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UPDATED: JANUARY 2012

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OTHER ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS APPLICATION, CERTIFICATION AND RENEWAL

RENEWAL

NOTE: When a recipient reports a change that does not require a new budget, such as an address change, the worker must confirm that no other changes in the household have occurred in order to consider this report as a renewal.

When the renewal is being handled by New York Health Options/the Enrollment Center and the individual reports a change within three months prior to the end of the authorization period and the LDSS is treating such report as a renewal, New York Health Options must be contacted by fax and requested to withdraw the renewal from HEART.

In counties that have combined Food Stamp (FS) and Medicaid units, renewals received for FS may also be used to renew the Medicaid case and authorize 12 months of Medicaid coverage if the A/R is found eligible for FS.

INCOME:

In lieu of income documentation, local social services districts must verify the accuracy of the income information provided by the recipient by comparing it to information to which they have access, such as RFI (Resource File Integration), the Work Number Website (TALX, used for obtaining employment and wage verification), the currently stored budget, or actual income documentation from a current Food Stamp or HEAP case. When using RFI, districts must only consider information from the most recent calendar quarter (the calendar quarter immediately preceding the current calendar quarter) as current. Information from any prior calendar quarter is to be considered a “no hit” on RFI. At any point after initial application, only Bendex and UIB may be regarded as primary sources of verification to close a case.

RESIDENCE:

Documentation of a change of address is not required at renewal unless the district has information to the contrary. If a renewal is returned to by the U.S. Postal Service with a forwarding address label, the renewal must be re-mailed to the new in-district address. No additional documentation of the address change is required. If the forwarding address label indicates the recipient lives in a different county, the renewal must be re-mailed to the new

(MRG)