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Title 7: SNAP Page 6 Iowa Department of Health and Human Services Employees’ Manual Chapter B: Application Processing Interviews Revised September 27, 2024

Interviews Legal reference: 7 CFR 273.2(e)(1) and (3), 273.12(a)(3), 273.21(g) Policy: All households must have an interview before being certified. Schedule a phone interview unless:  You determine that a face-to-face interview is appropriate, or  The household requests a face-to-face interview.  Complete a home-based interview only upon request from the household when a hardship exists. Schedule all interviews so that eligible households receive SNAP within:  Seven days after they apply if identified as eligible for emergency service, or  30 days after they apply. Procedure: Upon receipt of an application, attempt to contact the household by phone. If you make contact and they agree to do the interview immediately, do it then. If contact isn’t made with the household during the initial call:  Schedule a phone interview by leaving the standard voicemail message at the phone number they provided.  Give the household at least 24 hours advanced notice of the interview. For example, a worker calls a client at 10:30 a.m. on Monday but doesn’t make contact and leaves a voicemail to schedule an interview. That interview can’t be scheduled before 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.  The timeframe for interviews cannot exceed a two-hour window of time. For example: 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.  Document the specific date and time of the scheduled interview in WISE. If the household doesn’t have a phone, or a voicemail message can’t be left at the phone number provided, an appointment letter must be mailed within one business day. If a worker fails to attend an interview they scheduled with a household, the worker must schedule another interview and follow the same requirements for scheduling initial interviews. For example, a worker has a scheduled interview on Monday between 1-3 p.m. The worker is running behind and isn’t able to call the household until 3:15 p.m. The calls to the household go to voicemail. In this situation, the worker needs to schedule another interview with the household, following the same requirements as initial interview scheduling. The worker cannot send a NOMI because the worker failed to attend the scheduled interview.