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Volume III | Chapter 14

14203 MISSISSIPPI [ CLAIMS: PROCEDURES AFTER APPROVAL OF CLAIM]

Revised 01 - 01 - 07 the caretaker/payee was not a recipient at the time of overpayment, recoupment will be enforced on the assistance unit whether or not that individual continues as payee. EXAMPLE: Grandmother receives TANF for 3 grandchildren but is not in the grant herself. She continues as payee and recoupment is effected from the grant for the 3 children. When the caretaker payee was not in the assistance unit at the time of overpayment and the 3 grandchildren who were in the budget now reside with another specified relative who may or may not be in the budget group, recoupment will be enforced against the budget group which includes the overpaid children. This is true even when there may be other persons in the budget now who were not members of the overpaid household. EXAMPLE: Grandmother becomes ill and the 3 grandchildren for whom she was TANF payee (nonrecipient) during the overpayment go to live with their aunt who also applies for TANF for herself and her two children. In this case, the county will notify the CMU by a REHI screen print and/or memo to request a transfer of the claim to the new case number. Recoupment will continue in the new case until repaid in full or the overpaid children leave that home. Claim transfers can occur in many situations. EXAMPLE: A currently active assistance unit was found to have been overpaid. The overpaid caretaker relative was contacted and agreed to recoupment from the grant of the overpaid assistance unit. Several months later, however, the caretaker relative moved leaving no forwarding address. Subsequent contact with the current caretaker produced no new address for the overpaid caretaker relative. In this case, recoupment could continue if the remaining household members go to another active case. If there are no remaining overpaid assistance unit members who can be located, collection efforts will be held until the caretaker returns to the State or other recipients in the overpaid group return and are identified for recoupment. EXAMPLE: The overpaid caretaker relative and the other members of an overpaid assistance unit reside in the home of a grandparent. While this living arrangement is constant for the other members, the overpaid caretaker relative moves in and out of the county. The family often does not know where the overpaid caretaker relative can be contacted when he is not in the county. Since the payee cannot be located, recoupment would continue in the case of the remaining children until the original caretaker returns or the claim is repaid. When the caretaker relative cannot be located, is deceased, or was not a member of the overpaid assistance unit, the State must seek recovery from the members of the overpaid assistance unit (or their current assistance units). There is no priority regarding the order in which recovery for such member is to be pursued and failure to recover from one family member (or his current assistance unit) does not discharge the remaining family members (or their current assistance units). For example, overpayment recovery can occur in sequence against only one member at a time, moving from member to member until the debt is recovered. Income