How to Stay on Board and Ride the Waves of Changes in SNAP BPRO 2017 Spring Conference

Waving Objectives Review guidance on reporting requirements for SNAP households Review how workers are to handle changes reported by the household Review how to deal with other information regarding changes  Review how to input changes in the VaCMS: consider QRGs and IBPs related to changes 

On Board Changes Changes can be reported at: Application Pending application Interim Report Renewal Anytime during the cert period

Examples of Changes New address Different shelter bills Household composition changes Income Resources Expenses

Board Reporting Requirements During the eligibility interview, the worker must advise an applicant of the responsibility to report changes within the required period and of the changes the household must report

Change Report Form The worker must highlight the applicable household size and income limit and must discuss use of the form with the household during the interview

As a wave hits, did you know? SNAP reporting requirements differ based on the number of months in the certification period. This became effective on May 1, with the implementation of Transmittal #20.

Change Report Form The Change Report form now has a place to enter the Eligibility Period - this is the number of months in the certification period The reporting requirements for the household are dependent on this number.

New Change Report Form Until changes are made to the VaCMS, the Change Report generated through the VaCMS system must be suppressed and all SNAP applicants must be provided a manual Change Report form that includes the two separate reporting requirements Transmittal #20 includes the revised Change Report Form

Change Report Form The worker must provide the Change Report form to each household at initial application, reapplication, recertification, when the agency alters the household size, if the household needs another form, and whenever the household returns a form or reports a change in the number of household members

Reporting Requirements – eligibility period 1 to 4 months Must report changes in household composition; residence, including shelter expenses when households move; legally obligated child support; and resources over allowable limits of $2,250 or $3,250, income changes over $50 of unearned income and over $100 for earned income and changes in jobs and job status, when the work hours fall below 20 hours per week for household members who are exempt from the work requirement because of work

Reporting Requirements – eligibility period 5 months or more Must report when their income exceeds the gross income limit based on the size of the household and When the work hours fall below 20 hours per week for household members who are exempt from the work requirement because of work With the exception of households that receive benefits through the Transitional Benefits component for former TANF recipients or that are certified through VaCAP; these households do not have to report changes

Time for Reporting Changes Households must report required changes within 10 calendar days from the date the change occurs or, at the latest, 10 days into the next month after the month the change occurs

How to Report Changes on a Wave Households may report changes using the Change Report form, by telephone, by personal contact, by mail, or electronically The household may also report a change of its circumstances with the filing of the Interim Report A household member, an authorized representative, or any person having knowledge of the household's circumstances may report the change to any staff member of the local department of social services

Changes Reported by Mail When the household reports the change by mail, the report will be timely as long as the postmark of the letter is within the required 10-day period regardless of when the local department of social services receives the information

Agency Action on Reported Changes The worker must act promptly to terminate or to adjust benefits when changes in household circumstances are reported by households, including information about an upcoming or future change reported at application/renewal or through the interim report Except when households receive Transitional Benefits for former TANF recipients,

Agency Action on Changes Determine the amount: Income: Frequency, rate, dates of receipt Deductions: Frequency, amounts, due dates, entitlement Include in existing calculations to determine continued eligibility and benefit level Compare to gross/net income standards, resource or deduction maximum, as appropriate

Agency Action on Changes The SNAP case must reflect the following changes: changes reported by the household; changes put into VaCMS to meet reporting or policy requirements of another program; changes to prevent duplicate participation; and changes that are considered verified upon receipt

Changes Reported Reported by the household also includes information included on an application for other benefits

Changes Verified upon receipt includes: information about the removal of a child from the home by a foster care worker or information from a drug treatment center that says a client moved

Other Waves of Information Other information may become known to the agency through other means than those 4 ways If the change is one that the household was required to report, the agency must act on the information If the change is a change that was not required to be reported, the agency must hold the information and evaluate it at the next interim report or renewal, whichever comes first

Address Change Reported by Household If the household reports an address change, the agency must inquire about shelter costs that result from the move If the household fails to provide new shelter costs, the agency must remove existing shelter costs from the SNAP calculations

Agency Action Timeframe The agency has 10 days from the date the agency learns of a change to act on the new information

Agency Action Timeframes When the reported change requires a reduction, termination or suspension of benefits, the worker must issue an advance notice within 10 calendar days, beginning with the date the agency receives the change, if required If advance notice is not required, the worker must send an adequate notice, if a notice is required at all

Required Supplements For changes resulting in an increase in the allotment, the change must be reflected no later than the first allotment issued 10 days after the date the change was reported However, if the increase in benefits is a result of the addition of a new household member, or is the result of a decrease of $50 or more in the household's gross monthly income, the worker must reflect the change no later than the month following the month in which the change was reported If it is too late in the month to adjust the upcoming month's allotment, it will be necessary to issue a supplementary allotment by the 10th of the upcoming month

New Household Members If the household reports the addition of a new member, that person may not be included in the allotment until the agency knows the income and resource information about the individual

Changes and Verifications For changed information, households must verify elements that cause benefits to increase However, the benefit amount for the first month after the change may reflect the reported change without verification, if the verification is unavailable The worker must obtain verification of the change before the household can receive the second month’s issuance of benefits that reflects the change

Changes and Verifications If the household does not provide verification within 10 days of the request, the worker must change the allotment back to the original amount certified before the change was entered Do not close the case!

Changes and Notices The worker does not have to issue an advance notice if benefits revert to the original level because of the lack of verification as long as the previous notice advised the household that this would happen at the time of the increase

Changes and Verifications For changes that result in a decrease in the amount of benefits or that cause no change, the worker must act on the change with or without verification of the change If the worker does not verify the changed element at the time of handling the change, the agency must verify the element in conjunction with processing the Interim Report, if applicable, but not later than for the next recertification

Verification of Changes Earned income: verify the new amount Unearned income if the source changed or the amount changed by more than $50 since the last verification Number of hours worked or performed for a work activity for persons subject to the work requirement Voluntarily reported medical expenses to show the household is eligible for the medical standard deduction Voluntarily reported medical expenses if the amount changed by more than $25 since the last verification for households that are claiming actual medical expenses The legal obligation to pay child support or the amount actually paid

Changes Reported while an Application is Pending Assess the information to determine applicability to the month of application or a subsequent period Determine if verification is needed If yes, send a revised checklist, allowing 10 days: if this 10-day period would cause the application to be held more than 30 days, extend the processing time If the household provides the verification on or before the 10th day, the household would receive benefits for the month of application (Code the delay in processing as Agency Delay so that the household may receive benefits for the month of application, provided the verification is provided by the 30th day or the 10th day noted above)

Changes Reported while an Application is Pending  If the change is reported after Day 30 so that the processing period has already been extended, the household would still get 10 days to provide the additional information Benefits would be prorated back to the date of the request for the additional information if the verification is provided on or before the 10th day instead of prorating from the date when the final element was verified

Changes Reported while an Application is Pending Once the changed element has been verified, the new information must be factored in the benefit calculation for the month of application as well as any months that follow the application month Eligibility and benefit level for the household must be based on the income and expenses already received/reported as well as elements that are anticipated with reasonable certainty to occur during the month

Household Composition Changes while an Application is Pending Household composition must be evaluated as of the application date so that any change to the household’s membership would be reflected the month after the month of the change This restriction would also include any associated changes such as calculating the income or personal deductions for a specific member

Multiple Changes CHANGES WHICH ARE CLOSELY RELATED OR THE RESULT OF ONE ANOTHER FOR EXAMPLE: CHANGE IN TANF DUE TO CHANGE IN INCOME CHANGES SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED TOGETHER CHANGES WHICH ARE NOT CLOSELY RELATED FOR EXAMPLE: CHANGE IN SHELTER AND CHANGE IN INCOME CHANGES COULD BE IMPLEMENTED SEPARATELY

VaCMS IBP: Changes Without Verification that Increase SNAP Benefits If a change is reported which increases the SNAP benefit amount for a customer or household, the allotment for the first future month should be increased, even without verifications of the change If the verifications are not received by the second future month however, the benefits should revert back to the original benefit amount from that month forward There is an IBP for this process in VaCMS

VaCMS Effective Begin Dates Effective Begin Dates have significant impacts on a wide variety of pages that affect eligibility results, including Income, Resources, Expense, and Living Arrangements There is a QRG for Effective Begin Dates

VaCMS Recording Lost Employment If a customer loses employment, that change must be entered into the VaCMS correctly so the case is accurate There is a QRG for this under Data Collection

Change of Address on Closed Case If the case is closed or denied- You can go to Inquiry: Put in Case number Scroll down and stop about Related Documents and Case Last Authorized by:   There is a Tab that says Update Address(es)

Riding the Wave on out . . . Handling a Move out of Virginia Update the address screen in VACMS Do not change the FIPS code when a customer moves out of state If a client moves out of state, workers should change the client’s address information on the "Household Address" page but do not click the 'Validate Address/Get Locality' button or manually change the selected locality in the 'Locality' dropdown menu When workers update the client’s address to an out of state address, the locality should remain as the worker’s agency locality

Questions?

Thank you for Attending! Lisa Colandene-Nouri SNAP Consultant Northern Regional Office Lisa.colandene-nouri@dss.virginia.gov Ruth Ann Belcher SNAP Consultant Western Regional Office Ruth.belcher@dss.virginia.gov