1700 - GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT OTHER PROGRAMS AND MISCELLANEOUS

1710 Case Records - Case records are required for all assistance cases and are to be separate from social service records. The Economic and Employment Support record shall include required forms to establish eligibility for assistance and additional information and decisions reached regarding eligibility, the amount of assistance, notices to the client, and authorization forms.

Local EES supervisors shall provide training for workers in preparing adequate records and in knowing how and what information to obtain to establish eligibility, determine amount of assistance, and prepare adequate notices.

1710.1 Correspondence - Correspondence which is a substitute for personal interviews plays an important part in the functioning of the agency and for this reason as much care is needed in planning correspondence as is used in the preparation for a personal interview. Notices affecting the eligibility shall become a permanent part of the agency's record and is captured by the eligibility system.

Content of Notices - All notices should contain sufficient information to make clear their purpose, the information desired, and how the information is to be used. The wording should be clear, direct, and adequate to cover the subject. Care should be taken to avoid misunderstanding or misinterpretation.

Filing - Letters from clients are to be retained if they contain significant material. If only an item or two is significant, this information may be recorded and the letter destroyed.

Letters, newspaper clippings, and other material, when not of standard size, should be fastened to full-sized sheets of paper for case filing. They should be dated and properly identified.

1711 Disposition of Obsolete Case Record Material - Destroy any material which is older than 36 months and is not currently in effect on active cases with the following exceptions:

The last application which opened the case;

For AABD cases converted to SSI (whether open for medical or not), the application and budget in effect for December 1973 must be retained indefinitely;

Retain indefinitely all documentation needed to establish current eligibility and payment such as the number of months on assistance, felony drug convictions, progressive penalty occurrences, etc.;

Retain indefinitely the screen print of SSDO and copies of all documents used for enumeration purposes.

Retain indefinitely all material pertaining to unrecovered overpayments, including all documentation for the amount and cause of the overpayment. NOTE: A work program paper file may be destroyed when there is an agency or client overpayment claim if the work program case has been closed for 36 months or longer.

Retain indefinitely all material pertaining to verification of the immigration status of non-citizens.

Retain indefinitely all materials pertaining to documentation of common-law marriage or paternity.

Retain indefinitely all documents used to verify citizenship and identify of the individual.

Retain indefinitely all material related to penalties imposed for non-cooperation with Child Support Services.

Retain indefinitely all material related to penalties imposed for non-cooperation with Work Program requirements.

Retain for 60 days hard copy documents that have been scanned into the electronic storage system.

Food Assistance Only - Retain indefinitely case file documentation which substantiates either pending fraud disqualifications or disqualifications which are being or have been served. This would include documents such as, but not limited to, signed disqualification consent agreements, court determinations, signed waivers waiving the right to an administrative disqualification hearing, an ADH decision, and the notice of disqualification. Maintaining these records is important for determining subsequent fraud penalties and for responding to other State's secondary requests for information. See 1434 , 11250 (7), and 11270 .

Closed cash, food assistance, and child care cases may be destroyed after they have been closed for 36 months except for (1) all material pertaining to unrecovered overpayments, (2) cases that have a designated period of ineligibility which exceeds the retention period (e.g., first-time conviction of fraud, etc.), or (3) cases that have had penalties imposed for non-cooperation with Child Support Services and/or Work Program requirements.

1712 Disposition of Child Care Provider Files - Provider files, including provider agreements, shall be maintained for 5 fiscal years past the closure date of the last provider enrollment form. Information pertaining to unrecovered overpayments and information relating to confirmed, substantiated or validated child abuse and neglect complaints shall be retained indefinitely.

Provider payment files shall be retained for 36 months following the last month of the state fiscal year.