Page 22

Title 7: SNAP Page 20 Iowa Department of Health and Human Services Employees’ Manual Chapter H: Adjustments Report of Stole SNAP Benefits Revised October 11, 2024

Procedure: When a household reports they had SNAP benefits stolen by fraudulent practices: 1. Have they replaced their EBT card and changed their PIN yet? If not, let them know why that’s important and issue them a new EBT card. 2. Send form 470-5771, Report of Stolen SNAP Benefits to the household for completion. Before sending the form, complete as much as possible in the “HHS Use Only” section, but do not make a decision on the replacement until the signed form is returned. 3. After the signed form is returned: a. Determine if the report is timely. Households must report the loss within 10 calendar days of the date they discovered their benefits were stolen. (The household has until the next workday when the 10th day falls on a weekend or legal holiday.) i. If the report wasn’t made within 10 calendar days, deny the request. Complete the HHS Use Only section of the form and include the reason for the denial. Upload the completed form in the casefile, document in WISE, and mail the client a copy of the denial NOD. Email your EDM a copy of the completed Report of Stolen SNAP Benefits form to notify them of the denial for tracking purposes. ii. If the report was made timely, continue to the next step. b. Check WISE, ISSV, and the Stolen Benefits Replacement Requests spreadsheet to see if the client has already received replacement benefits due to fraud during the FFY. i. If the client has already received replacement benefits due to fraud twice in the FFY, deny the request. Complete the HHS Use Only section of the form and include the reason for the denial. Upload the completed form in the casefile, document in WISE, and mail the client a copy of the denial NOD. Email your EDM a copy of the completed Report of Stolen SNAP Benefits form to notify them of the denial for tracking purposes. ii. If the client has not already received two replacements in the FFY due to fraud, continue to the next step. c. Check ISSV to verify the amount of SNAP benefits issued in the months immediately prior to the date the benefits were stolen. d. Review the information provided by the client to determine if they meet the requirements to have their stolen benefits replaced. Document the source used to validate the claim. The claim validation can be done through various methods, including but not limited to: comparing the client’s self-attested information to the EPPIC transactions, retailer or news media reports of identified skimming devices, etc. e. Complete the rest of the HHS Use Only section of the form. f. Send the completed Report of Stolen SNAP Benefits form to your EDM so they can review your recommendation and make a decision. The EDM or supervisor will track the case information on the Stolen Benefits Replacement Requests spreadsheet.