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[ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION PROCESS: THE

MISSISSIPPI APPLICATION PROCESS] Volume III | Chapter 7

Revised 07-01-17

and receive assistance; however, there are special procedures for taking and processing applications for employees and individuals related to, or of personal interest, to a staff member as listed below. The county director is responsible for taking and processing applications for employees or personal interest cases and for submitting the case to the Regional Director for review and authorization of the approval or denial. The county director may delegate intake or case reviews, but not the regional director’s task, to a county supervisor who has no close relationship to the employee or individual applying. Applications for assistance from supervisors or their relatives will be assigned to the county director for processing and submitted to the regional director for final approval or denial. Applications submitted by a county director or his/her relatives will be taken and processed by the regional director. Applications received from individuals who have a close relationship with the worker’s supervisor will be submitted to the county director for review and authorization or denial. The relatives for whom the special procedures must be used include a staff member’s spouse, grandparents, (also great, great-great, and great-great-great grandparents), parents (including stepparents), brothers and sisters (including stepbrothers and stepsisters, half-brothers and halfsisters), children (including stepchildren), grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, first cousins, first cousins once removed, and these relatives of a staff member’s spouse who are related to this degree by marriage. These relationships are the same as those for TANF specified relatives. Furthermore, the interests of the agency will be served by not assigning any eligibility determination to an employee who has a particularly close relationship with the applicant. Since county staff are prohibited from processing applications for relatives within the degree described above, the county director must not process an application for one of his/her close relatives. In these instances, the regional director or Program Specialist will take the application. The regional director will review the facts, make the decision, and authorize or deny assistance. Applications from relatives of staff members other than the county director require the review and approval of regional directors. The county director is responsible for assigning the application to an eligibility worker who can process the application objectively and for authorizing eligibility for such relatives. However, cases should not be assigned to a worker supervised by the relative of the applicant. For Child in Public Non-Medical Institution When a parent or other relative makes an application for a child who is currently an inmate of a

[ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION PROCESS: 7019