Connecticut Department of Social Services Uniform Policy Manual: 1540.05 General Principles of Verification - Requirements and Penalties

CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICESPRIVATE UNIFORM POLICY MANUAL _____________________________________________________________________________ Date: 7/1/06 Transmittal: UP-10-09 1540.05 ______________________________________________________________________________ Section: Type: The Eligibility Process POLICY ______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter: Program: AFDC General Principles of Verification AABD _______________________________________________________________ MA Subject: SNAP Requirements and Penalties ______________________________________________________________________________

1540.05 A. Standard of Proof

A statement made by an applicant or a recipient is considered by the Department to be verified when the available evidence indicates that it is more likely to be true than not.

Verification of Citizenship and Identity-Special Rule for MA Except for those individuals listed in section 1599.05 F. 8. and section 3099.04 N., claims of U.S. citizenship from individuals applying for or receiving MA, as well as statements from these individuals about their identities, shall be verified by only certain documents or databases as described in 42 USC 1396b(x) and 42 USC 1396a(ee) or by regulations subsequently promulgated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. For purposes of this requirement, individuals who claim U.S. citizenship includes those individuals with a status as a national of the United States as defined by section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22)) including both citizens of the United States and non-citizen nationals of the United States. Except for the documents listed in section 3099.04 B., the same document cannot be used to verify both U.S. citizenship and identity. All documents shall be either originals or copies certified by the issuing agency.

C. When Verification is Required

1. The Department requires verification of information:

a. when specifically required by federal or State law or regulations; and

b. when the Department considers it necessary to corroborate an assistance unit's statements pertaining to an essential factor of eligibility.

2. The Department does not require applicants or recipients to provide documentary evidence to verify the nonexistence of any factor, including the following:

a. lack of income; or

b. lack of bank accounts or other assets; or

c. absence of one parent from the home.

CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES UNIFORM POLICY MANUAL _____________________________________________________________________________ Date: 7-1-08 Transmittal: UP-08-13 1540.05 page 2 ______________________________________________________________________________ Section: Type: The Eligibility Process POLICY ______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter: Program: AFDC General Principles of Verification AABD _______________________________________________________________ MA Subject: FS Requirements and Penalties ______________________________________________________________________________

1540.05 D. Consequences for Failure to Provide Verification

The penalty for failure to provide required verification depends upon the nature of the factor or circumstance for which verification is required:

1. If the eligibility of the assistance unit depends directly upon a factor or circumstance for which verification is required, failure to provide verification results in ineligibility for the assistance unit. Factors on which unit eligibility depends directly include, but are not limited to:

income amounts;

asset amounts.

2. If the eligibility of an individual assistance unit member depends directly upon a factor or circumstance for which verification is required, failure to provide verification results in ineligibility for that individual member. Factors on which individual assistance unit member eligibility depends directly include, but are not limited to, the following:

a. citizenship;

b. cooperation with the Employment Services program;

c. non-citizen status.

3. If the eligibility of the assistance unit does not depend directly on a factor or circumstance for which verification is required, but the benefit level could be affected by it, failure to provide verification results in non-consideration of the factor or circumstance. Factors like this include, but are not limited to:

a. income deduction amounts;

b. self-support plan deduction amounts;

c. special need items;

d. medical costs used in spend-down cases.

CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES UNIFORM POLICY MANUAL _____________________________________________________________________________ Date: 7-1-08 Transmittal: UP-08-13 1540.05 page 3 ______________________________________________________________________________ Section: Type: The Eligibility Process POLICY ______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter: Program: AFDC General Principles of Verification AABD _______________________________________________________________ MA Subject: FS Requirements and Penalties ______________________________________________________________________________

1540.05 D. Consequences for Failure to Provide Verification (continued)

4. Ineligibility of the assistance unit may result indirectly from failure to provide verification of a factor or circumstance described in section 1540.05 D.3. if the non-consideration of the factor or circumstance leads to ineligibility for the unit. Situations like this include, but are not limited to:

a. non-consideration of an unverified income deduction causes the applied income to exceed the need standard;

b. non-consideration of an unverified special need item lowers the total amount of needs to below the applied income level;

c. non-consideration of unverified medical expenses causes excess income not to be offset in a spend-down process.