Food and Nutrition Services Change Notices

CHANGE NOTICE FOR MANUAL

MANUAL: Food Stamp Certification Manual

CHANGE NO.: 01-2002 Date: March 15, 2002

TO: County Directors of Social Services

EFFECTIVE April 1, 2002, make the following changes to the Food Stamp Certification Manual.

I. BACKGROUND

These changes are being made to conform to new interpretation of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 273.2(f)(8) regarding medical expense(s) verification at recertification and to provide clarification of existing Food Stamp Manual material on:

A. Accessible and inaccessible retirement accounts;

B. Determining the amount in a checking account to count toward resources;

C. Procedures regarding income deductions for ineligible Able-bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDS).

II. SPECIFIC CHANGES

A. Section 250, Resources

1. Update policy to make a distinction between accessible and inaccessible retirement accounts. Count the resources of an accessible regular retirement plan when it is withdrawn.

2. Exclude from the balance of a checking account all outstanding checks, as this amount is considered inaccessible to the household. This is significant when an applicant/recipient is close to being over the resource limit.

B. Section 280, Income Deductions

1. Medical expenses do not always have to be verified at recertification. Review the medical expense information provided by the household. Ask the client if the expenses previously reported have changed. Verify the medical expenses if:

a. The type or source of expense has changed. For example, the client purchases prescriptions at a different pharmacy or the doctor changed the client's prescriptions.

b. The total (of medical expenses) has changed by more than $25. If the expenses have changed by less than $25, do not verify unless c. below applies.

c. The information/verification provided is incomplete, inaccurate, inconsistent, or outdated.

2. For ineligible ABAWDS, apply the same procedures regarding income deductions that are used for any ineligible or disqualified food stamp unit (FSU) member.

a. Allow the eligible FSU member a prorata share of the shelter, legal support obligation, and child care expenses that are paid by the ineligible member from the ineligible member's own income.

b. All ineligible FSU members are included in the calculation of the amount to prorate, but the ineligible FSU member's share is not counted toward the FSU household expenses.

3. Changes were made in 280.15, A. due to misprinted information when the manual was revised.

C. Section 500, Recertifications

Review medical information provided by the household previously given as an expense. If the source has changed, the total of medical expenses has changed by more than $25, or if information is incomplete, inaccurate, inconsistent, or outdated, the information needs to be verified.

1. Section 500.00, D. has been added to reference Figure 500-1.

2. Figure 500-1 has been updated to show when verification of medical deductions is needed at recertification.

III. IMPLEMENTATION INSTRUCTIONS

These changes are effective April 1, 2002 with each application, change in situation or recertification taken or processed.

IV. INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE FOOD STAMP MANUAL

REMOVE		INSERT
Section	Pages	Section	Pages
250	5-6, 9-12	250	5-6, 9-12
280	13-18	280	13-18
500	1-2	500	1-2
	Figure 500-1		Figure 500-1

This material has been reviewed and approved by the Economic Services Committee.

If you have questions, please contact your Program Integrity Representative.

Sincerely,

Wilbert R. Morris, Chief

Economic Independence Section

SB/bh

Attachments

FS 250

FS 280

FS 500

FS 500f1