On Target. December SNAP: Terminated income and the new Income Types

Transcription

1 On Target December 2016 SNAP: Terminated income and the new Income Types When a client reports terminated income it is not required for workers to verify the terminated income. In most cases, it is acceptable merely to talk to the client and get information on why the job ended, date last worked, and the date and amount of the last paycheck. It is important to make sure you capture the entire month of income. If the client reports a job loss at end of month check the pay periods to make sure you are not missing an earlier pay stub(s). Also, ask your client if they are entitled to any additional income such as vacation time being cash-out. If the work was seasonal or temporary, narrate the client's statements and you are done. If the client is mandatory work registrant and job quit must be determined, begin by asking the client why the job ended. Was it a layoff or firing? If the client quit, what was the reason? Has the client applied for UC? If the termination of income is questionable, workers may contact the employer to verify the last day of work and the date of the final paycheck. However, many employers are reluctant to state a worker has been fired or give any reason for termination. If the client is mandatory work registrant and did not have good cause for a job quit, advise them that a disqualification will be applied. Since December 1, 2016, there are now two new Income Type codes to be used in FSMIS. These Income Type codes are `EMT`, for terminated earned income and `UMT`, for terminated unearned income. These new Income Type codes can be used for brand new certification (CRT) cases and recertification (REC) cases where there has been a break in benefits. By using these Income Type codes, the system will recognize that this is terminated income and will remove the applicable income from the case at end of month. The system will automatically do the removal for the worker. Workers will no longer have to manually remove terminated earned or unearned income from the case if either of these two new Income Types are used when adding income to a case. Workers should continue to use UCT when coding terminated unemployment compensation benefits. If customers have an open case and report their income is ending, workers should follow the regular standard process for processing terminated income changes. DECEMBER 2016 CONTRIBUTORS Catherine McDonald Dawn Myers Jeff Hodges Kris Rash Child Care Policy Analysts TANF Policy Analysts Quality Assurance SSP Training Unit Program Management Evaluators INSIDE THIS ISSUE SNAP: Terminated Income and the New Income Types SNAP Home Visits and Quality Control Documents 2 (QC) Panel 2 Pending not Needed for SNAP 3 Information and Webpage: Data and Reports New Accuracy Lab Schedule 4 SNAP Tips on Representative Income Weekly Q&A Teleconferences for ABAWD Schedule Reduce Work Hours for SNAP 5 SNAP Preventative Tips 5 Worker Honor Roll

2 SNAP Home Visits and 2 The Unit (QC) does home visits to interview clients for SNAP reviews. To complete a QC review on an open SNAP case, an interview is required. Federal regulations require a face-to-face interview for most of these reviews (a phone interview can be done on TBA cases or when the benefit amount is under $100). For the majority of reviews that require face to face interaction, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) encourages reviewers to conduct these interviews in the client s home. However, it is not required that an interview take place in the client s home. Interviews can also be done at the household s local branch office or another public place that is agreeable to both parties. When a client contacts the branch in response to an appointment letter from QC, please assure them it is a legitimate process. Cases are chosen at random, but once chosen the client is required to cooperate to continue receiving SNAP benefits. If a client expresses hesitation about a home visit from an agency employee they don t know, ask them to call the reviewer who is flexible and can arrange to meet somewhere else. Do not tell clients no one should be visiting their home regarding their SNAP benefits. Documents When a case is selected for a TANF or SNAP review the Unit sends documents to the clients, employers, utility companies and other agencies to corroborate the information provided at intake. These documents are sent with a postage paid self-addressed envelope. The documents are time sensitive and are needed to complete the review. Sometimes clients/recipients drop them off at the local branch office. These items are often not sent to QC and in some cases these items are being misplaced or sent back to the client. We ask that field staff please forward these documents to QC as soon as possible. This enables QC to complete the review and lets us know that the client is cooperating with the review process. (QC) Panel Want to listen in and learn from QC error staffing s? You can, just by attending QC Panel! What is QC Panel: QC Panel is a monthly venue where QC Errors are presented and discussed to find ways to prevent similar errors in the future. TANF and ERDC Errors are presented first, followed by SNAP. Who should attend: All staff involved in SNAP, TANF or ERDC eligibility are welcome to attend. Analysts and Trainers are present to answer question and take suggestions. Branches who have a QC Error selected for panel are asked to attend and give the background on their case. It s all about sharing information and getting better at what we do! When: QC Panel is at 1:15 (login 1:00 to 1:15) on the last Monday of each month. How: Three great ways to participate: In person at 3406 Cherry Ave NE, Salem By V-con at 20 Designated sites across the state By Go to Meeting right from your computer and phone! To join the meeting, simply click on the link below: You will be connected to audio using your computer's microphone and speakers (VoIP). A headset is recommended. More Important Info: QC maintains a list of branch contacts who receive the case list and other information each month. If you are not getting the information and would like to be added to the contact list, simply send a request to the QC Unit mailbox. We are listed as Quality-Control Unit in the Outlook address book. Help Oregon continue its long tradition of making a Panel available each month for staff to hear and provide input about actual QC errors and error prevention!

3 3 Pending Not Needed for SNAP Most frequent and actual pend requests these are items that can be clarified on the system, with a phone call and/or do not need to be verified. Terminated income Have a conversation with the customer regarding their job termination; verbally get the amount of gross income from this source. Remember there might be a missing pay stub if its towards the end of month. Make sure to get the whole month of income. Copy of Picture ID ID can be verified using the WVIR (DMV) screen; WAGE, SSA records, The Work # and other history screens Copy of SS cards for all household members and proof of citizenship? We need the Social Security number but not a copy of the card. TPQY will verify the SS# s and the citizenship (if needed) Copy of Birth certificates for all household members (all born in US) TPQY will verify the SS# s and the citizenship Trade work in lieu of rent: verification of source and amount; letter from landlord For shelter, accept the customer s statement unless really questionable CAPI: customer marks student; indicates no Fed Work Study and not working but is pended for award letter. Do not pend for an award letter if the information provided indicates the student is ineligible. Send a denial to the ineligible student. Out of State verifications, requesting customer prove closure or no benefits based on out-of-state ID even though customer marked did not receive benefits in another state. Multiple Program Worker Guide #4 lists every State and how that State is contacted for verification; most responses are very fast. We need proof of custody to add your children/shared custody. Worker needs to determine where the child eats 51% of their meals. Basic needs: How are you meeting your basic needs with zero income; how are you paying for a P.O. Box with no income. Worker only needs to know how a customer is paying shelter that is greater than their income. Visit the OPI Webpage to find Reports and Data. exists to ensure compliance with federal quality control review requirements and provide valuable and consistent feedback to the field offices on accuracy and effectiveness of programs. Most errors happen for three reasons. When we do not: Act on reported information, Ask questions and pursue inconsistencies, and Narrate what was done and why. Remember Panel is held on the last Monday of the month unless that Monday is a holiday, then the QC Panel will be the prior Monday. For the QC Panel Schedule time and dates and error summaries look for it on the OPI Webpage. randomly selects about 100 open SNAP cases (active reviews) and 70 closed, denied, suspend or zero benefits SNAP cases (negative reviews) each month. reviews household eligibility and benefits for the review month only. There is an in depth review of the cases. In most cases there is a face to face interview with the client. All facts gained from the case review and client interview are verified.

4 4 New Accuracy Labs Schedule The Quality Assurance team will be providing accuracy labs on varying topics to promote accuracy. These labs will be utilizing Smart Board rooms around the state. At this time we will be presenting 2 accuracy labs in the month of January. The 2 topics we will be tackling are Non- Representative pay stubs and Reading the Work #. Due to smart board room locations not being available to all workers, there is the option to access the training from desktop computer via Skype for business. See below for topic, time and locations. January 9 Non-representative pay stubs 9:30am - 10:30am Roseburg Harvard Cavitt creek Medford - Market Bend Wall Bend - Shoshone La Grande - Gekeler Ontario - East Portland Lombard Portland - Webster Hillsboro Elam Coos Bay Newmark Astoria Conference A Tillamook W conf rm Cottage Grove - Coop Albany Snow Peak Prineville Stiens Piller Baker City AB St. Helens Columbia Hood River 9 th vcon east Eugene Chad -Vcon MCK Cr1 Newport 4th conference room January 17 Reading the Work # 9:30am - 10:30am Salem - Winema Portland - Broadway A & B Portland Lombard Portland - Webster Bend Wall Bend - Shoshone Eugene Chad SRS Trng Eugene Chad vcon MCK Cr1 Ontario East Medford Market La Grande Gekeler Hillsboro Elam Hillsboro Silver Falls Coos Bay Newmark Prineville Stiens Piller Corvallis - Circle Baker City AB Tillamook W conf rm Cottage Grove - Coop Albany Snow Peak Astoria Conference A St. Helens Columbia Hood River 9 th vcon east Hermiston - Columbia Tigard - Cascade The Dalles - Union Newport 4th conference room SNAP Tip on representative income: Income, whether earned or unearned is consistently the biggest source of SNAP errors. Usually, we re good at math but it is deciding what income to use in the calculation that causes the problem. Prospective income is always a guess, but choosing representative income is how to make an accurate and QC acceptable eligibility decision. In every situation, narrate clearly how you arrived at the figure you are using, especially if it doesn t match with what is reported on the application/interim report.

5 5 Weekly Q&A Teleconferences for ABAWDs Schedule SNAP Policy has restarted the Weekly Question and Answer Teleconferences to support SNAP offices and to provide access to staff for ABAWD questions. These Q&A sessions are open to anyone interested in ABAWDs. You may call in with your ABAWD questions or simply listen and learn from the questions of others. The January dates and information for calling in are: Dates Times Room Conference Call Codes Tuesday, Jan 03, am 12pm HSB code Monday, Jan 09, am 12pm HSB code Tuesday, Jan 17, am 12pm HSB code Monday, Jan 23, am 12pm HSB code Monday, Jan am 12pm HSB code In between the conference calls, if you have questions regarding the ABAWD policies, please talk with your supervisor or use these resources: Review the Frequently Asked Questions document for a refresher See Self-Sufficiency Transmittals See the ABAWD section of the Family Services Manual See the Question and Answer Roll up on SNAP Staff Tools SNAP Policy Box Thank you for your efforts to help SNAP participants who need to meet ABAWD requirements maintain their eligibility for food assistance. Reduced Work Hours for SNAP Did you know in most cases, a drop in employment hours must be verified before income can be reduced on the SNAP case. Although the client is responsible to obtain proof, the worker can get verification by talking to the employer. The exception is for jobs in which seasonal fluctuations or similar circumstances explain the drop in hours (e.g., for retail sales or tourist employment, a cut in hours one month due to illness). For these cases when the work situation is generally known in the community, it is acceptable to narrate the reduction in work hours without pursuing verification. WORKER HONOR ROLL Quality Assurance is publishing a Worker Honor Roll to call attention to the outstanding work done by so many of you in the field. The workers on the list will have SNAP targeted review accuracy rates of 95% or better in the past six months. Is your name on the list? You can find out here. SNAP Preventative Tips Calculate income using the correct number of months when averaging income. Remind clients of SRS reporting requirements and 130% of the FPL for household size. Remember to check IEVS, discuss any recent job separation and narrate the conversation. Remember to remove income for future month s benefits, when it has been reported to be a terminated source in the initial month. Use your EMT and UMT coding on FSMIS. Remember to count ongoing cash gifts paid to the customer as an income source Place SNAP cases in SRS whenever possible. Before allowing utility standard, make sure utilities are not included in the rent.