Page 28

PROVIDER DETERMINATIONS In accordance with 7 CFR 273.7(c)(18) a State agency must ensure that E&T providers are informed of their authority and responsibility to determine if an individual is ill-suited for a particular E&T component. Describe the process used by E&T providers to communicate provider determinations to the State agency. The E&T contractor is responsible for making provider determinations, with the assistance of guidelines issued by BEP. When an E&T contractor determines that a participant who was previously referred to them is not well suited for the component in which they are enrolled, the E&T contractor first determines whether the participant is well-suited to another component it is authorized to provide. If the contractor determines that the participant is well suited to a different E&T component offered by the contractor, the contractor enrolls the participant into that component by entering a corresponding activity code in CWDS. This information is then transmitted to the CAO via an overnight batch process. At this point, the provider determination process is considered to have concluded without the need for the State agency to act further on the provider determination. If the E&T contractor determines that none of the components that they offer are a good fit for the participant, the following additional steps occur. If the E&T contractor terminated a SNAP E&T participant because the contractor determined the participant was not suitable for the program, the E&T contractor will enter case termination code 3, 7, X, W, or Y in CWDS. These codes cover the wide variety of circumstances for program exit that are correlated with a provider determination, including when a participant neither finishes the program nor is employed upon program exit or when a participant wishes to participate in a program administered by a different E&T contractor. The E&T contractor enters the case termination code into CWDS within ten calendar days of the participant’s exit. The CAO receives an ASAP 156 alert in eCIS the following morning. CAOs are instructed to treat any ASAP 156 alert which indicates a termination code of 3, 7, X, W, or Y as a notification from the E&T contractor that a provider determination has occurred. E&T contractors are also encouraged to submit a paper E&T Provider Determination Form to the CAO to provide secondary notification and additional information regarding the provider determination. Describe how the State agency notifies clients of a provider determination. The CAO notifies the SNAP recipient that a provider determination has been made within 10 calendar days of the CAO receiving the ASAP 156 alert in eCIS. The CAO is required to make this notification even if the E&T contractor has not yet submitted the E&T Provider Determination Form to the CAO. For non-ABAWD E&T volunteers, the CAO completes and mails the Volunteer E&T Termination Form to notify the SNAP recipient of their situation and next steps. For ABAWD E&T participants who are not exempt, geographically waived, or otherwise meeting the work requirement, the CAO completes and mails the ABAWD E&T Termination Form to notify the SNAP recipient of the provider determination. These forms also contain a questionnaire that the recipient can optionally return to the CAO to request to re-enroll in E&T or request an exemption from work registration or the ABAWD time limit. The CAO will then perform one of the following three actions, within 15 days, regardless of whether the CAO has received the E&T Provider Determination Form from the E&T contractor or a response to the questionnaire from the SNAP recipient: 1. Refer the SNAP recipient back to the SNAP E&T program, or to another SNAP E&T program. Follow referral guidance in SNAP HB 535.11. 2. Reassess the SNAP recipient for exemptions from the ABAWD time limit (SNAP Qual Code) and general work requirements (SNAP ETP Code). 3. Inform the SNAP recipient that additional non-DHS sponsored workforce development services are available at PA CareerLink® Centers. Information about the PA CareerLink® is available at https://www.pacareerlink.pa.gov/. NOTE: While Pennsylvania currently does not have any workforce partnerships (as defined in 7 CFR §273.7(n)), should any such partnerships materialize, they will be included in the list of services listed in option #3. The CAO will perform the action that is most appropriate for the SNAP recipient in light of the circumstances of their termination from E&T, other information known to the CAO in the case record, and the information contained on the forms described above (if those forms were returned to the CAO). 1/29/26, 9:34 AM State Plan PA FY26 - Original Submission https://dam-fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/microsite/snapet-pafy26stateplan//index.html 28/386