TO:	Commissioners; Food Stamp, MA, TA and HEAP Directors; WMS/EBT Coordinators

FROM:	Russell Sykes/rs, Deputy Commissioner, Division of Temporary Assistance

SUBJECT:	 NYSNIP Non-Redeemer Reminder Letter – Round Two

EFFECTIVE DATE:  March 8, 2005

CONTACT PERSON:	Tom Hedderman, Food Stamp Bureau at 1-800-343-8859, ext. 6-6939

The purpose of this GIS is to inform local DSS workers that the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) has completed the printing and begun the mailing of the second round of reminder letters to New York State Nutrition Improvement Project (NYSNIP) participants who had food stamp cases opened for them automatically as part of the recently completed phased mass openings.  The reminder letters again will be sent only to those participants who, thus far, have failed to use any of the food stamp benefits that have been authorized for them.  And, again, the letters remind the NYSNIP participants of the availability of their food stamp benefits and the need to redeem at least some of the benefits soon in order to continue to receive the benefits and not have their NYSNIP food stamp case closed.

This second batch of reminder letters are being sent only to those non-redeeming NYSNIP participants whose food stamp cases were opened automatically, effective August 1, 2004.  Recipients of these letters who still have not redeemed any benefits by Friday, April 15, 2005, will be subject to having all benefits in their EBT food stamp accounts recovered on or about the same date, and their food stamp cases will be closed immediately following completion of the benefit recovery process.

We remind the local districts again that the sending of the reminder letters, recovery of benefits and closing of non-redeeming cases will be done automatically.  No local district worker action is required.  Food Stamp Case Level Reason Code ‘Y11 – Auto Close NYSNIP Shelter Type 98 Case: Failure to Redeem FS’ will be used in auto-closing these cases.  Code Y11 does not generate a notice.  No closing notices are required and none will be sent.

Reports already have been sent to the upstate local districts notifying them of non-redeeming Shelter Type 98 NYSNIP participants to whom this second batch of reminder letters have been sent.  Upstate districts will have received report ‘NYSNIPNR0000 – NYSNIP Cases after 60 Days of Inactivity’ via BICS.  The report file is broken out by Office/Unit/Worker and has the Case Number and Case Name of each individual to whom a reminder letter has been sent.  As stated above, the local district does not need to take any action on these cases.  The reports are informational only, and are being provided, at the request of several local districts, to facilitate outreach and redemption rate tracking efforts.  

New York City HRA will receive a similar file, PRNRNM0804, listing the Case Numbers and Case Names of New York City non-redeeming NYSNIP participants whose cases opened in August, 2004.

Also, we remind you that this weekend OTDA will be recovering food stamp benefits from the EBT accounts and, soon after, automatically closing the cases of NYSNIP participants whose cases opened automatically back in July 2004 and who still have not redeemed any benefits.  Cases that are closed for non-redemption eventually will be included on the ASWISDX5 Report.  These cases will not be immediately included in the report as the interface between the report and the WMS NYSNIP Non-Redemption auto-close process is still being developed.  It should be available by the end of the month. 

We further remind local district workers that anyone whose NYSNIP case has been closed due to non-redemption is free to file an application for food stamps and participate again in NYSNIP at any time.  The automated closing with Reason Code Y11 simply prevents the individual from having a NYSNIP case opened automatically, without them filing a food stamp application either at the local district office or the Social Security Administration Office.