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Page | 86 witnessing must all appear on the designation. The witness must be a person other than the AR. A separate written statement filed in the record meets this requirement; and  Are sufficiently aware of relevant household circumstances. The AR must co-sign and date the application if they are applying on behalf of the household; or  Are appointed as authorized representative by the community provider support facility or drug/alcohol treatment center’s director.

In the event the only adult member of a household is classified as a non-household member, that person may be designated as the AR for the minor household members.

4740 WHO CANNOT BE AN AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE (AR)

The following individuals may not be designated as AR:  DSS employees who are involved in the certification process and retailers that are authorized by FNS to accept SNAP benefits may not act as ARs without the specific written approval of the designated DSS official, such as the local supervisor, after a determination has been made that no one else is available to serve.  Individuals disqualified for intentional program violation will not act as ARs during the period of disqualification, unless the disqualified individual is the only adult member of the household able to act on its behalf and it has been determined that no one else is available to serve. The Benefits Specialist will separately determine whether these individuals are needed to apply on behalf of the household and to use the card for the purchase of food for the household.  Homeless meal providers may not act as authorized representatives for SNAP households.

4750 EMERGENCY AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE (EAR)

The head of household or other adult household member may designate an emergency authorized representative (EAR) at any time in the certification period to use the EBT card to obtain benefits for the household when the regular AR is not available. The EAR is not intended to be a regular AR for the household; it is only at those times due to unforeseen circumstances; the household or regular AR cannot access the EBT card to purchase food for the household. Each EAR designation can only be used once. Households must be advised of the availability of naming an EAR when they apply for benefits.

To name an EAR, the household must have a written statement that names the person as the EAR contact. The statement must be signed by a household member and must also be signed by the person being named as the EAR. The household cannot be required to come to the office to execute the EAR. The EAR may bring in the written statement to the office, fax, email, or mail the statement to the office. The benefits specialist must put the statement in the case file and narrate the one time use of this person as the EAR. No photo ID is required for the EAR.

4760 AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE DISQUALIFICATIONS

If evidence has been obtained that an AR has misrepresented a household's circumstances and has knowingly provided false information pertaining to the household, or has made improper use of the EBT card, the authorized representative may be disqualified from being an AR for up to one year.