1105.015.15 Duplicate Participation – DSS Manuals

IM-15 March 13, 2024 ; IM-109 December 30, 2015 ; IM-50 June 4, 2007 ; IM-27 March 19, 2004 ; IM-118 October 5, 1998

Household members should not participate in more than one SNAP household and/or more than one state. Immediately contact the other state to verify when the household members last received or will receive benefits from the other state. To obtain the phone number from the other state if the applicant cannot provide it, you can find it in the National Directory of Contacts .

Note: Enter a detailed comment regarding out-of-state participation confirmation.

If duplicate participation is confirmed at the time the household applies, reject the application or close the former case before the application is approved. If the duplicate participation involving two or more active cases resulted in an over issuance, and a possible IPV exists, refer to the Welfare Investigation Unit. A decision must be made if one or both of the active cases must be closed.

If verification of out-of-state participation is not provided and every reasonable effort has been made to contact the other State, process the expedited application. Do not pend an expedited application to verify out of state participation. Approve out-of-state duplicate participation based on client’s statement. If out-of-state duplicate participation is verified after approval of expedite months a claim will need to be entered, 1142.030.00 Establishing Claims . The application may not be approved for months following expedited months without verification of out of out-of-state participation.

Note : Households where possible out of state duplicate participation is found through a match with the National Accuracy Clearinghouse (NAC) cannot be issued expedited benefits until the NAC match is resolved.

If an application includes individuals who have received benefits in the month of application and individuals that have not received benefits in the month of application; determine eligibility (including expedited eligibility) for the individuals who have not received benefits in the application month. The income, resources, expenses, and need of individual(s), including the head of the household, who have already received benefits for the month of application are not considered for the expedited screening or the eligibility determination. The individuals are not considered household members until the month after they have been removed from the other household.

Example 1 : Laurie applies for benefits for herself and her daughter Ashley on November 5. Laurie received benefits in Kansas for November, but Ashley has never received benefits anywhere. Laurie’s resources, income, and expenses are entered in the eligibility system, but they are not considered for the November expedited screening or eligibility determination. As Ashley has no income or resources, the household qualifies for expedited service and prorated benefits for one person for November.

When an active household is adding an individual who has already received benefits in another household or state, the income, resources, expenses, and needs of the individual are not considered for the eligibility determination for the month(s) in which they already received benefits or will receive benefits.

Example 2 : Scott came into the office on December 2 to apply for food stamps for himself and Lacey. Lacey is already receiving benefits in her mother’s household. As the adverse action notice to remove Lacey from her mother’s household will expire in December, Lacey cannot receive benefits in Scott’s household until January. Lacey’s resources, income, and expenses are entered in the eligibility system, but they are not considered for Scott’s December eligibility determination. They are considered for January, after she is removed from her mother’s household. If Scott’s approval action is authorized before Lacey is removed from her mother’s household, Lacey is rejected and the worker must add her to Scott’s household after she is removed from her mother’s household.

Enter all relevant information for all individuals. The eligibility system disregards the income, resources, expenses, and need of any individuals for which the household answered yes to the received out of state question until the month after the month indicated, or who have received benefits in another household in Missouri for the eligibility determination’s benefit month.

If the eligibility system shows a rejection action for an individual for two consecutive months due to duplicate participation, and the original household’s certification does not expire within those two months, the eligibility system rejects the individual and the worker must add the person again after the individual is removed from the original household.

Example 3 : Eric came into the office on October 22, 2023 to add Megan to his SNAP case. Megan is already receiving benefits in another household, whose certification expires in February 2024. Eric provided all the verification and the action was authorized on October 22, 2023. As Megan is still shown as active in the other household for October and November, she is rejected form Eric’s household and must be added again after she is removed from the original household.