide to implementing DIM’s policies. PROCEDURES pages are written on buff-colored paper to set them apart from POLICY pages. PROCEDURES pages have a “P” before their numerical index number to further distinguish them from their corresponding POLICY pages. They generally follow the POLICY pages to which they pertain by chapter. PROCEDURES pages contain instructions regarding what forms the worker completes and how various units within the Department should interact in implementing policy.

Where DIM staff should use the POLICY pages to insure statewide uniformity in making decisions, they should exercise flexibility in using the PROCEDURES pages when implementing those decisions. As noted above, PROCEDURES pages are only a guide to implementing policy. If a PROCEDURES page seems to conflict with a POLICY page, the user should seek an amendment to the procedure, as appropriate, in order to implement the corresponding policy. A PROCEDURES page should not be used as a basis for an eligibility decision.

ORGANIZATION OF MATERIAL

The information contained in the UPM is divided into general categories or sections. Within each section there are chapters which separate the general category into its most important sub-sections. The chapter, in turn, is divided into subjects which provide specific items of information pertinent to their particular chapter. At the beginning of each section there is an alphabetically-organized list of definitions containing key terms used in the section. The final chapter of each section contains policy and procedures describing whatever verifications are required with regard to the information contained in the section.

CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF INCOME MAINTENANCE UNIFORM POLICY MANUAL

INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE _______________________________________________________________________________ Date: 1-1-89 Transmittal: UP-88-55 0200 _______________________________________________________________________________

ORGANIZATION OF MATERIAL (cont.)

The first three sections of the UPM provide basic information concerning the rights and responsibilities of applicants for and recipients of assistance, a detailed description of the eligibility process and an explanation of the concept of the assistance unit.

The next eight sections describe the factors used to determine eligibility. These include the non-financial criteria (categorical, technical and procedural requirements) and financial criteria (treatment of assets, standards of assistance, treatment of income, income eligibility, and calculation of benefits).

The next three sections describe how benefits are issued, how errors are corrected, and how benefits are recovered by the Department.

The final two sections describe the special programs the Department administers and the special benefits certain recipients may receive.

Those readers who use the UPM extensively and are familiar with the organization of the manual should use the Table of Contents when trying to locate a particular subject. The Table of Contents lists the title of every section, chapter and subject in the UPM, and the corresponding index number. Because of the complexity of some of the material, the reader may need to refer to more than one subject to understand the total concept underlying a particular policy. For this reason, cross-references are included when appropriate.

UPM also contains an alphabetical index for those who are not as familiar with the material or who do not use the UPM extensively. A glossary of terms and an index of cross-references are also included.