| Effective April 1, 2002, the disqualification
code Q is added for a food stamp household that refuses to cooperate with
a quality control review. A household that refuses to cooperate with
a quality control review is disqualified from the Food Stamp Program until
95 days after the end of the annual review period OR the household
cooperates with the quality control review. The annual review period
follows the federal fiscal year of October 1 through September 30.
Examples of disqualification periods for
refusal to cooperate in a quality control review are:
-
Example: Quality control reports that a household
failed to cooperate with a review of its case for the sample month of 09/02.
The household is not eligible for food stamp benefits until January 4,
2003 because the annual review period is October 1, 2001 through September
30, 2002.
-
Example: Quality control reports that a household
failed to cooperate with a review of its case for sample month of 10/02.
The household is not eligible for food stamps until January 4, 2004 because
the annual review period is October 1, 2002 through September 30, 2003.
Because the entire household is ineligible
for food stamp benefits due to refusal to cooperate with quality control,
it is important to identify and track household members in the disqualified
food stamp household. If a member of the disqualified household moves
into another food stamp household, the remaining household members continue
to be disqualified. The individual leaving the food stamp household
continues to be ineligible for food stamp benefits but the gaining household
is not disqualified.
-
Example: Mr. and Mrs. Jones and their son
Tom are disqualified for refusing to cooperate with QC. Tom moves
out of his parent's home to live with his grandmother. Tom is still
disqualified from the Food Stamp Program and cannot receive benefits but
it does not affect his grandmother's eligibility for food stamp benefits.
Case in Active Status:
If the case is in active status, close
the food stamp case and enter "Q" in field 26 of FSU5 for each household
member in order to track members in a disqualified household.
Case in application status:
If the case is in application status, approve
the food stamp application. The following day close the food stamp
case and enter "Q" in field 26 of FSU5 for each household member. |