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VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES APPLICATION PROCESSING

10/24 VOLUME V, PART II, PAGE 1

A. APPLICATION PROCESSING

Application processing includes filing and completing an application, interviewing, and verifying certain information. The local department of social services must act promptly on all applications and provide SNAP benefits retroactive to the month of application to households that complete the application process and are eligible. An application may be an initial application, a reapplication, or a recertification.

This chapter contains the responsibilities of households and local departments in the application process. Expedited service is available to households in immediate need. See Part V for instructions regarding expedited service processing.

B. FILING AN APPLICATION (7 CFR 273.2(c)(1))

Households must file an application for SNAP benefits with the local department of social services in the locality where the household resides. Households may file applications in person, by mail, by fax, by telephone to the Enterprise Customer Service Center (initial application and reapplication only), or online. Households may also file the application through an authorized representative. The application and instructions are contained in Part XXIV.

Each household has the right to file an application for SNAP benefits on the same day it contacts the local department during normal business hours. The local department must document the application filing date by recording the date on which the local department received the application. The date of application will be the date the local department received the application during normal business hours. The next business day will be the application date for any application received outside normal business hours.

Households must normally apply for SNAP benefits for all persons who reside together and who purchase and prepare food together. In some instances, households may choose to exclude certain persons from the application process to avoid providing identifying information about these individuals. Such an instance might include a household with certain immigrant members who want to avoid the receipt of benefits in connection with their immigration status. Another example would be sponsored immigrants who elect not to give information about their sponsors as required in Part XII.C. Households may classify certain members as "nonapplicants" and omit providing Social Security numbers, immigration status and immigration control numbers. If an applicant classifies a mandatory household member as a nonapplicant, as per Part VI.A.2 (spouse, parent, child), the worker must determine the eligibility of the remaining household members using the income and resources of the nonapplicant in the same manner as disqualified members (Part XII.E.2.b). If the nonapplicant is not a mandatory household member, the worker must not count any of the income or resources of the excluded person.

For a resident of a public institution who jointly applies for SSI and SNAP benefits before the release from the institution, the SNAP application filing date will be the date of the applicant's release from the institution.

1. Agency Action for the Initial Contact

When a household contacts the local department and expresses an interest in obtaining TRANSMITTAL #35