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information). Therefore, no TANF or FS overpayment is charged for June or July, even though benefits in both months were issued based on incorrect earnings information. Example 2 Ms. Lewis is employed and receives TANF and Food Stamps. She was sent a simplified reporting notice at her last review. Ms. Lewis receives a pay raise in June and her total income for July exceeds her reporting threshold. Ms. Lewis calls her caseworker August 3 to report her increased income. The caseworker fails to issue a termination notice for TANF and FS until August 25. Due to the 15-day notice requirement, benefits cannot be reduced until October. No overpayment is charged for either program for June, July and August since these benefits would not have been reduced even if DHS had acted in a timely manner. TANF and FS overpayments are charged for the excess benefits received in September due to the Department's failure to act promptly on the reported change. TANF The SSR should not compute an overpayment for the dual receipt of TANF and SSI unless: • ESA informed SSI that a person would be removed from the grant on a specific date, and • the person was not removed from the grant on that date. If the SSI check was not reduced due to TANF benefit, the SSR should notify SSA of the dual receipt. SSA will process an SSI overpayment.
Determining the Time Period of Overpayments 6.3.3
Time Limitations on Calculating and Collecting Overpayments
BOTH Overpayments shall be calculated for periods not to exceed 12 months prior to the month in which the overpayment is discovered, except when IPV or fraud is found or suspected. If IPV or fraud is found or suspected, overpayments shall be calculated for the entire period over which excess benefits were received, provided that period does not exceed six years from the date the overpayment was discovered. Although IMA may calculate overpayments exceeding 12 months when fraud is suspected, it may not collect for a period exceeding 12 months unless fraud or IPV has been determined (see Section 6.3.1: Types of Overpayments in this Chapter.) Example 1 Ms. Freeman and her two children receive FS. In March, 2005, it is discovered that the group received excess FS benefits because her oldest child had countable earnings. Ms. Freeman says she did not know that her son's wages were countable. Although the income dates back several years, the group's overpayment should be calculated for the 12-month period from April 2004 to March, 2005, since fraud is not suspected. Example 2 Ms. White and her three children receive TANF. In March, 2005, it is discovered that James, O'Brien, the father of her youngest child, has lived with them for the past two years. A review of Ms. White's records show that she failed to list James O'Brien as a household member on the recertification forms she completed during the two-year period. Since case documentation show that Ms. White misrepresented her household's composition, an overpayment should be calculated for the entire two-year period.