SR 23-20 Dated 07/23

This Supervisory Release (SR) releases the annual July updates to the Financial Assistance to Needy Families (FANF) Standard of Need (SON) used to determine the period of ineligibility for FANF cases receiving lump sum income and eligibility and benefit amount for FANF cases with deemed income.

RSA 167:7, II mandates annual updates to the SON to reflect changes in the cost of living, as implemented at administrative rule He-W 658.01. The FANF SON represents an approximate monthly amount that it would cost a family in NH for basic living necessities, including food, utilities, and rent.

· Open FANF cash, FANF medically needy, and FANF In and Out cases with a non-sanctioned deemer.

The SON is used to determine the period of ineligibility for cases receiving lump sum income, and eligibility and benefit amount for cases with deemed income.

· shorter periods of ineligibility for those cases that are currently FANF ineligible due to receipt of lump sum income, and

· longer periods of ineligibility for those cases that are currently FANF ineligible due to receipt of lump sum income, and

· more income being counted as available for those FANF cases with deemed income.

The maximum SON equals the Basic Maintenance Needs Allowance (BMNA) plus $342, the weighted average of the maximum shelter payment allowances. The 2023 BMNA and SON are noted below:

Family Size	BMNA	MAX SON (BMNA + $342)
1	$1,701	$2,043
2	$3,328	$3,670
3	$4,453	$4,795
4	$5,448	$5,790
5	$6,364	$6,706
6	$6,755	$7,097
7	$7,148	$7,490
8	$7,541	$7,883
9	$7,933	$8,275
10	$8,326	$8,668
11	$8,718	$9,060
12	$9,113	$9,455
13	$9,505	$9,847
14	$9,897	$10,239
15	$10,291	$10,633
16	$10,683	$11,025
17	$11,074	$11,416
18	$11,468	$11,810

Individuals who receive lump sum payments may be ineligible for assistance for the number of months resulting from dividing the lump sum amount (plus any other monthly income) minus any allowable reductions by the appropriate SON. Individuals whose cases were closed or denied due to receipt of lump sum income may reapply or request a recalculation due to the increase in the SON. If requested, the District Office must recalculate the client’s period of ineligibility. A new Notice of Decision (NOD) will be generated if the recalculation results in a different period of ineligibility.

The SON is used to determine the amount of income deemed to a household for FANF cases that include a non-sanction deemer ( i.e., households with ineligible alien parents, alien sponsors, and three generational households). Due to the increase in the SON, less deemed income would be counted as available to the assistance group (AG). New HEIGHTS will automatically recalculate benefit amounts for open cases with deemed income during this Mass Change. AGs whose cases were closed or denied due to excess deemed income may reapply or request to have their eligibility redetermined due to the increase in the SON. If requested, the District Office must recalculate the AG’s eligibility.

This SR also corrects FSM Table E for Expanded Categorically eligible income limits to correct a transcription error. The monthly income limits have not changed and remain correct in New Heights.

New HEIGHTS will update the reference table with the new figures effective July 1, 2023, and will use the new amounts for any cases computed or recomputed beginning on or after that date.

Clients Denied or Closed Prior to July 1, 2023 Due to Deemed Income or Receipt of Lump Sum

No District Office action is necessary unless a client requests to have their eligibility redetermined or their period of ineligibility recalculated. If a client requests this recalculation, the current SON released by this SR and effective July 1, 2023 will be automatically applied during the recalculation. If the client’s eligibility for assistance or length of ineligibility changes during the recalculation, a new NOD will be generated.

New HEIGHTS ran an initial query to identify all open/on-going cash cases with a non-sanctioned deemer and all deductible cases with a non-sanctioned deemer whose grant amounts or spenddowns will change during the mass change and identified approximately 124 cases that may be impacted. The cases identified will be recomputed during the daily production run on the evening of June 16, 2023. Cases with deemed income whose grant amounts or spenddowns change will receive the appropriate message reflecting the new benefit level.

Because less deemed income may be counted as available in some cases, medical assistance only cases with a non-sanctioned deemer, and cases with a non-sanctioned deemer currently eligible for FANF cash assistance but not actually receiving the grant because the amount is under $10 per month, may now become eligible for a cash grant for the first time.

The latter cases described that do not have sufficient Benefit Issuance information during the daily production run of June 16, 2023 will appear on the MC Exception Report (NMC550RA) with the Reason for Exception listed as “No BI Payment Information.” District Offices must rerun eligibility and supply the missing Benefit Issuance information when that screen appears in the driver flow.

NOTE: The $10 minimum grant cases confirmed after the mass change will receive a standard opening message from New HEIGHTS. District Offices are not required to refer these cases to the NHEP team, as New HEIGHTS will have already referred mandatory NHEP participants to the NHEP team.

The following reports will be available with any July Mass Change related information beginning June 16, 2023.

This report lists all cases that the Mass Change ran successfully through confirmation. It contains the following information: D.O., Worker Name, Client Name, and Case Number.

This report lists cases that were selected for computation during the Mass Change, but were not confirmed due to some discrepancy in data. These cases require further District Office action. The report contains the following information: D.O., Worker Name, Client Name, Case Number, Reason for Exception, and Mass Change Type.

This policy is effective July 1, 2023. New HEIGHTS will implement the SON updates on June 16, 2023 during the annual July Mass Change, effective July 1, 2023. The SON revisions identified in this SR are effective July 1, 2023, and will apply to all cases processed on or after that date.

Assistance groups experiencing a change in eligibility due to the mass change will receive the following text in the “Explanation” section of the Notice of Decision (NOD):

On July 1, the Financial Assistance to Needy Families Standard of Need, and the Child Care income limits changed. Your benefits, as shown in the old and new budgets below, may have been adjusted to reflect this or other changes that occurred in your case. He-C 6910.18; He-W 641.04(e); He-W 658.01; RSA 167:3-c, X; RSA 167:7, II

In addition to the client notice referenced above, clients will be notified, as needed, about the updates in the SON at the next case action or upon request.

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 Online Manuals.

This SR will be distributed according to the electronic distribution list for BFA policy releases. This SR, and revised Online Manuals, will be available for agency staff in the Online Manual Library, and for public access on the Internet at https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/sr_htm/sr.htm, effective July 1, 2023.

FROM THE OFFICE OF:	Director of Division of Economic Stability (DHS), Karen Hebert
BFA SIGNATURE DATE:	June 26,2023
FROM THE OFFICE OF:	Director of Division of Medicaid Services (DMS), Henry Lipman
DMS SIGNATURE DATE:	June 23, 2023
AT (OFFICE):	Bureau of Family Assistance Division of Medicaid Services
TO:	All BFA Staff All DMS Staff All BES Staff
SUBJECT:	July 2023 Increase to Financial Assistance to Needy Families (FANF) Standard of Need (SON)
EFFECTIVE DATE:	July 1, 2023