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ESA SNAP Policy Manual 258  Verification of all eligibility factors  A determination of the correctness of payment and benefit eligibility 24.4 QC Findings When ESA identifies an error, a correction must be made. It must be determined whether an underpayment or overpayment occurred. An underpayment refers to a situation where a household received less benefits than it was entitled to, while an overpayment refers to a situation where the household received more benefits than it was entitled to. These findings help determine ESA’s SNAP payment error rate (PER) for active cases and case and procedural error rate (CAPER) for negative cases. A report of the findings is provided to ESA and FNS. 24.5 SNAP Households’ Responsibility in QC Process All SNAP households must cooperate during a QC review. If a household member refuses to cooperate, the entire household is ineligible for SNAP from the point QC determines the household has not cooperated until the earlier date of the following:  For District reviews: − The household cooperates with the QC process − One hundred twenty-five days from the end of the annual QC review period  For federal reviews: − The household cooperates with the QC process − Nine months after the end of the annual review period The QC annual review period runs from October 1 of one calendar year to September 30 of the following calendar year. Example 1 A noncooperation disqualification was placed on the household effective June 1, 2022, for refusing to cooperate with the QC. The household reapplies for SNAP on December 3, 2022. Because this is within the QC annual review period, the household must cooperate with QC to be determined eligible and receive benefits.

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