Page 847
West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Chapter 6
West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Page 13 Chapter 6 Data Exchanges
6.3.4.A.6 Prisoner Match Data Exchange The Prisoner Match is available around the third working day of each month. Information received from federal and state prisons may include: • Length of detention; • Correctional facility name; and • Release date. When disclosure is prohibited by SSA, no details are provided. This information is not considered verified upon receipt for any program and is subject to independent verification for all programs. The Worker must not take any action based only on the data received from this source. The Worker requests verification of the information through the prison system if the prison is identified. The verification request must clearly explain the information the Worker has and allow 30 calendar days for a response. If the prison is not identified or if the Prisoner Match cannot be independently verified, then the Worker must send a verification checklist to the SNAP assistance group requesting information related to the data exchange. If the assistance group does not respond or fails to supply sufficient information, then the Worker shall remove the individual found in the prisoner match from the SNAP assistance group after proper notice. If a SNAP applicant or recipient presents themselves at the SNAP local office with the appropriate identification, it is reasonable for the worker to consider this sufficient verification that the person is not in prison and can clear the match result. The worker can also make phone contact with the household to verify that the member is or is not incarcerated. The worker will need to speak with the person the prisoner match is on. When making phone contact, the worker should use all efforts to verbally verify the identification of the person they are speaking with that they are in fact talking to the correct household member to verify this information. The conversation must be documented in case comments to include that the identity of the individual was established. For SNAP, the agency must provide the household with the Notice of Match Results (NCHZ), and the matched individual must be given 10 days to contest the findings.