SR 10-14 Dated 11/09 (FAM)

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

INTER-DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION

SUMMARY

This SR releases a change in how the Food Stamp Program treats the $25 weekly increase in Unemployment Compensation Benefits (UCB) when determining Food Stamp eligibility and benefit allotment. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), signed into law on February 27, 2009, provided a $25 weekly increase to UCB beneficiaries. Although other federal programs allowed states to exclude this $25 weekly UCB increase when determining eligibility and benefit allotment for means-tested programs, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), the federal agency that governs the Food Stamp program, mandated that states count the additional $25 weekly UCB increase as income in the Food Stamp program. This policy was released in DFA SR 09-16, dated March 1, 2009.

The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, however, now requires states to exclude the $25 weekly UCB increase in the Food Stamp program too, retroactive to November 1, 2009. This change aligns the treatment of this type of income in the Food Stamp program with the treatment of this type of income in all other DFA assistance programs.

POLICY

Retroactively effective to 11/1/2009, the $25 weekly ARRA increase to UCB payments is excluded as income when determining eligibility and benefit allotment in the Food Stamp program.

This change aligns the treatment of this type of income in the Food Stamp program with the treatment of this type of income in all other DFA assistance programs.

PROCEDURES AND IMPLEMENTATION

For applicants with UCB income and recipients reporting new UCB income, Family Service Specialists (FSS) must continue to deduct $25 a week from the individual’s UCB income and enter the remaining amount, after the $25 weekly deduction is removed, as the UCB weekly income, per previous policy released in SR 09-16. The FSS must also continue to enter the $25 weekly amount under the unearned income type "ARRA-UCB" in New HEIGHTS. New HEIGHTS will now exclude this income when determining eligibility and benefit allotment in the Food Stamp program.

The 3,500+ recipients who were receiving UCB during the months November 2009 through January 2010, have been identified on a report that has already been sent to the District Offices. FSS must review each case per the instructions described in the Director’s Memo dated 1/28/2010, subject line Report Listing Food Stamp Clients Who May Be Entitled to Supplemental Food Stamp Benefits, to manually determine whether supplemental benefits are due for these past months.

Once each case is completed, FSS must make a check notation next to the case listed on the report. When all the cases are completed, the report must be returned to the DFA Policy Development Unit. All cases must be processed by March 31, 2010.

NEW HEIGHTS SYSTEMS PROCEDURES AND IMPLEMENTATION

New HEIGHTS will now exclude the $25 weekly ARRA increase in UCB payments from the eligibility and benefit determination process in the Food Stamp program when the FSS enters this amount as the unearned income type "ARRA-UCB."

On 1/28/2010, all current Food Stamp recipients receiving UCB were processed through a mass change to now exclude this $25 amount when determining the ongoing Food Stamp benefit allotment. The first month this will be available to current recipients is with the February 2010 allotment. Notices of decision (NODs) generated during this process contained the following special text:

FEDERAL LAW CHANGED THE WAY YOUR UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION BENEFITS ARE TREATED AS INCOME FOR FOOD STAMPS. YOUR FOOD STAMP BENEFITS, AS SHOWN IN THE OLD AND NEW BUDGET ABOVE, WERE ADJUSTED TO REFLECT THIS CHANGE.

Because New HEIGHTS is unable to automatically redetermine benefit allotments and then generate supplemental benefits for past periods of eligibility, a report was generated to identify all Food Stamp cases that were receiving UCB during any month between 11/2009 and 1/2010. The report was sorted by DO, worker and numerically-sorted by case number. FSS were instructed via the Director’s Memo dated 1/28/2010, subject line Report Listing Food Stamp Clients Who May Be Entitled to Supplemental Food Stamp Benefits, to review every case listed for the retroactive time period mentioned above, and issue supplemental payments, if a supplemental payment was due. All cases must be processed by March 31, 2010.

POLICY MANUAL REVISIONS

Revised Family Assistance Manual Topics

SR’s Retained

Revised Adult Assistance Manual Topics

SR’s Retained

Revised Food Stamp Manual Topics

SR’s Retained

IMPLEMENTATION

Changes identified in this SR are retroactively effective to November 1, 2009.

CLIENT NOTIFICATION

Food Stamp recipients receiving UCB who were run through the mass change on 1/28/2010 received the following message on the NOD that was generated:

FEDERAL LAW CHANGED THE WAY YOUR UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION BENEFITS ARE TREATED AS INCOME FOR FOOD STAMPS. YOUR FOOD STAMP BENEFITS, AS SHOWN IN THE OLD AND NEW BUDGET ABOVE, WERE ADJUSTED TO REFLECT THIS CHANGE.

No other client notification is planned.

TRAINING

A Director’s Memo dated 1/28/2010 instructed FSS to issue supplemental payments, if necessary, to Food Stamp cases that were identified in a New HEIGHTS-generated report as having also received UCB payments in any month between 11/2009 and 1/2010. No other special training is planned for implementing the changes in this SR.

DISPOSITION

This SR may be destroyed or deleted after its contents have been noted and the revised manual topics released by this SR have been posted to the On-line manuals.

DISTRIBUTION

This SR will be distributed according to the electronic distribution list for Division of Family Assistance policy releases. This SR, and revised On-Line Manuals, will be available for agency staff in the On-Line Manual Library, and for public access on the Internet at http://www.dhhs.nh.gov/DHHS/DFA/LIBRARY, effective March 1, 2010. Additionally, this SR will be distributed under separate cover to all internal hard copy holders of the Family Assistance Manual, Adult Assistance Manual, and the Food Stamp Manuals.

DFA/KD:s