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Title 7: SNAP Page 24 Iowa Department of Health and Human Services Employees’ Manual Chapter B: Application Processing Processing Standards Revised September 27, 2024 Delays in Processing If the household is eligible, approve benefits back to the date the household did what it needed to do. Determine the household’s eligibility and benefits for the months following the 60-day period until you reach a month for which you determine the household is ineligible or you cannot determine eligibility. Ask the household to file a new application when you reach a month for which you cannot determine eligibility or benefits.  If the local office is at fault for the delay in completing the application process in the first 30 days, and the household is at fault for the delay in the second 30 days, deny the application. Send a Notice of Decision even if a notice of pending status was sent. The household must file a new application if it wants SNAP. Emergency Service Legal reference: 7 CFR 273.2(i)(2), 274.2(b) Time limits for processing an application under emergency procedures are much shorter than those for normal processing. Determine the household’s eligibility for emergency service at each initial application. The household does not have the option to decline emergency service. A household can get emergency service only when the household meets one of the emergency criteria in the first month of the certification period. A household that is ineligible during the month of application can receive emergency service in the next month if it meets emergency criteria in that month. A new application is not needed. There is no limit to the number of times a household can be certified under emergency procedures. EXCEPTION: To be eligible for emergency service, a household that was canceled for not providing postponed verification must either:  Have been certified under normal processing time frames, or  Have provided the previously postponed verification. However, a household cannot be required to provide verification that is no longer needed. The following sections explain:  Eligibility for emergency service  Verification for emergency service application  Determining emergency benefits  Processing time frames for emergency service