713.01 Intentional Program Violation (IPV) (FSM)

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A household has committed an intentional program violation when any member causes an overissuance by doing any of the following:

• intentionally providing misleading information,

• failing or refusing to report a change in household circumstances, or

• by purposely committing any act that violates any public assistance or food stamp regulations, or any state statute relating to said programs.

Example

An individual applied for food stamps on April 2 claiming no employment and was certified for 3 months. Two months later a New Hampshire Employment Security (NHES) crossmatch showed that the individual had actually become employed on April 1. The Office of Special Investigations (OSI) confronted the individual, who agreed to sign a waiver of right to an administrative disqualification hearing.

Only one of the following can officially establish intentional program violation:

• a court of appropriate jurisdiction,

• the household’s signing of a waiver of right to an administrative disqualification hearing, or

• an administrative disqualification hearing through the Hearings Office.

The OSI pursues intentional program violations.*

If the same violation was repeated over a continuous period of time before discovery, consider each occurrence as belonging to one violation.

Any IPV action taken by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) against an accused individual in a TANF case is coordinated with any action being taken under the Food Stamp Program when the factual issues arise from the same or related circumstances.