Page 81

fails to cooperate with a request for verification. Additionally, the SSR shall not consider individuals living in the home identified as 'group' members as individuals outside of the group. TANF See MA. GC See MA. FS See MA. In addition, households entitled to expedited service shall not be required to provide verification other than verification of identity, for the purposes of determining eligibility for expedited benefits (see Chapter 4: Expedited Food Stamp Service in Part III). Voluntary Withdrawal 3.4.2

Abandonment 3.4.3

MA An application is considered to be abandoned if the applicant has not responded to requests for information. An application is considered abandoned when: • a 30 day letter has been sent. • 15 days have elapsed since the letter was sent, and • there has been no more than one contact between the SSR and the applicant. If the application meets the conditions for being abandoned, deny it based on the abandonment and send a denial notice. If an applicant should die before an eligibility determination, an individual may establish him/herself as an authorized representative and complete or withdraw the application (see Section 1.6.3: Filing an Application for the Deceased/Death of a Group Member and Section 3.4.2: Voluntary Withdrawal in this Part). TANF See MA, with the exception of when an applicant dies before an eligibility determination. When an application is voluntarily withdrawn, an eligibility determination is not made. However, if an applicant does withdraw the application, the SSR shall document in the case file the reason for withdrawal, if any was stated by the household, and send a denial notice on that basis (see Section 1.6.3: Filing an Application for the Deceased/Death of a Group Member in this Part). When notified by an applicant that s/he wishes to withdraw the application, the SSR must ask the individual why s/he wishes to withdraw the application. The withdrawn application and accompanying materials remain the property of ESA ALL