Page 2

Subject: SNAP Mandatory Verifications

Policy 24.17 Date of Last Review: 11/30/2023 Effective Date: 02/01/2022 Date of Next Review: 11/30/2026 RDA: SW22 Page 2 of 4 When documentary evidence is not readily available or when it is not sufficient, a collateral contact or, in rare instances, a home visit can be used as an alternate source of verification. 2. Collateral Contacts The Eligibility Counselor shall ask the household to assist by providing the names and phone numbers of collateral contacts. A collateral contact is a verbal confirmation of the household’s circumstances by someone outside of the household who is knowledgeable regarding the eligibility factor being verified and may be anyone who can be expected to provide accurate third-party verification of the household’s circumstances. 3. Home Visits A home visit may be substituted if the necessary information can be obtained by a home visit (I.E. determining household composition) and there is no available or acceptable documentary evidence and there is no appropriate collateral contact available. A home visit must be scheduled in advance with the household to complete or confirm a required verification and must not put an undue burden on the customer or the Eligibility Counselor. A customer’s verbal or written declaration of the facts can still be acceptable as a last resort when: • The household has tried, without success, to obtain the required verification; and • The counselor has exhausted all means of verifying the customer’s statements without success. • Please be advised that although the customer's statement can be taken as a last resort if the case is pulled for QC purposes it may still be an error. • It is a best practice to get the customer’s declaration in writing. Eligibility Counselors shall give the household at least ten (10) calendar days following the mail date of the written request to provide required verifications. The case must be documented showing all efforts made to support eligibility, ineligibility, and benefit level determinations. A denial action for failure to provide verifications cannot be taken until after the applicant has had ten (10) calendar days following the mail date of the written request to provide verifications. If the tenth (10th) day is a non-business day, give the household until the next working day to provide verifications. Mandatory Verifications At application and reapplication, Eligibility Counselors shall examine both financial and non- financial factors of eligibility for SNAP and verify if mandatory or questionable. When a household reports a change, the information provided by the household on the eligibility factor being reported shall be examined and verified if mandatory or questionable. Verifications for deductions, exemptions, or special considerations for eligibility shall be reviewed and discussed with the household during application processing. The following describes mandatory financial and non-financial factors: