IM-191 10/23/01 CHANGE IN THE NUMBER OF NON-WORK MONTHS AND COUNTIES EXEMPTED FROM WORK REQUIREMENT DUE TO 15% EXEMPTION
| SUBJECT: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CHANGE IN THE NUMBER OF NON-WORK MONTHS AND COUNTIES EXEMPTED FROM WORK REQUIREMENT DUE TO 15% EXEMPTION | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DISCUSSION: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The following changes are effective November
1, 2001:
Exempt Counties Effective with food stamp benefits issued
for November 2001, in addition to the counties currently waived, do not
apply the ABAWD work requirement policy due to the 15% exemption in the
following counties:
We have determined these counties have a small number of ABAWDs and insufficient resources to provide training services. Impact on Newly Exempted Counties Individuals residing in the newly exempted counties who were denied food stamp benefits because they did not meet the 18 to 50 year old work requirement are eligible as of November 1, 2001, if they meet all other eligibility requirements. Take action at recertification or interim contact to determine if members denied benefits due to the 18 to 50 year old work requirement are now eligible. Impact on Active Cases Due to Additional Non-work Month A listing of active cases with an individual disqualified due to not meeting the work requirement in five non-work months will be sent to the county director in a separate mailing (not all counties will receive a listing). Contact the head of household to determine the disqualified individual's current circumstances and eligibility. If the disqualified individual meets all eligibility requirements and has not used six non-work months, approve the individual for any additional non-work months in which s/he may be entitled to receive benefits. Update FTWR to show additional non-work months. NOTE: Only add the disqualified individual to an earned income household if adding the person increases benefits to the household. If adding the disqualified individual to an earned income household decreases benefits to the household, evaluate at the next certification. Attached is a copy of a letter (in Adobe Acrobat) to be used to contact the head of household to determine the eligibility of disqualified individuals. Make copies of the letter as needed. Send an IM-145 (Change Report Form) with the letter. If the completed IM-145 is not received or the household does not contact the county office within 10 days, send a Notice of Adverse Action to close the case of non-earned income households. Take no further action on earned income households. Impact on Closed Cases Due to Additional Non-Work Month Any currently disqualified individual who makes application and is eligible for benefits may receive benefits up to a total of six non-work months. The previous non-work months used while receiving food stamp benefits continue to be counted as a part of the total of six non-work months. Staff is reminded to evaluate previous non-work months to determine if the individual met the work requirement during any of those months. FSU5 and FTWR Change Code 42, 15% exemption, has been created for use when approving an ABAWD residing in the counties exempted due to the 15% exemption. Enter code 42 in field 52 of the individual update screen of FSU5 when approving an individual who meets the ABAWD criteria. Add code 42 to the FSU5 code sheet. FTWR will show code 42 as a result of entering the code in FSU5. No entry is required in FTWR. Do not remove non-work months from FTWR unless a month was entered in error. The system will not enter the "Z" code in field 26 of FSU5 until the sixth non-work month is entered for participants residing in counties subject to the work requirement. |
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| NECESSARY ACTION: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution #6 Attachment |
| IM-190 |