101.12 PROCESSING DOM EMPLOYEES/FAMILY MEMBERS CASES

Cases for DOM Office of Eligibility employees, members of their households and immediate family members require special processing and maintenance as follows: • DOM employees must not process their own application, redetermination, or change. They must not directly view, add, remove, replace or edit system information or documents and verifications in the case record. • Further, DOM employees must not process or maintain case(s) that include a member of their household or immediate family. They must not process the application, redetermination or change on these individuals’ cases. They must not directly view, add, remove, replace or edit system information or documents and verifications in the case record. • Immediate family includes the employee’s spouse, ex-spouse, children, stepchildren, ex-stepchildren, children’s spouses and the following relations to the employee or employee’s spouse or ex-spouse: mother, father, stepparent, brother, sister, niece, nephew, grandparent, grandchildren. • Individuals living in the home with the employee are included as immediate family members even if they are not one of the relationships listed above. • DOM Office of Eligibility employees, household members and their immediate family members must be marked as DOM employees in the system to limit system access to all members of the case. • Cases involving family and friends can potentially represent an impropriety or conflict of interest to an employee; therefore, it is the employee’s responsibility to inform the supervisor if the application or case of a family member or friend has been assigned to them. • DOM employees must never directly or indirectly influence or request that another DOM employee process an application for themselves, family members, household members or friends outside of normal assignment and authorization processes. • Individuals who fail to follow the guidelines for processing applications for employees and their family members are subject to disciplinary action. Procedures for Processing Applications of DOM Office of Eligibility employees, Members of Their Household or Immediate Family Members Any application or active case involving a DOM Office of Eligibility employee, household member or immediate family member, as defined above, in any regional office must be processed using the following guidelines: Application or renewal form and documents must be sent electronically to appointed Central Office staff. Central Office staff only will access the case in MEDS to register, upload, and scan any documents. The employee’s name and relationship to the client must be reported by the RO. Conflict of interest cases or relative cases that are not within the specified degree of relationship listed above should be handled by Regional Office supervisory staff. Cases for DOM Employees who do not work for the Office of Eligibility should be handled by the Regional Office. Prior to authorizing eligibility, the assigned Central Office staff member will thoroughly review the case and determine the accuracy of the eligibility decision. This may include additional contact with the applicant or others when deemed necessary to make a determination of eligibility. The process described above includes all activity on affected cases at the time of application and review, including special reviews of all such cases. Regional Office staff should inform the Central Office when employees who have an employee or family member case leave the agency. Central Office staff will remove the employee indicator and transfer the case back to the Regional Office.