Category: 2018

DISCUSSION:

The purpose of this memo is to inform staff of an update to the 1115.020.05.05 Actual Income policy. The update clarifies to budget actual income in a month that the income has started or stopped. The policy previously referred to employment starting or stopping.

NECESSARY ACTION:

• Review this memorandum with appropriate staff.

PL/cs

DISCUSSION:

This purpose of this memorandum is to clarify EBT manifest forms are the only documents to be scanned to the manifest SharePoint site ssmanifests@ip.sp.mo.gov.

Participant receipts for picking up EBT cards are to be scanned to the individual’s case record. These receipts can be destroyed after they are added to the participant’s electronic file.

EBT Manifests are to be kept for 3 years. Record Retention information can be found on the Secretary of State’s website, Missouri General Record Retention Schedule, Agency Retention Schedules. IM Program information can be found under the Department of Social Services subtitle, under the Family Support Division bullet, in the Program and Policy link.

NECESSARY ACTION:

• Review this memorandum with appropriate staff.

PL/mks

DISCUSSION:

Asset limits for MO HealthNet for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled (MHABD) program have increased effective July 1, 2018.

Individual asset limit is $3000.00.
Couple asset limit is $6000.00.

The increased asset limit has been expanded to include Supplemental Aid to the Blind and Supplemental Nursing Care, which were previously not included.

NECESSARY ACTION:

• Review this memorandum with appropriate staff.

PL/vb

DISCUSSION:

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded the Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS) a demonstration grant to allow DSS to continue and expand the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (SEBTC) project. Income Maintenance 2011 IM Memorandum #5, dated January 21, 2011, introduced the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (SEBTC) demonstration grant. 2012 IM Memorandum #90, dated 11/16/2012, provides a summary of the 2012 SEBTC Demonstration Project. IM-51 May 24, 2013, dated May 24, 2013, discussed the 2013 Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (SEBTC) demonstration project and Memorandum IM-# 47 dated 05/20/15 expanded the project into Mississippi County in 2015. The project expanded to include Shannon County and the city of Ferguson in 2016, introduced in 2016 IM Memorandum #31. In 2017, the project expanded to include New Madrid County, as introduced in Memorandum IM-#63, dated June 7, 2017.

2018 Eligibility

The children in Kansas City (Center School District, Hickman Mills C-I School District, and Kansas City Public School District) and St Louis Public School District who received SEBTC benefits in 2017 will be eligible to receive benefits in 2018, as long as they:

• attended school during the 2017-2018 school year,
• are still eligible for free/reduced meals through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and
• still reside in the project area.

Siblings of these children who met the requirements above will also be eligible to receive benefits in 2018.

In Mississippi County, all children in Charleston R-1 School District and all children who received free and reduced school meals through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) in East Prairie R-II School District are eligible to receive SEBTC benefits.

Children who attend school in the Ferguson-Florissant School District and receive Food Stamp benefits are eligible to receive SEBTC benefits.

Children who attend school in the seven school districts that serve Shannon County or the four school districts that serve New Madrid County AND receive Food Stamp benefits are eligible to receive SEBTC benefits.

2018 Expansion

In 2018, the SEBTC project is expanded to seven school districts in Pemiscot County. The following school districts are included in the expansion:

• North Pemiscot County R-I School District;
• Hayti R-II School District;
• Pemiscot County R-III School District;
• Cooter R-IV School District;
• South Pemiscot County R-V School District;
• Delta C-7 School District; and
• Caruthersville School District.

Children in the North Pemiscot County R-I, South Pemiscot County R-V, and Caruthersville School Districts who also receive Food Stamp benefits are eligible to receive SEBTC benefits. All children in the Hayti R-II School District are eligible to receive. Children in the other school districts are eligible if they receive free or reduced school lunches.

FAMIS Screens

With the exception of payroll types for Mississippi County (SFM) added in 2015, Shannon County (SFS) and Ferguson (SFF) added in 2016, and New Madrid (SNM) no additional changes were made to FAMIS screens. See detailed information provided in 2012 IM Memorandum #25, dated 03/15/2012 about FAMIS screens related to SEBTC.

Pemiscot County cases will be entered as SFN payroll type, but will be distinguished as Pemiscot County cases by the school district codes.

SEBTC Benefit Issuance

The additional summer benefit provides qualifying children with additional funds to use for their nutritional needs during the summertime. On May 25, 2018 the first payroll for SEBTC ran. Households will receive the following issuances for each eligible child:

• $45 per child for May – June 2018, available on June 1, 2018
• $45 per child for July – August 2018, available on July 1, 2018.

SEBTC benefits that have not been used will be removed at 11:59 p.m. on August 14, 2018. Once the SEBTC benefits are removed, they cannot be restored.

EBT Cards

SEBTC benefits that are lost due to household misfortune or a lost/stolen EBT card cannot be reissued.

If an SEBTC-only household no longer has an EBT card, they may call either 1-800-997-7777 or the community partner/county office number for their region below. If the household needs to report an address change, the household should call the community partner/county office associated with the target geographical area:

ARCHS 1-314-289-5631 (for St. Louis)
LINC 1-816-410-8367 (for Kansas City)
MCCC 1-573-683-7551 (for Mississippi County)
FSD 1-573-226-3295, Ext. 231 (for Shannon County)
UL 1-314-261-7880 (for Ferguson)
NMCFRC 1-573-748-2708 (for New Madrid County)
PIN 1-573-333-5301 (for Pemiscot County)

Priority SEBTC Benefits

SEBTC benefits are priority benefits again in 2018. This means that the SEBTC benefits can be accessed and used before the Food Stamp benefits, even if there are still Food Stamp benefits available on the card. Families who prefer to save Food Stamp benefits will no longer have to spend the Food Stamp benefits before they access the SEBTC benefits. This allows households to utilize the SEBTC benefits by August 14, 2018, and still save the Food Stamp benefits.

NECESSARY ACTION:

• Review this memorandum with appropriate staff.

PL/rt

The EBT System will be performing system maintenance on the below dates which will result in outage of the system. The outages will last for approximately 30 minutes to 2 hours.

• May 22, 2018 a 30 minute – 2 hour outage on the GOV1 (SNAP EBT only merchants) switch starting at 2:00 AM CST
• May 22, 2018 a 30 minute – 2 hour outage on the GOV2 (WIC only merchants) switch starting at 3:00 AM CST
• June 12, 2018 a 30 minute – 2 hour outage on the EBTG (Third Party Merchants) switch starting at 3:00 AM CST
• July 17, 2018 a 30 minute – 2 hour outage on the TRN1 (wireless merchants) switch starting at 7:00 AM CST

All Food Stamp transactions will be impacted. Emergency vouchers for Food Stamp transactions will be in effect up to $40.00. Retailers will be able to process emergency voucher transactions by calling the Retailer Help Desk at 1-800-831-5235 and following the prompts provided to get a temporary approval number.

ATM cash transactions cannot be completed until the system is available.

NECESSARY ACTION:

• Review this memorandum with appropriate staff.
• Explain the EBT outages to participants who contact Family Support Division offices regarding the availability of the EBT system.

PL/mks

DISCUSSION:

The purpose of this memorandum is to introduce new policy added to the Application section of the Family Healthcare Manual – MAGI regarding unaccompanied children age 15 or younger who apply for MO HealthNet.

If an application for MO HealthNet is received from a child, age 15 or younger, and does not include a responsible adult living in their home, explore the following:

• Where is the child living?
• Who does the child live with?
• Is there a responsible adult living in the child’s household?

If the child is not living with a responsible adult, report this to Children’s Division through the Mandated Online Reporting site found at https://dss.mo.gov/cd/keeping-kids-safe/can.htm. FSD staff must complete the online referral with all known information.

NECESSARY ACTION:

• Review this memorandum with appropriate staff.
• Immediately begin making referrals for children in this category.

PL/df

DISCUSSION:

This memorandum introduces revisions to the December 1973 Eligibility Requirements Manual.

The Cash and Securities section 1025.010.00 Definition has been revised to provide greater policy detail related to determining eligibility for MO HealthNet Programs for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled (MHABD) when the applicant/participant and/or their spouse is a party to a Promise to Pay contract, Promissory Note, or Property Agreement.

• Changes have been made to 1040.000.00 Transfers of Property sections:
  • Section 1040.015.10.05 is now titled Consideration of Certain Contracts. This section lists definitions and steps to follow when reviewing MO HealthNet cases for applicants/participants who are a party to certain contracts such as Promise to Pay, Promissory Notes, or Property Agreements.
  • 1040.015.10.05 Promise to Pay has been moved to 1040.015.10.05.00 and revised to provide further clarification.
  • Section 1040.015.10.05.05 Promissory Notes has been added.
  • Section 1040.015.10.05.10 Property Agreements has been added.
  • Section 1040.020.30 Determining Fair and Valuable Consideration has been revised to provide instructions for staff to submit contracts to Program and Policy if unable to determine eligibility after following the outlined steps.

NECESSARY ACTION:

• Review this memorandum with appropriate staff.

PL/vm

DISCUSSION:

This memorandum provides clarification to child income in the MAGI MO HealthNet Policy Manual section, 1805.030.20.10 Income Excluded Under MAGI.

Income that does not have federal income taxes paid out is not countable income for MAGI programs. A child is not required to pay federal income taxes until the child’s income reaches:

• $6,350 of earned income, or
• $1,050 of unearned income.
  

  NOTE: Do not include SSA income in these thresholds. There is a formula used to calculate SSA income and its filing threshold for children; see MAGI MO HealthNet Policy Manual section 1805.030.20.05 Income Included Under MAGI.

These figures change annually in January. The amounts in this memo are from the 2017 IRS Publication 501.

NECESSARY ACTION:

• Review this memorandum with appropriate staff.

PL/ks

DISCUSSION:

Beginning October 1, 2017, the resource limits that apply to all Food Stamp EUs, except for those EUs considered categorically eligible has increased as follows:

• from $3250 for all EUs consisting of at least one elderly or disabled member to $3500
• $2250 for all other EUs has not changed.

NECESSARY ACTION:

• Review this memorandum with appropriate staff.

PL/ph