TO:	Commissioners; TA, Medicaid, and FS Directors   

FROM:	Russell Sykes, Deputy Commissioner, Division of Employment and Transitional Supports

SUBJECT:	  Financial Institution Recipient Match (FIRM) Posting Date

EFFECTIVE DATE:	Immediately

CONTACT PERSON:	Temporary Assistance Policy Questions: Temporary Assistance Bureau at (518) 474-9344. Medicaid Policy Questions: Medicaid Local District Liaison - Upstate (518) 474-8216, New York City - (212) 417-4500. Systems Questions: PSQI/AQC – (518) 402 – 0025.

The purpose of this GIS is to advise local districts that the first postings to the Financial Institution Recipient Match (FIRM) will begin on August 15, 2005.  Districts were informed of the FIRM match and the procedures to be followed in processing these matches in 05 ADM-6.  The ADM indicated that districts would be notified via a GIS message prior to the system actually going online.

Please note that in addition to FIRM posting availability on August 15, 2005, there has been one additional change with the FIRM process.  The change is that there will no longer be a summary screen (described in the 2nd sentence on the top of page 6 of 05 ADM-6) of accounts.  Previously, the worker had to go through the summary screen to reach the detail screens.  Now the worker will go directly to the detail screens, walking though all accounts, if there is more than one account.  This new process eliminates the summary screen step.  The summary screen step is not necessary, because workers must review the detail screens.