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West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Chapter 6

West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Page 18 Chapter 6 Data Exchanges

6.4.4 INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION Independent verification is necessary in some situations, depending upon the program and the source of information (i.e., any data exchange that is not considered “verified upon receipt”). Independent verification is used if there is a discrepancy between information reported by the IEVS sources and that reported by the client. The Worker must not take any case action based only on IRS and/or Prisoner Match data until the following information has been independently verified: • The amount of the income or asset involved; • If the client actually has, or had, access to the income or asset; and • The time period(s) when the individual had the income or asset. The Worker may request the independent verification by requesting that the client obtain information from the financial institution or source of the unearned income/asset. The Worker uses form DFA-6, Request for Additional Information, the eligibility system verification checklist, to request that the client obtain the information. The information may be requested by letter directly from the financial institution or source of the income/asset. Any correspondence to the client, financial institution, community partner, or other income/asset source that contains the IRS-provided information must be safeguarded according to the procedures in Safeguarding Information, below. All DOHS staff are subject to the same IRS safeguards regardless of performing their duties in a DOHS-sanctioned work site, an out- stationed work site, or other alternative work site. Verification provided separately from the financial institution or income/asset source from its own records, which does not contain any of the IRS-provided information, is independently verified only and does not require the safeguarding procedures in Safeguarding Information, below.

Note: When the agency receives a Notice of Match Results from the Income Eligibility Verification System that conflicts with case information, and the agency cannot resolve it internally, the client is required to provide independent verification to clarify or confirm the information.

The Notice of Match Results (NCHZ) will be used when the agency receives information from a third-party source (see 10.4.2.B.3 Third Party Sources). The data may include wages, death, new hire, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), prisoner, and Federal Public Assistance Reporting Information System (PARIS).