TO:	  Commissioners; TA Directors; FS Directors; Employment Coordinators

FROM:	Patricia A. Stevens, Deputy Commissioner  Division of Temporary Assistance

SUBJECT:	Safety Net Assistance Application for Able-bodied Family Assistance Recipients at the State Sixty-Month Time Limit

EFFECTIVE DATE:	Monday, September 17, 2001

CONTACT PERSON:	Central Team @ 1-800-343-8859, extension 3-9344 

	

18 NYCRR is being revised to require all able-bodied adults that become ineligible for Family Assistance (FA) (or Safety Net Assistance-Federally Participating) because of the State sixty-month time limit to file an application for Safety Net Assistance (SNA), if they want to continue to receive public assistance benefits. All able-bodied adult members of the case (including non-complying individuals) at the State sixty-month time limit must file an application for SNA because under Social Services Law Section 158 the eligibility requirements for SNA are different than those for FA. An application for SNA will insure that all the program eligibility requirements are met. An able-bodied individual is one who is not exempt from participation in work activities under Department of Labor (DOL) Regulation 1300.2. Districts should be sensitive to cases that have a hardship. Some examples of hardship would be cases with a full time wage earner or an able-bodied adult with transportation difficulties. 

Effective September 17, 2001, local districts must begin to conduct these SNA Application Interviews for cases that will reach the State sixty-month time limit. We advise districts to start this process by calling in able-bodied adults whose households are in sanctioned status because of a household member’s noncompliance with employment or IV-D requirements. 

The SNA Application Interview has some elements in common with the reassessment described in 01-ADM-3, (Exemptions to the State Sixty-Month Time Limit/Evaluation for Safety Net Assistance), but is a separate and distinct interview. The SNA Application Interview is for the express purpose of affording able-bodied Family Assistance recipients an opportunity to apply for SNA. Districts cannot use the reassessment call-in letter from 01-ADM-03. For SNA Application Interview face-to-face interviews, districts must use the call-in letter attached to this GIS that clearly informs the able-bodied individual that the appointment is about an application for SNA.

At the SNA Application Interview, the local district must first determine if the able-bodied adult has had a change in his/her situation that would qualify them for exemption from the State sixty-month time limit following the criteria in 01-ADM-03. Adults who qualify for a time limit exemption will not need to file an application for SNA as they and their families will remain in FA upon reaching the sixty-month time limit. Districts must insure that these individuals’ employability code is changed to a correct one for a time limit exemption and that a time limit exemption indicator is properly entered in WMS.

If the able-bodied adult does not qualify for a time limit exemption that would allow he/she and his/her family to remain in FA, the district must assess whether the adult is now exempt from work activities. Adults who are exempt from participation in work activities under DOL Regulation 1300.2 do not have to file an application for SNA.  If otherwise eligible they will be categorized as cash-SNA at the end of the State sixty-month time limit.

All able-bodied adults who do not qualify for a time limit exemption or who are not exempt from work activities must file an application for SNA if they want benefits after the sixty-month time limit. All SNA application requirements including applicant job search and/or employment assessment must be complied with. If any able-bodied adult does not appear for the application interview or appears, but refuses to apply for Safety Net Assistance, the Family Assistance case must be closed at the end of the State sixty-month time limit. CNS closing codes are being developed to support these closings.  Information about the closing codes and associated closing language will be provided in a separate communication. Because the State sixty-month time limit does not apply to Medicaid, these closing codes will indicate Medicaid continuation. It is essential that workers use the proper codes, to avoid any interruption on health care benefits.

 Note:  Nothing in this GIS takes away the long-standing authority that local districts have under 18 NYCRR 351.2(e), 351.20(a), and 351.21 to require applicants or recipients as part of the eligibility process to accept a reasonably and appropriately tendered job offer or to pursue a specific actual job opportunity, which might be a resource that would eliminate or reduce need, as a condition of eligibility for the Family Assistance household.  If an able-bodied adult refuses to accept a specific job without good cause, the appropriate action would be to close the Family Assistance case. If a Safety Net Application were pending it would be denied. In both instances, Medicaid must be continued.

In cases where districts are unable to schedule the SNA Application Interview 45 days prior to the end of the State sixty-month time limit, but the individual reports for a Safety Net Application interview before the end of the State sixty-month limit, districts have authority and must waive the 45-day wait for Safety Net Assistance benefits. The 45-day wait is waived in this situation on the assumption that the imposition of the wait could cause an emergency because of the disruption of the family’s assistance benefits.

In cases where districts are unable to schedule the SNA Application Interview before the end of the State sixty-month time limit, WMS will convert any case that would inappropriately be in Family Assistance after the time limit to Safety Net Assistance. Medicaid must be continued.

CNS will support a new call-in letter for Family Assistance able-bodied households who must apply for Safety Net Assistance because of the State Sixty-Month Time Limit.  It is expected that this will be available on September 17th.  Until the CNS support is available districts must use the language attached to this message.  Districts must also use the attached Safety Net Assistance application supplement by making copies until it is available as an official form.

Food Stamp Instructions

Temporary Assistance time limits do not apply to the Food Stamp program. Districts are reminded that Family Assistance households that are closed at the end of the State sixty-month time limit and are denied Safety Net Assistance for failure to complete eligibility requirements, must have continued Food Stamp eligibility for the remainder of their certification period separately determined. Failure to appear for a call-in during a certification period is not a Food Stamp eligibility requirement.

Medicaid Instructions

The 60-month time limit and work requirements do not affect Medicaid eligibility.  Every effort must be made to ensure that Medicaid continues whenever a Family Assistance case reaches the State sixty-month time limit and is closed. An able-bodied adult’s failure to apply for Safety Net Assistance, or non-compliance with any aspect of work requirements, including job search, referral, employability assessment, or acceptance of a job offer does not affect Medicaid eligibility.  Medicaid cases may be continued until 12 months from the date of the last eligibility determination, or referred to Medicaid for a separate determination. Medicaid does not require re-documentation of information previously supplied and not subject to change; e.g., birth certificates, Social Security Number (see 93 ADM-29).  Therefore, workers may reauthorize Medicaid based on information on file when there is no indication that a recipient’s circumstances have changed, other than the fact they have reached the 60-month time limit.

An ADM will follow.