Expanded categorical eligibility for NPA Food Stamp households. Questions pertain to elder and disabled households and to 18 year-old single.

Food Stamp medical expense deductions for elderly and disabled recipients: Medical expenses do not need to have been paid yet in order to qualify as deductible; hearing aids are deductible; choice of deducting all lin one month or averaging over rest of certification period; required verifications of medical expenses.

BEACON sends a closing notice to EAEDC recipients when a computer match with SSA shows that they have not applied for SSI or appealed an SSI denial. If the recipient brings in verification that he or she has in fact applied for SSI or appealed an SSI denial, the TAO director must manually override the BEACON action. The FYI explains the process for doing this.

Explains vendor payment continuation when cases are transferred.

Who counts as a licensed medical professional for purposes of the form verifying disability of noncitizen elder on Food Stamps; expedited Food Stamps still requires inquiry about assets for individuals who fit into new categorical eligibility categories.

Food Stamp work-required individuals can cure sanctions by working 80 hours in a 30 day period or complying with community service requirements. Sanctions can be cured at any time. If they work and then lose their job through no fault of their own, they get a second 3 months of Food Stamps without having to meet work requirement.

TAFDC and EAEDC AU Managers are reminded that, when denying a TAFDC or EAEDC application before the 30th day for missing two interviews, the FS application must remain pending and not be denied before the 30th day.

Participation and Attendance forms are sent out to clients the first business day (Monday unless Monday is a holiday) of the week before the last Saturday of the month. These forms must be returned by the client no later than the 10th of the following month (or the first business day after the 10th of the month if the 10th is a weekend or holiday). AU Managers must enter the forms into BEACON no later than the 18th of that month (or the first business day after the 18th of the month if the 18th is a weekend or holiday) to prevent a participation sanction from being created. AU Managers may enter the prior participation month’s returned Participation and Attendance forms onto BEACON up until the Friday before the last Saturday of the current month.

Food stamp regulations at 106 CMR 364.400 allow elderly and/or disabled household members to deduct medical expenses in excess of $35 per month. This includes the reasonable cost of transportation and lodging to obtain medical treatment or services. These regulations also allow a deduction for dependent care expenses incurred for transportation to and from a child care or dependent care site.

Affect on Food Stamps when a LIHEAP or H/EAT recipient moves or becomes homeless.

AU Managers are reminded that the federal government regularly intercepts certain federal payments made to clients and former clients - such as income tax refunds - to offset outstanding client food stamp debts.  The federal Economic Stimulus payment described in Field Operations Memo 2008-18 is also subject to intercept for these debts.  If a client calls inquiring about a reduction or loss of an Economic Stimulus payment,  refer the client to the Fraud Investigations and Recoveries Unit at 1-800-462-2607 for information regarding the intercept.

AU Managers must remember to help applicants and clients obtain required verifications, if they are unable to obtain verifications for reasons beyond their control. AU Managers must also remember to allow additional time and to give additional help to applicants and clients who have identified themselves as having trouble providing verifications due to Domestic Violence (DV), if specific documentation, such as a birth record to prove relationship, is taking more time than normally required (10 days) or would put the applicant or client at risk.

Please remember that TAFDC or EAEDC families, as well as teen parents, may be eligible for up to $1,000 in Relocation Benefitsfor securing permanent housing if the family has been in temporary shelter for 60 days or more.  Examples of clients who meet the requirements specified in 106CMR 705.350 and who may be eligible for this benefit, include,but are not limited to, those moving out of: transitional shelter; teen structured living programs; domestic violence shelters; EA funded shelters; non-EA funded shelters; and domestic violence transitional living programs.

Food Stamp program: treatment of child support payments for obligor's Food Stamp case;  verification of obligor's child support obligations; Food Stamp clients only need to verify household composition if questionable.

Orientation incentive payments for parents not on TAFDC grant, including due to immigration status; every parent eligible for orientation incentive payment, including each parent in two parent family and teen parents who are dependents on their parents' grants;

Food Stamps: health insurance premium as excess medical expense deduction when premium is paid by spouse and/or is for more than one person; TAFDC: "window immigrant" status for purposes of exception to sponsor deeming requirement

• Expansion of Office for Refugee and Immigrants (ORI) ESP Openings for TAFDC Clients
• T-A34/36 Form andPregnant Women

TAFDC and EAEDC: Recalculating lump sum disqualification periods when there has been domestic violence.

Minimum wage increase affects Food Stamp work requirement; mortgage crisis relocation benefits not countable

Index to 2007 Hotline Focus questions.

Child support income must be entered under the child's name except in certain situations outlined in the FYI.

Child care: eligibility for self-employed TAFDC recipients; eliibility for recipients working at child care centers; coding recipients engaged in child care as Child Care worker or babysitter on Beacon. 

Food Stamps and heating/cooling allowances: change of address spurring inquiry about new utility arrangements; H/EAT receipt entitles household to SUA for entire year even if they move and no longer pay utility costs.

Issues that arise in Food Stamp cases of recipients who live in group homes, including deduction of Food Stamp amount from net rent and notation of whether part of rent is attributed to heating expenses.

Domestic violence: entering information on Beacon, who maks the decision and what the standards are for determining cases that should have heightened level of security.

Increases mileage rate for the purpose of medical expense deductions for elderly and disabled Food Stamp recipients.

Describes case worker responsibilites for entering hours once a TAFDC recipient returns an attendance sheet. Case workers must enter hours by the 18th of the month. Also, if a recipient provides the attendance sheet by the Friday before the case is due to sanction or close for not meeting the work or EDP plan requirement, the case worker must enter the hours and remove the adverse action. Sanctioned recipients must have their cases reopened when they submit attendance forms, and case workers should enter attendance forms as part of the application process if they are provided at that time.

Bay State Cap households who have not accessed EBT benefits within 90 days are subject to different procedures than other Food Stamp households.

Crib and layette payments; Food Stamp work requirement exemptions for 16 and 17 year-olds; Food Stamp shelter deduction for mortgage payments in home that is temporarily vacated.

What case workers should do when some members of a household are eligible immigrants and some are ineligible immigrants for Food Stamp purposes; How case workers should determine and enter medical expenses.

EAEDC recipients must work toward citizenship if able to become a citizen within the next three years. This FYI explains case worker obligations to assist with the process, and explains that case workers may not require verification of efforts to become a citizen at application or deny an application for failure to verify it. Once a recipient, an EAEDC recipient may face termination if he or she refuses to cooperate without good cause. The FYI contains a list of good cause reasons.

Food Stamps: Verfiying shared shelter costs; no verifications needed for claim of purchasing and preparing food separately;

Elderly and disabled Food Stamp recipients have the option of taking nonrecurring medical expense deduction in the month they occur or averaging them over the certification period. This FYI explains the benefits of each option so that case workers can inform recipients.

Immigrants do NOT have to self-petition under VAWA to be eligible for benefits as a battered noncitizen. If the person immigrated through a spouse or parent and are battered, they are eligible. The FYI explains how to figure out if an immigrant has any of the qualifying immigration statuses.

If recipient marks changes in shelter or household composition on Monthly Report, caseworker is obligated to enter into Food Stamps fields on Beacon.

Battered noncitizens: verifying status for TAFDC and Food Stamps; eligibility for Food Stamps.

Instructs case workers how to document approved reasonable accommodations in the electronic case file when transferring a case to another case worker or another DTA office.

Social Security Number validation by the electronic SVES system is acceptable verification of identity for all DTA benefits programs. No benefits should be delayed for failure to verify identity if the SVES system can validate the social security number.

If the only dependent child is ineligible for TAFDC, the parent is still eligible as an assitance unit of one if otherwise eligible for benefits. In a two parent family, both parents are eligible as an assistance unit of two if otherwise eligible.

TAFDC and Food Stamp benefits for eligible adult with child who is ineligible alien; TAFDc caretaker exemption not dependent on relationship; EAEDC-- doctor signing Medical Report does not have to be Mass Health provider.

When one Food Stamp household is split into two assistance units, there must be a review of shelter expenses so that shelter and utility deductions are appropriately applied.

TAFDC and Food Stamps: reverse mortgages not countable as income; Food Stamps: claiming shelter expenses for a vacated home when person intends to return.

Increase to the number of child care slots available for homeless families.

Income tax refunds, Earned Income Credit, and Food Stamp and cash programs.

List of ESP activities and locations with increased capacity to meet increased demand.

Food Stamp applications must not be denied for failure to provide an optional verification, such as one related to a deduction such as utility expenses.  Case workers must assist with getting verifications when needed. No Food Stamp application can be denied before the 30th day for lack of verifications or failure to complete the application.

Relocation benefits: eligibility by type of shelter, eligibility by type of housing being moved into, and what the benefits can be used to pay for; TAFDC and Food Stamp eligibility when the adult is an eligible alien but the child is an ineligible alien.

Procedures for handling EAEDC recipients' signed authorizations for SSA to reimburse DTA out of SSI benefits.

Lists the various types of reporting requirements and mandates that case workers explain applicants' and recipients' individual reporting requirements to them.

Explains which work study income is noncountable and which is countable, and that even work study with noncountable income meets work requirements.

TAFDC: Caring for a disabled family member exemption redetermination and conseqences; TAFDC and Food Stamps when only child in household is ineligible immigrant; Food Stamps: gift cards not countable.

Explains DES requirements for medical release forms, including that every individual provider at a particular clinic must be listed separately on a separate form. Case workers are responsible for contacting clients when additional release forms are needed. Missing or incorrectly completed release forms should not delay case worker processing of the disability claim or an application for benefits.

Food Stamps for college students:  household determination when students age 23 or over are living with parent; Food Stamp eligibility for student at college with meal plan for some meals;  students as paremts om two parent families and Food Stamp work requirement.

Households with expiring disqualification periods must have their cases reviewed.

DTA sent Voluntary Request to Close Case cards to all recipients in 2006 with envelopes to return them in, signed, if they no longer wanted benefits.

There is a work program sanction desk guide with charts outlining what case workers need to do and a work flow chart regarding sanctions.

TAFDC: lump sum rule and lottery winnings; Food Stamps: lottery winnings and assets for NPA and PA households.

Some Food Stamp recipients on SSI/DDSI have representatives who charge fees for administering the benefits. In these cases, the portion of the benefits that go to pay these fees should be treated as noncountable income for Food Stamp purposes.

Explains how actual participation hours for each client are totaled and displayed on Beacon.

Reminds case workers of obligation to screen elderly and disabled Food Stamp recipients for medical expenses, and includes a list of expenses that count. See also 2008 Field Operations Memo regarding standard medical deduction and improvement of medical deduction policy.

Food Stamp application procedures for dealing with mail-in and web applications with and without phone numbers listed, with and without reasons given for hardship waiver, and screening them for expedited FS.

EA-- 12 month rule and natural disasters; eligibility for EA and refusal to apply for TAFDC.

Temporary absence of child and TAFDC eligibility: what kinds of absences affect eligibility; boarding school and eligibility; verifying temporary absence.

Food Stamps transitional benefits allowance (TBA)-- what happens when TAFDC closed for not complying with work requirement; Food Stamps TBA for different TAFDC closing reasons; TBA FS for cases closed due to SSI;

Correction to Q and A on funeral benefits from April 2006; citizenship status of children of naturalized citizens; calculating 5 year period of ineligibility for certain qualified noncitizens.

Funeral and burial: asset limits; Food Stamps: noncountable and countable burial lots.

Lists the education and training programs that count toward the work requirement for 12 months.

Reminder that all recipients of TAFDC, EAEDC, and Food Stamps are eligible for services from Domestic Violence Specialists and that caseworker should contact the specialist upon being informed that an adult or child is battered.

Food Stamp recipients with self-employment income should not be on semi-annual reporting; situations in which one parent leaves the household and takes the EBT card right after benefits were issued for the children.

FS and TAFDC eligibility for LPR children and adults in country less than 5 years; when verification of citizenship is and is not required.

Food Stamps: Legal Permanent Residents in the country less than five years who are eligible for Food Stamps; citizenship verification.

Increase in maximum montly transportation payments to $80, and increase in time person can get transportation benefits after closure of TAFDC case from 60 days to 6 months.

Guidelines on when employee "flex accounts" are countable as income and when they are not countable as income.

Information about this guide, which details the components of TAFDC ESP and Food Stamp Employment and Training programs.

Verification procedures for victims of Hurricane Katrina; Voluntary Authorization to Release Information (Collateral contact) forms; program requirements to apply for UI.

From November, 2005 Transitions.

Food Stamp verification issues: no verifications needed if no changes reported at recertification and nothing questionable; procedure for requesting verification of increased rent and for zeroing expenses if not verifiied; alternate verifications for housing expenses and caseworker obligation to assist with obtaining (collateral contaact); birth certificates not required.

When an EA assistance unit's EA is extended for 6 months past termination for being over-income, a reminder notice must be sent to the AU 30 days before the end of the 6 month period.

BEACON will automatically close EAEDC cases when recipients begin receiving SSI.

It is only at application, redetermination, or recertification that an unverified expense must be zeroed out. The FYI provides details.

Department of Mental Health FS referrals

Reminder to case workers that verifications are not limited to any one type of document.

Reminds case workers that in order to deny EA to a family for becoming homeless for purpose of receiving EA, the case worker must be able to show not only that the person became homeless but also that they did so for the purpose of getting EA. This means that the case worker must be able to show that the person knew about EA before becoming homeless, and that they became homeless in order to get EA rather than for another reason-- even if they purposefully left housing (e.g. it could have been due to domestic violence or housing conditions). The FYI emphasizes that poor judgment on the part of the applicant is not enough to show they became homeless for purposes of getting EA.

TAFDC work requirement procedures when child turns 6.

Case workers must assist with obtaining verifications, inform applicants and recipients of alternate verifications, and must not deny an application for failure to verify something that would result in an increase in benefits.

Excess medical costs include reasonable cost of transportation and lodging to get medical treatment.

Child care during breaks in activity and for noncitizens.

Cousins and relationship requirement for TAFDC; Supported Work wages as countable income.

Transportation for Job Search participants will now be provided by TransAction Associates, and the minimum number of work hours required to qualify for transportation payments has been reduced from 30 to 20 hours/week.

Instructions on provision of retroactive payments to Food Stamps recipients who had combat pay erroneously counted against their benefits.

Household composition and income treatment issues for stepparent with stepchild on TAFDC; exemptions in two-parent families.

Learnfare sanctions and effect on Food Stamps; effect of NAP receipt on FS.

TBA Food Stamp assistance units are not required to report changes during the TBA period, but if they do report a change the case worker must enter it on BEACON. If the resulting Food Stamp benefit is less than or equal to what the recipient already receives, BEACON will continue to pay the current level of benefits and leave the household as TBA. If the result is an increase in Food Stamp benefits, BEACON treats the report of change as a request to recertify and increases the Food Stamp benefit and removes the household from TBA.

When an EA family needs transportation services, case worker must give them Emergency Shelter Transportation Guidelines flyer.

Work program and good cause procedures, interface of TAFDC extensions and EA self-sufficiency plans.

Foster grandparent income is noncountable for TAFDC and Food Stamp programs.

Index to 2004 Hotline Foci.

FS heating and cooling allowances, FS and LiHEAP.

There are two internal DTA guides about noncitizens for case workers: "Entering Noncitizen Information on BEACON" and "Online Noncitizen Reference Guide."

Refugees participating at least half time in a recognized refugee training program are exempt from Food Stamp work requirements. Students enrolled half time in a recognized training program are also exempt.

New 3-tier TAFDC work requirement.

Teen parent GED voucher; TAFDC step-parent income

Cannot deny for failure to verify expenses for deduction purposes; cannot deny PA household for over-asset; cannot count both EAEDC and SSI income; cannot close Food Stamps for failure to verify something that is only required for TAFDC; if mail is returned with forwarding address must send letter to new address.

If a TAFDC reports a rent change on her Monthly Report form, this change must be entered for her Food Stamp case.

Learnfare; teen parent AU compositionm for TAFDC and FS.

TAFDC for 18 year-old who has finished high school but not passed MCAS; counting income of working teen dependents for TAFDC and FS purposes.

Treatment of tax refunds and EIC for TAFDC and FS; FS reporting requirements for work-required homeless households.

When a recipient cures a TAFDC sanction, Food Stamps must be ajusted to remove attributed income. Instructions on correctly anticipating income at certifications for Universal Semi-Annual Reporting households.

How it affects FS and TAFDC benefits when someone other than the recipient pays part or all of the recipient's rent.

Step-grandparent and TAFDC relationship requirement; proper way to close FS case for recipient moving out of state; reporting requirements for FS applicants with pending UI claims.

Extra charge paid to housing authority for having an air conditioner count as a cooling expense entitling household to Heating/Cooling SUA.

EA: Intervening housing since eviction from subsidized apartment for nonpayment; TAFDC: step-grandparents not eligible based on relationship requirement.

Removes language that a Food Stamp benefit amount cannot equal $1, $3, or $5.

Child care for community service placements; lack of child care as good cause once community service placement has been approved.

Reminds case workers that they must tell all immigrant applicants that even if they are not eligible for benefits their family members may be, that case workers must not press reluctant applicants to provide immigration status or SSN, and that case workers are not to report any immigrant's status to ICE except in the rare case that an immigrant provides a copy of an actual letter of deportation.

Reminder to case workers that 1) they must tell applicants that even if they are not personally eligible for benefits a family member may be, 2) once a person indicates an unwillingness to provide verification of immigratin status or social security number, the case worker must stop asking for such verification, and 3) case workers must not report any applicant or recipient to ICE except in the rare situation where the person gives the case worker a copy of a deportation order.

Treatment of lump sum income at application stage for TAFDC and FS.

Procedures for case workers to follow if a recipient with a nonpresumptive disability exemption request (second or later request) is found disabled. [Ed. note: Good Cause Medical forms can be used to excuse people in this position from required activities while the exemption requests are pending.]

Case workers can minimize underissuance of Food Stamp benefits due to household composition errors by issuing a Supplemental Payment for retroactive benefits in the month in which the error is noticed.

Entering FS information on Beacon; FS homeless shelter deduction.

A Food Stamp recipient between the ages of 18-22 must be exempted from the work requirement if living with a sibling under age 18. There is no need to show that the person cares for their sibling.

To disregard income from a terminated source for an AU on Monthly Reporting, 3 things are necessary: 1) the termination must occur during the budget month, 2)  not counting the wages must increase the TAFDC grant, and 3) the wages must be timely reported. Case workers must ask Food Stamp applicants and recipients about child care expenses when it appears they may have them.

Automatic bank match on BEACON; TAFDC child under 2 exemption for second parent where first parent is disabled.

TAFDC: Department-approved education and training and the work requirement;  ineligible grantee noncitizens and the work requirement.

Reminder to case workers about requirement that certain EAEDC recipients apply for SSI, with details about when and to whom case workers should issue reminders and make inquiries.

No pets allowed in EA hotel or motel rooms, except as reasonable accommodation for a disability.
Please note that the other part of this update, concerning EA recoupment, is obsolete as the policy was invalidated by a court decision (Patterson v. DTA).

Includes information on: which activities should be considered for plan; how lump sum income should be treated; case worker obligations to ask about mental and physical disabilities that might make it hard for family to do activities in plan.

Case workers should be writing detailed case narratives on Beacon.

Teen parents with a Certificate of Completion of coursework from high school are considered to have a diploma for TAFDC teen parent eligibility purposes even if they did not pass the MCAS and get a degree. Teen parents in this situation who are taking the MCAS retain teen parent exemptions until taking the MCAS or for 6 months, whichever is sooner. A dependent child who has a Certificate of Completion and is over 18 remains eligible until turning 19, taking the MCAS, or for 6 months after finishing high school, whichever is soonest.

Treatment of teenage student's earnings from employment for TAFDC and FS programs; FS cooling SUA information.

SSN matches; no need for SS card for verification.

Each recipient only has one 60 day job search period per 60 month time period. Once started, it is continuous, even if the person becomes exempt or finds a job in the middle of it.

Treatment of earned income of undocumented and documented immigrants not on grant in FS and TAFDC programs;  pre-paid calling card not a utility for FS SUA purposes.

FS Heating and Cooling Standard Utility Allowances (SUAs).

Case worker must ask households if anyone is making support payments, and should specify that this includes child support payments made to children in another household.

When re-evaluating eligibility of an EA assistance unit, the TAFDC $148.50 in-kind deduction for free shelter will not be used in determining financial eligibility.

Child support and FS (must be legally obligated to be deductible); Child support referrals to DOR at application stage for TAFDC; temporary absence and receipt of FS.

Clarifies that new regulations eliminated full family sanctions only for work program violations, and that full family sanctions can still be imposed under EDP regulations for failure to comply with Employment Development Plan.

Concerns temporary elimination of ESP funding.

From March, 2003 Transitions. All recipients eligible for valid-without-photo EBT cards can get he cards or pin numbers by mail.

FS: How to count escrowed tax payments for homeowners' shelter deduction; FS: Methods of determining whether a job meets the work requirement; FS: Coding of undocumented immigrants.

Reolocations benefits process and issues.

DTA child care vouchers are not available to grandparents who are ineligible TAFDC grantees (not on the grant) or to teen parents who are not on the grant and are living with their parents.

Food Stamp disability determinations; EA continuance of benefits after 12 months in shelter; TAFDC benefits for eligible immigrants whose children are not eligible.

Daily cash and Food Stamp issuances are available on the EBT card by 11 a.m. Cyclical benefits are available at 6 am. Expedited Food Stamps are available by 7 pm on the day issued if issued by 5 pm.

TAFDC for SSI recipients on zero SSI grants;  Transitional child care not available where children still receive TAFDC; EA 12 month rule exceptions;  child care during TAFDC recipient's maternity leave from employ,ent.

Mass Health Notification of Birth goes to DTA and is sufficient notification to add a newborn to a Food Stamp AU. If it is too late to add the child for the next month, add the child for the month after and do a Supplemental Payment.

EA eligibility for families where at least one member is PRUCOL; DTA obligation to take applications; EA shelter applications for disaster victims.

Explains two-day process for removing abuser from assistance unit and then, afterwards, changing the address in the computer. This is to prevent the abuser's name from showing up on agency computer records at the domestic violence victim's new address, which could generate mail to the abuser there from other government agencies and compromise safety.

Calculations for combination SSFS/FS cases.

DTA must provide transportation to EA families who need it to get to their hotel placement, when transferred from  a hotel to another hotel or shelter, or to get from the hotel to the TAO.

FS Work Program counts only months of FS receipt in MA; TAFDC program does not count SSI dedicated accounts as assets.

FS Heating SUA and LIHEAA issues.

Explains procedures for processing new Food Stamp benefit amounts resulting from reported changes, specifically what case workers should do when increased benefits must be expedited.

At application, redetermination, or recertification, case workers must inform peopel that LIHEA is a form of fuel assistance and that if they receive or reasonably anticipate receiving LIHEA they get the heating SUA.

SSI Special Benefits for disaster and moving; TAFDC exemptions in two-parent families where one parent is disabled; FS work requirement and school employees over summer vacation; transportation and lodging as part of excess medical deductions for FS.

Process and preferences for placing homeless pregnant or parenting teens in shelter.

FS: recertification of NPA AU's associated with TAFDC AU's; UI compensation is counted gross for all programs; procedures for placing pregnant homeless teens who do or do not receive TAFDC.

TAFDC: child support for child on SSI not countable; TAFDC: disability exemption request counts as first request if first in 5 year clock cycle; EA: no school requirement, eligibility for pregnant women at any stage of pregnancy.

Case workers must increase rent amount in Food Stamp case when rent increase is reported on TAFDC Monthly Report.

Detailed explanation of the forms that EAEDC recipients sign authorizing reimbursement of EAEDC benefits from SSI benefits.

Riverside rule: If TAFDC recipient has sanction lifted, case worker has to remove manually entered income to avoid overissuance of Food Stamps.
Immigrant eligibility: An immigrant can be eligible for Food Stamps via 40 quarters of work from her parents' work history from the time she was under 18 years old. Adult immigrants who entered the country as children should be screened for eligibility based on their parents' combined work histories.

EA: difference between refusing shelter placement and abandoning shelter; FS: babysitting income is self-employment earnings; TAFDC: fair market and equity asset limits on car value.

EA 12 month rule;  FS: cell phone is allowable utility deduction but not prepaid calling card; TAFDC child support cooperation.

While the landlord verificaiton and shared housing verification forms are the preferred form of verirication of housing expenses, case workers cannot limit applicants or recipients to one form of verificaiton and must accept alternate verifications.

TAFDC: grandmother does not need guardianship to establish relationship even if not on the grant; TAFDC and FS: severance pay is nonrecurring lump sum payment; TAFDC: recipients in domestic violence shelters are eligible for relocation benefits.

Explanation of rolling 60 month periods and what happens when an individual's time clock resets.

TAFDC: failure to verify Learnfare school attendance results in child being removed from grant, not termination of whole family's grant;  Busiral benefits: counting of assets; FS: Refugee training programs that count toward exemption from work requirement; TAFDC: child support for child on SSI not countable; EA: pregnant woman is eligible at any time during pregnancy.

To become or remain eligible for EAEDC, recipients who are 65 or older or have a disability expected to last a year or longer must sign a new authorization for reimbursement form every year. Such form authorizes the Social Security Administration to reimburse DTA for the EAEDC if the person is approved for SSI. The FYI outlines the procedures that case workers must follow regarding these forms.

Income from Youthbuild and Americorps is not countable for TAFDC or Food Stamp programs.

Newborns must be added to FS AU no later than the month following DTA's receipt of notification of the birth. Notification can be in the form of a Notice of Birth, Prism Alert, Recipient Notification, or other communication. If the newborn is added later for some reason, a supplemental payment must be issued.

TAFDC: temporary absence of child placed in foster care; EA: lump sum received prior to application; FS: eligibility of individual wearing prison bracelet.

Explains that rebates are noncountable income but are counted as assets under cash and Food Stamp programs, and the differences in how they are counted as assets in the different programs.

Replacement EBT cards at reapplication; TAFDC: household composition including 2 parents, one common child, one child from previous relationship, and earnings; TAFDC: income of step-parent where natural parents are not in the home is not counted if she opts out of assitance unit.

Child support deductions must be verified when a case reopens. Also, unlike shelter, utility, and medical deductions, child support deductions can only be counted if the child support is actually paid, not just based on the obligation. New work program registration forms must be signed whenever there is a relevant change in the household. 17 year-olds not in school must register for work and do job search or show good cause for not doing it, but do not have an ABAWD activity requirement.

TAFDC: affect of teen parent school requirement sanction on teen parent's child's TAFDC and teen parent's mother's TAFDC, effect of DSS custody of teen parent on her eligibility for TAFDC and TLP; FS: length of time sanctioned TAFDC amount counts as income, combination SFS/FS issue re: shelter proration.

Effect of tax refund and EIC on eligibility; FS: effect of TAFDC sanction; TAFDC: earned income of 18 year-old dependent child who is a student.

When an applicant for EA was evicted from one of these subsidized apartments fohousing units for nonpayment of rent, the case worker must investigate further to see if the person is eligible for EA or not. It depends on whether the applicant's rent was subsidized as that term is used in EA regulations, i.e. that  the tenant's rent amount was not based on a percentage of the tenant's income. It is irrelevant whether or not the landlord got a subsidy, which is what the basis of 236 and 221D3 programs.

An asset  is considered inaccessible, and therefore not countable, if the indvidual is a victim of domestic violence and trying to access the asset would put her at risk of further domestic violence.

TAFDC: assignment of child support for family cap child, how to count value of specially equipped van for disabled family member.

Car value for applicant for TAFDC and Food Stamps; Food Stamps: Subsidized adoption income; Providing interpreters for Limited English Proficiency/ LEP persons.

EAEDC; lump sum income; TAFDC: Child care for teen parent in foster care; All programs: how to count personal property for asset limit purposes.

FS: Heating SUA and LIHEAA issues.

Reminder to case workers that they are obligated to assist applicants and recipients with getting verifications that they have difficulty getting for reasons beyond their control, and to inform applicants and recipients of alternative forms of verification including self-declarations and collateral contacts.

TAFDC: Teen parent sanctions for not cooperating with child support enforcement; TAFDC: Home schooling meets Work Program requirement and Learnfare requirement; TAFDC: Teen parent exemptions while living in TLP; TAFDC: Family cap exceptions and lack of eligibility of family cap child for layette benefits.

Notice to income-eligible child care recipients telling them that they are eligible for Food Stamps under categorical eligibility rules.

FS: categorical eligibility based on receipt of income-eligible child care; FS: not categorically eligible based on TANF receipt in another state; Funeral benefits-- no reimbursement; All programs: Unemployment compensation counted in gross amount.

Where household could be split into two Food Stamp households due to disability of recipient's mother, and thereby get more Food Stamps, case worker has obligation to inform recipient. In such cases, shelter and utility deductions sometimes must be prorated. When a recipient's job ends, case worker must determine whether a supplemental Food Stamp payment should issue for the month in which the change is reported.

There are no fees, sliding scale or otherwise, for TAFDC recipients' child care vouchers.

TAFDC: exclusion of teen parent's baby from assistance unit of teen parent's mother (so the baby can keep child support); FS: mortgage payments beyond what is required are not deductible; TAFDC: recipient living in development with federal subsidy entitle to rent allowance if no Section 8 or MRVP in use; TAFDC: ineligible immigrants with children on TAFDC and proration of shelter costs (none if parent has no  income).

EA shelter recipients must be provided with written notice before transfer to another shelter.

Educational assistance (loans, grants, scholarships, etc.) are not counted as income until actually received by the student, and then must be averaged over the period that it covers and counted accordingly. An example in the FYI shows that the combination of these two rules sometimes results in part of the assistance being disregarded.

Sanctioned TAFDC recipients are entitled to child care if needed to cure the sanction. Case workers must authorize it in these situations.

After a cash or Food Stamp case has been closed for a year, the household needs a new EBT card if they apply again.

FS: no rent allowance when rent is paid in entirety by someone not in household; full unheated SUA even if bills are low; residents of dv shelters eligible for FS even if shelter provide meals;  calculation of FS for sanctioned teen; how to calculate period of ineligibility due to voluntary quit prior to application; EA: receipt of shelter in another state does not count as receipt of EA in past 12 months; TAFDC: time limit is counted in terms of calendar months not cyclical months.