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West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Chapter 11

West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual

Page 16 Chapter 11 Benefit Repayment

11.3 CASH ASSISTANCE CLAIMS AND REPAYMENT PROCEDURES Repayment is pursued for cash assistance overpayments made under the former Aid to Families with Dependent Children/Unemployed Parent (AFDC/U) Program, WV WORKS, Child Support Incentive (CSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program, WV WORKS Support Service Payments, WV WORKS School Clothing Allowance, and the West Virginia School Clothing Allowance. The establishment, notification, and collection of cash assistance claims are the responsibility of the Claims and Collections Unit (CCU) and Investigations and Fraud Management (IFM). When an assistance group (AG) has received more cash assistance than it was entitled to receive, corrective action is taken by establishing a claim for the overpayment. The claim is the difference between the amount of benefits received and the amount of benefits to which the AG was entitled. The policy by which cash assistance claims are referred, established, collected, and maintained follows. Once the claim is established, there are no hardship provisions or exceptions that delay, suspend, or terminate efforts to collect the claim. 11.3.1 REFERRAL PROCESS Upon discovery of a potential cash assistance claim, the Worker refers the case to the Repayment Investigator (RI) in the eligibility system. EXCEPTION: Diversionary Cash Assistance and Emergency Assistance (EA) overpayments are not subject to repayment, unless fraud is established. NOTE: Referrals must be made for all overpayments, regardless of the dollar amount. However, IFM does not write claims for under $100 unless there is a liable debtor approved for cash assistance at the time the claim is processed. Claims under $100 are written and collected by check reduction. See Section 11.3.6 below.