SR 15-26 Dated 07/15

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

INTER-DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION

SUMMARY

This SR releases:

�      revisions to Form NHEP228(O), NHEP Employability Plan (Orientation Version), its associated instructions, Form NHEP228(O)(i), and its Spanish translation, Form NHEP228(O)(Sp); and

�      an unrelated policy clarification associated with the 45 and 90 day application processing time frames when determining eligibility for State Supplement Program (SSP) financial assistance, which includes the Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled (APTD), Old Age Assistance (OAA), and Aid to the Needy Blind (ANB) programs.

DESCRIPTION OF REVISIONS MADE TO FORMS

Form NHEP228(O), NHEP Employability Plan (Orientation Version), is a two-page, single-sided paper form for which both pages are two-part no-carbon-required (NCR). Both pages must be completed by all FANF applicants that are referred to the New Hampshire Employment Program (NHEP) Orientation and the second page is then signed by the NHEP Orientation attendee.

Form NHEP228(O):

�      serves as an agreement of participation in NHEP between participants and staff;

�      outlines the requirements an individual must meet while participating in NHEP;

�      outlines what assistance the Employment Counselor Specialist (ECS) will provide to help the participant to meet NHEP participation requirements; and

�      informs mandatory NHEP participants that less than full compliance with NHEP requirements will result in the individual's FANF grant and NH Child Care Scholarship being reduced or closed.

Form NHEP228(O) and its Spanish version, Form NHEP228(O)(Sp), were revised to:

�      remove the following text, I will call to schedule work activities within 2 days of getting a notice that I have been opened for NHEP cash assistance if I cannot be reached by phone, because NHEP no longer asks the NHEP participants to do this;

�      add that instead the NHEP participant will register and complete assessments in the NH Works Job Match System (JMS) at nhworksjobmatch.nhes.nh.gov/vosnet/Default.aspx; and

�      insert that the NHEP participant must also work on the NHEP Career Exploration Tool in addition to the Planning For Success Portfolio Workbook before his or her next NHEP appointment.

Instructions for Form NHEP228(O) were revised to add the legal basis for collecting the information in the form and the form's workflow.

The current version of this form must be used until the supply is exhausted, at which point the new version released by this SR will be printed. Form NHEP228(O) is available in the DHHS Warehouse and can be ordered using current forms reordering procedures, via the Quarterly Forms Order (QFO). The Spanish version of Form NHEP228(O) can be reordered by contacting the Supervisor of the Policy Development Unit. Both forms are also available electronically, for Department staff only, on the Lotus Notes Family Services Database.

UNRELATED POLICY CLARIFICATION

Policy in PART 116 of the Adult Assistance Manual (AAM), APPLICATION PROCESSING TIME FRAMES, already stated that there could be potential situations in which processing an application for SSP cash assistance could take longer than the 45 or 90 day time frames due to a failure or delay on the part of the applicant or any other unusual circumstances beyond the control of DFA, and that in these circumstances a Notice of Decision (NOD) should be generated as soon as possible once the decision was reached. However, policy in PART 116 has been clarified to better match 42 CFR 435.912(e) and now reads as follows:

Eligibility must be determined within the 45 or 90 days described above except when:

�      a decision cannot be reached because the applicant or an examining physician delays or fails to take a required action; or

�      there is an administrative or other emergency beyond DHHS' control.

Document the reason for the delay in the case file. Generate the NOD to the individual once the decision is made.

AAM PART 119, BENEFIT DELIVERY TIME FRAMES, was additionally revised to indicate that when an eligibility decision is made after the 45 or 90 day application processing period due to the reasons described above, cash begins the first day of the semimonthly payment period in which SSP eligibility is determined after that 45th or 90th day, as long as SSP eligibility requirements are met at the time the first SSP benefit allotment is issued.

POLICY MANUAL REVISIONS

Revised Adult Assistance Manual Topics

PART 116  APPLICATION PROCESSING TIME FRAMES

PART 119  BENEFIT DELIVERY TIME FRAMES

IMPLEMENTATION

The current version of Form NHEP228(O) must be used until the supply is exhausted, at which point the new version released by this SR will be printed. The AAM revisions released in this SR represent current policy and were merely clarified to better communicate the policy.

CLIENT NOTIFICATION

No special client notification is planned or needed.

TRAINING

No special training is planned or needed.

FORMS MANUAL POSTING INSTRUCTIONS

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 www.dhhs.nh.gov/DFA/publications.htm, effective August 3, 2015. Additionally, this SR, and printed pages with posting instructions, will be distributed under separate cover to all internal hard copy holders of the Adult Assistance and Forms Manuals.

DFA/JBV:s