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FS The person designated as the head of household will be authorized to access FS benefits and will be issued an EBT card. The head of household does not have to be the only adult issued an EBT card or permitted to access FS benefits. Households are permitted to select an adult to serve as the head of the household. If all adults agree with the selection, the Department will accept the household's selection. If, however, the adults do not agree, the Department shall select the head of the household. If a child (either a minor child or an adult child) resides in the household, the SSR should generally select the parent to serve as the head unless the parent is incapacitated and unable to provide information. If there is no child in the household and the household adults cannot agree on who should serve as the head, the SSR should select an adult s/he deems most able to provide needed information to the agency. The adult that the household (or SSR) selects as the head should be designated as the PI in ACEDS. If an adult other than the head needs an EBT card, the SSR should designate that additional adult as the authorized representative for issuance purposes. If the household also wants mail addressed to the adult designated as the authorized representative for issuance purposes, that adult should also be listed as the authorized representative for application purposes.

Filing an Application/Accessing Benefits on Behalf of Another Individual or Group 1.6.2 MA A person may file an application on behalf of another person if: • the applicant is unable to come into the office, • the applicant signs the application, (unless the applicant is unable to sign the application), and • the individual acting on the applicant's behalf has sufficient knowledge of the applicant's circumstances to present them factually and completely. TANF A protective payee can apply for benefits on behalf of a group (see Chapter 11: Restricting TANF Payments in Part VIII). GC All GC applications are filed by an unrelated individual exercising parental control over the child. FS In cases in which the head of the household, spouse, or other responsible household member cannot apply for the household, an adult non-member of the household may be designated by any responsible member of the household as the 'authorized representative' to act on behalf of the household in applying for program benefits. In addition to filing an application for a household, an authorized representative may be given access to the household's FS benefits for the purpose of purchasing food for the household, provided the authorized representative has the consent of the household. The person who serves as an authorized representative to file an application, however, does not have to be the same person who is authorized to purchase food for the household. A private, nonprofit organization or institution managing a drug addiction or alcoholic treatment and rehabilitation center may also serve in this capacity. When an authorized representative applies on behalf of the household, the SSR must verify the identity of the authorized representative and the head of the household. It is important that the head of the household, or the spouse prepare or review the application whenever possible, even though another household member or the authorized representative will actually be interviewed. The SSR must emphasize to the household that it will be held liable for any overpayment which results from erroneous information given by the authorized representative. If an individual does not have sufficient information i.e. knowledge of SSN, date of birth, residence address, etc., she/he cannot act as an authorized representative.