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Residents of a certified shelter for battered women and children who meet one of these criteria are eligible for expedited services even if they may already have been included in another household which contained the alleged abuser.

SCREENING APPLICATIONS 4.4 The Department must screen all FS applicants, including those requesting additional programs, to identify those entitled to expedited service. The CA and the Expedited Screening Form provide the information needed to identify expedited service cases. The household does not have to request expedited service. A household cannot waive its right to expedited service. Do not deny an applicant the right to apply or to be screened for expedited service.

All applications must be reviewed and accepted for expedited service on the same day an individual applies, even if there is inadequate staffing or an unexpected influx of applications.

When the application is filed, the SSR must screen all applications to determine if the applicant is entitled to expedited service.

Households determined entitled to expedited services must be designated in ACEDS to ensure timely issuance of benefits.

TIME STANDARDS 4.5 Households entitled to expedited service must have their applications processed such that they have an opportunity to pick up their Capital Access Card at one of the two EBT training centers (located at 611 H Street, NE and 2041 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE) in time to draw the initial issuance of FS no later than the seventh calendar day following the date of application.

If the preliminary review fails to identify that a household is entitled to expedited service and the SSR subsequently discovers that the household is entitled, the time standard for issuing the Capital Access Card begins with the date the SSR discovers the entitlement. The discovery date must be documented in the case record. If the delay in issuance of expedited benefits is the result of an agency error in screening or processing the application for expedited service, IMA is still accountable for failing to provide expedited benefits timely.

If a household is ineligible to participate for the month of application but the SSR determines that it meets expedited criteria for the following month, the time standard for issuing the Capital Access Card begins on the first day of the month the household is eligible. A new application is not required.

Do not delay the processing of expedited benefits because of pending verification which is needed to determine eligibility for another program for which the household may be applying.

If a telephone interview is conducted and the application is incomplete, the time standard begins on the day the signed, completed application is received by an ESA office (see Section 1.8.2: Waiver of Face- To-Face Interview in this Part).