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For those cases that are not included in the mass change, the local department is responsible for adjusting the household’s allotment no later than the second allotment issued after the month in which the change is effective.
The household is not responsible for reporting these changes.
420.104 Administrative Hearings and Continuation of Benefits
The household is entitled to request a hearing when it does not agree with the mass change.
A household that requests a hearing due to a mass change is entitled to continued benefits at its previous level only if the household meets the following criteria:
The household does not specifically waive its right to a continuation of benefits;
The household requests a fair hearing within 10 days from the date the notice is mailed; and
The household’s hearing is based on improper calculation of the SNAP eligibility or benefit level, or the misinterpretation of federal law or regulation.
420.11 Cash Assistance Households (TCA, RCA, TDAP, PAA)
Cash assistance households with associated SNAP cases have the same reporting requirements as any other SNAP household.
Consider a reported change for cash assistance as a reported change for SNAP purposes.
The local department cannot terminate a household’s SNAP case solely because it has terminated the household’s public assistance (PA) benefit. The case manager must make a separate determination that the household does not satisfy the SNAP requirements. The following procedures apply when public assistance is terminated and the household is not entitled to transitional benefits. If the household is eligible for transitional benefits please read the section on transitional SNAP benefits in section 420.12.
If a change in household circumstances requires a reduction or termination in the public assistance payment and the case manager has enough information to determine how the change affects the household’s SNAP benefits, the case manager must take the following actions:
If the change requires a reduction or termination of SNAP benefits, issue a single notice of adverse action for PA and SNAP actions.
If the household requests a fair hearing within 10 days, continue benefits in the amount authorized immediately prior to sending the notice unless
the household has indicated it does not wish to receive benefits pending appeal.
If the household’s SNAP benefits will increase because of the reduction or termination of public assistance benefits:
The case manager must issue the public assistance notice of adverse action, but must not take any action to increase the SNAP benefits until the household decides whether to appeal the PA adverse action.
If the household appeals the PA adverse action and the PA is continued, the household’s SNAP benefits must continue at the previous level.
If the household does not appeal, the case manager must make the change according to regular change reporting procedures.
When a change results in a termination of a household’s PA benefit within the certification period, and the case manager does not have enough information to determine how the change affects the SNAP benefits:
The case manager must issue a request for clarification at the same time that it sends the PA notice of adverse action (See section 420.8).
Before taking further action, the case manager will wait until after the PA notice of adverse action period expires or until the household requests an administrative hearing, whichever occurs first.
If the household requests a hearing and elects to have PA continue pending appeal, the case manager must continue the household’s SNAP benefits at the same level.
If the household does not request a hearing and continuation of its SNAP benefits, the case manager must follow the procedures for unclear information and send notice of adverse action.
If the situation does not require PA notice of adverse action, the case manager will issue a request for clarification and follow the procedures for unclear information.
Reminder: When a household’s TCA benefits are reduced, suspended or terminated due to a failure of the household to comply with TCA program requirement, do not increase the SNAP allotment. Count the reduced or terminated TCA benefit amount as “phantom” income.
420.12 Transitional SNAP Benefits
Transitional benefits are SNAP benefits that are issued to a TCA/SNAP household when the TCA case closes.
The amount of the benefit is frozen at the same level for five months unless the household requests recertification or there is a need to prevent duplicate participation.
TCA households may also be eligible for Transitional Support Services (TSS), which provides the household with a cash benefit for up to three consecutive months once the TCA case closes due to overscale income. For more information see TCA Manual Section 1311.
Households Eligible for Transitional Benefits.
With a few exceptions, TCA households that have received a regular TCA issuance in the month prior to the month the TCA benefit ended will receive transitional SNAP benefits for five months after the TCA case closes.
Mixed Households, which include both TCA members and non-TCA members, can also receive transitional benefits when the TCA case closes.
Example: Ms. B lives with her 20-year old daughter (Ms. C) and her two grandchildren. Ms. C receives TCA for herself and the two children. Ms. B receives SSI. They are all included in the same SNAP case. When Ms. C’s TCA case closes, the household will get transitional benefits.
Example: Ms. K’s FS household includes her 20-year old daughter and child and her 19-year old daughter and child. Each of the daughters receives TCA. The 20-year old daughter reports new employment and requests to have her TCA case closed. This household will not get transitional benefits since there is still an open TCA case associated with the SNAP household.
Example: Ms. G receives TCA and SNAP benefits for herself and one child. Her only income is TCA. In September she reported to her case manager that she had gotten married and her husband was employed. She wants her TCA case closed. Her case is closed effective October 1. She will get transitional benefits from October through February. The benefit is based on a 2-person household with no income.
A household will not get transitional benefits if:
The household did not receive a TCA benefit for at least one regular issuance in the month prior to the month the TCA benefit ended.
The household moves out of State.
The household loses TCA eligibility because of:
Failure to comply with work registration requirements,
Failure to comply with child support requirements, or
Intentional program violations (IPV).
Example: Mr. G receives TCA for himself, his wife and two children. Mr. G did not comply with TCA work requirements, so his TCA case was closed. This household cannot get transitional benefits. Reminder: If this household is still eligible for SNAP the case manager will include phantom TCA income in the calculation of the SNAP benefit.
The entire household is ineligible for FS because of:
IPV,
Failure to comply with work registration requirements,
Failure to cooperate with Quality Control,
Ineligible immigrant status
Status as a fleeing felon, or
Transfer of assets, if not categorically eligible.
Reminder: A SNAP disqualification is usually an individual sanction. Most TCA sanctions result in full family ineligibility. When there are remaining eligible members of the SNAP or TCA case, the household is potentially eligible for transitional benefits.
Example: Ms. J and her two children receive TCA and SNAP benefits. The local department determined that last year she had committed a SNAP IPV, before she applied for TCA. She signed a waiver of the disqualification hearing. Ms. J was disqualified from the SNAP for one year beginning in October. In January she reported a new job. Her TCA case is closed effective February. She will get 5 months of transitional SNAP benefits for the two eligible household members.
The Amount of the Transitional Benefit.
The transitional benefit amount is based on the amount of SNAP benefit the household received in the month before the TCA case closes, adjusted for the loss of the TCA benefit.
The amount stays the same for five months, regardless of changes in the family’s circumstances, unless the household returns to TCA or requests recertification.
E&E will count the income, deductions and household size in the month before the TCA case closes and subtract out the TCA grant received in that month.
Example: Mr. A and his two children receive a TCA grant in the amount of $172. He also receives $300 in social security benefits for the two children. On January 27, Mr. A reported that he got a job and requested closure of his TCA case. The TCA benefits will end effective March 1. Transitional SNAP benefits are calculated using only the social security income of $300. His new earnings will not count for the five-month transitional benefit period.
Example: Ms. B lives with her 20-year old daughter (Ms. C) and her two grandchildren. Ms. C receives TCA for herself and the two children in the amount of $472. Ms. B receives SSI in the amount of $545. They are all included in the same SNAP case. Ms. C got a job in August and reported the information to her case manager on September 5, after receiving her first pay.
Her earnings are over the income level for TCA and her TCA case closes effective October 1st. The SNAP household is entitled to five months of transitional benefits. The SNAP benefit is based on the September SNAP benefits adjusted for the loss of the TCA benefit. Ms. B’s SSI is the only countable income.
Adjusting the Length of the Certification Period.
E&E will extend the household’s certification period beyond the current period to meet the 5-month transitional period.
Example: Ms. E receives SNAP benefits and TCA based on no income. She was certified for SNAP from January 1 through June 30. On May 10, she reported a job that makes her TCA over scale. She is entitled to transitional benefits beginning June 1 through October 31.
E&E will shorten the certification period to correspond to the end of the transitional benefit period.
The transitional benefit period will never extend past five months.
Example: Mr. M receives SNAP benefits for himself and his daughter, Ms. M, and her two sons. The household was certified from November through October. Ms. M receives TCA. In December she requested that the agency close her case because of receipt of social security survivor’s benefits. The case manager closes Ms. M’s TCA effective January. The transitional benefit
period is January through May. The household will have to complete a redetermination to get benefits after May.
Reporting Requirements during the Transitional Benefit Period.
During the transitional benefit period the household is not required to report any changes for the SNAP.
The household’s benefit remains frozen during the transitional benefit period unless the household returns to TCA or requests recertification.
If the household is recertified transitional benefits stop and all regular SNAP rules apply.
Example 1: Ms. P receives SNAP and TCA for herself and child. She has no income other than TCA. She was certified for SNAP from January 1 through June 30. On May 10, she reported a job that makes her TCA over scale.
Her TCA case closes effective June 1. She is entitled to transitional benefits beginning June 1 through October 31. In August she reported that she moved to a household with higher shelter costs and that her 10-year old nephew had moved into her home. She requests recertification. The case manager will recertify the household and will use the updated information.
Example 2: Ms. R receives SNAP and TCA for her two children and herself. She has no income other than TCA and her certification period is from May through April. In November she gets a job at Nordstrom’s for the seasonal rush which makes her income overscale for TCA. She is entitled to transitional SNAP benefits from November through March. On February 1 she is laid off due to the end of the seasonal rush and comes in to request a return to TCA. The case manager opens the TCA case effective February 1, breaks the transitional benefit freeze, recertifies SNAP and adjusts the SNAP certification period to match the TCA certification from February through January.
Duplicate participation.
SNAP policy does not allow duplicate participation. If a member of a TFS case leaves a TFS household and either applies as a new household or is reported as a new member of another household, the case manager removes the individual from the household receiving TFS and adds the individual to the other household. To do this the case manager will have to break the TFS freeze.
Do not change the SNAP household composition during the transitional benefit period unless the household member reapplies as a new household, is reported as a member of another SNAP household or requests recertification.
Breaking the TFS Freeze.
Note: A household currently receiving Transitional Food Stamps (TFS) can request to break their TFS benefits before the five (5) months and revert to regular Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits based on the changes to their financial conditions.
When a TCA AU is approved and the household has an active TFS AU:
Case managers must end the TFS period and determine continued eligibility for SNAP within 30 days
Case managers must follow the procedures outlined in the How-To- Guide: Break Transitional Food Stamps which can be found in the Eligibility and Enrollment (E&E) System under the Help tab located on the taskbar
An interim change will not be allowed on a TFS AU when there is an active TCA AU without initiating a redetermination.
Note: The TFS freeze is broken in the nightly batch, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance benefits (SNAP) are recertified for twelve months from the ongoing month.
When the TFS freeze is broken by the nightly batch process, a monthly report is generated to show these cases. The E&E TSS and TFS report can be accessed in Qlik.is below:
Recalculation of TFS Benefits.
When an active TFS member leaves the TFS household, the income, resources and deductible expenses for that individual must be removed and the TFS benefit recalculated.
When the TFS head of household is removed, a message appears on the FS AU STAT screen, informing the case manager that the head of household needs to be reassigned and shelter costs adjusted.
E&E will recalculate the TFS benefit when:
Reason code 554 is entered on the Program Request screen for the FS AU for the member no longer in the TFS household.
Note: The E&E system will automatically assign a member 18 years or older as the new Case Head/Head of Household (HOH) or close the case entirely if there are no additional adult household members.
E&E Procedure:
Case manager must:
Enter reason code 554 on the Program Request screen for the household member who moved out of the household
Update the case with new information
Confirm and run eligibility
Go back into the case to perform a Case Inquiry for the household member who was removed from the assistance unit (AU)
Select delete to remove the household member who is no longer residing in the home
Enter appropriate narration regarding the case updates
When a person is removed from the TFS household, the eligibility will not budget that person’s income, resources, and expenses for the ongoing month. Any other changes to the members present in the TFS household will be ignored.
Notices
When a customer becomes eligible for TFS, Notice 11, Change in Benefits, will provide the following information to the customer:
“You will get this fixed amount for five months after your TCA case closes unless you start receiving TCA again or someone in your household applies in another Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program case. We based this benefit amount on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits you got the month before your TCA closed. We did not count the closed TCA grant when we calculated your Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. You do not have to report any changes until the end of this 5-month period. We will not act on any reported changes. If you start to receive TCA again during this period, we will redetermine your Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program case. If you want to get Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits after this 5-month period, you will have to complete a redetermination. You can ask for a redetermination at any time during the 5-month period. If your income goes down or you have an increase in expenses or household size you should apply for a redetermination.”
Household has an outstanding claim.
If a household has an outstanding claim, benefits are to be recouped in accordance with SNAP Policy Manual Section 490.
When you receive SNAP benefits:
You are required to report only when your family’s entire gross monthly income is more than the amount listed in the chart for your household size.
You are not required to report any other changes for your Supplemental Nutrition Assistance case. (But, if you think a change will increase benefits for your family, you should report it.)
You should also report an address change so you receive your notices.
If you receive Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA), Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA), Medical Assistance (MA), Temporary Disability Assistance Program (TDAP) or Public Assistance to Adults (PAA) you must report all changes within 10 days.
When you report a change for any program, your case manager will make the change for all programs.
If your household income goes up, you must see if the total gross monthly income is more than the amount allowed for your household size.
Gross income means the amount of earned or unearned income before any deductions, such as taxes or insurance premiums, are taken out.
You must report this change no later than 10 days from the end of the month in which your income goes up. Add up the gross income that your household got for the month. Be sure to include both earned and unearned income.
Call your case manager if your total income is more than the amounts listed below for your household size.
Household Size | Monthly Income Limit | Biweekly Income Limit | Weekly Income Limit 1 | $ 1473 | 685 | 3 42 2 | 1984 | 922 | 4 61 3 | 2495 | 1160 | 5 80 4 | 3007 | 1 398 | 6 99 5 | 3518 | 1 636 | 818 6 | 4029 | 1 873 | 936 7 | 4541 | 2112 | 10 56 8 | 5052 | 2 349 | 11 74 For more people add $ 512
Reminder: You must report all changes to your case manager at your scheduled redetermination.