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401.2 TANF MANUAL 7/24 Page 2d

The change to add a person required to be in the AU must be made by the agency within 30 days following the date the new member was reported to the agency.

1) Eligibility for Payments - Once the agency receives a report that a person required to be in the AU has entered the household and the agency has secured verification of categorical requirements and conditions of eligibility have been met, the individual's needs and income are to be included in determining eligibility and the amount of future payments.

If verifications and conditions of eligibility are substantiated within the 30-day time frame for adding persons or the 30-day period has passed and the agency can document that the delay in providing categorical verifications/meeting eligibility conditions was due to good cause (beyond the assistance unit's control), payments beginning with the date the change was reported must be recalculated considering the individual's needs and income. Since the VaCMS will be running for a future month, a supplement must be issued for the previous month(s), including the needs and income of the new member, if all eligibility criteria were met.

Regardless of whether the new individual's presence is reported timely, if the required categorical verifications are not provided or the conditions of eligibility are not met until after the 30-day time frame established for adding the individual, and the delay was not due to good cause (beyond the assistance unit's control), eligibility for retroactive payments is to be determined beginning with the date the last required verification was received by the agency or condition of eligibility was met. Any underpayments identified must be corrected.

The above procedures will require the proration of the first month's assistance in most instances. (Refer to Section 502.2.A.)

2) Repayment of Overpayments - If the new individual was not reported timely, overpayments may exist. Follow procedures in Section 503.7.G. to calculate the amount overpaid.

Example: A parent enters the home on October 15 but is not reported to the agency until January 8 of the following year. The last renewal was completed in November, one month after the parent entered the home. All months beginning with the month after the parent entered the home must be evaluated for possible overpayments.

TANF Transmittal 78