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S N A P M A N U A L

212 (A) The Agency must issue a written Request for Contact (RFC) which clearly advises the household of the verification it must provide or the actions it must take to clarify its circumstances, which affords the household at least 10 days to respond and to clarify its circumstances, either by telephone or by correspondence, and which states the consequences if the household fails to respond to the RFC. For notices that must be translated, allow 10 days from the date the translated notice is sent.

(B) If the household does not respond to the RFC or does respond but refuses to provide sufficient information to clarify its circumstances, the Agency must send the household a notice of adverse action, as described in Section 16.1, which closes the SNAP case.

EXCEPTION: For Prisoner and Death matches, the Agency must remove the subject individual and the individual’s income from the SNAP household and adjust the SNAP benefits accordingly.

NOTE: The Notice of Adverse Action (NOAA) cannot be used to advise the household of the verification needed or actions it must take to clarify its circumstances. This is the purpose of the request for contact. The NOAA should be used to notify the household of the case closure that results from the failure to provide verification or take needed action.

(C) If the household responds to the RFC and provides sufficient information, the Agency must adjust the household’s benefit amount by acting on the new circumstances according to simplified reporting rules.

NOTE: RFC may only be issued when the Agency becomes aware of a change in the household’s circumstances that calls into question the household’s continued eligibility or current level of benefits.

If the unclear information does not meet the criteria listed above in this section and does not relate to the data matches described below in this section, then the Agency will not act on the information or require the household to provide information until the household's next certification action or recertification review is due. The Agency may follow up with a household to provide information on a voluntary basis if that information would result in an increase in benefits but may not take adverse action if the household does not respond.

The Agency has an established system to monitor and prevent individuals who are being held in any Federal, State and/or local detention or correctional institutions for more than 30 days from being included in a SNAP household. The prisoner verification system provides for the comparison of identifying information about each household member, excluding minors, against identifying information about inmates of institutions. The Agency must make a comparison of match data for adult household members at the time of application and at recertification.