This rule provides the income calculation, certification and
verification procedures, the processing standards, and other special procedures
applicable to assistance groups eligible for expedited service.
(A) What is expedited service?
Expedited service means that assistance groups are determined
eligible for benefits within twenty-four hours or seven days because of the
assistance group's circumstances. The county agency's application procedures
shall be designed to identify assistance groups eligible for expedited service
at the time an assistance group applies for assistance. A receptionist,
volunteer, or other employee shall be responsible for screening all requests
for supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) benefits as they are
received or screening individuals when they come into the office to
apply.
(B) Who is entitled
to twenty-four hour expedited service processing?
All assistance groups whose net income is zero as calculated in
accordance with rule
5101:4-4-31 of the
Administrative Code, and who have liquid resources of one hundred dollars or
less shall be certified for SNAP benefits within twenty-four hours, or
if
when
mitigating circumstances occur, within seventy-two hours. The county agency
shall also provide the assistance group a list of community assistance programs
that provide emergency food.
(C) Who is entitled to receive benefits
within seven days?
(1) Assistance groups with
less than one hundred fifty dollars in gross monthly income, as calculated in
accordance with rule
5101:4-4-31 of the
Administrative Code and who have liquid resources of one hundred dollars or
less.
(2) Migrant or seasonal farm
worker assistance groups defined as destitute as described in paragraph (F) of
this rule who have liquid resources of one hundred dollars or less.
(3) Assistance groups whose combined monthly
gross income and liquid resources are less than the assistance group's monthly
rent or mortgage and utilities including entitlement to a standard utility
allowance, as appropriate.
(D) What happens when the prescreening fails
to identify an assistance group for expedited benefits?
When the prescreening fails to identify an assistance group as
being entitled to expedited service and the county agency later discovers that
the assistance group is entitled to expedited service, the county agency shall
provide expedited service to assistance group from the date the county agency
discovers the assistance group is entitled to expedited service.
(E) When eligible for seven day
expedited service, what happens when the seventh calendar day falls on a
Saturday, Sunday or holiday?
When the seventh calendar day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or
holiday, the county agency shall authorize the SNAP benefits so the assistance
group will receive it no later than the last working day prior to the
expiration of the seven day processing period.
(F) What is a destitute migrant or seasonal
farm worker assistance group?
Migrant or seasonal farm worker assistance groups may have
little or no income at the time of application and may be in need of immediate
SNAP, even though they receive income at some other time during the month of
application. Migrant or seasonal farm worker assistance groups are considered
destitute when their circumstances are as defined in paragraphs (G)(1) to
(G)(3) of this rule. Assistance groups other than migrant or seasonal farm
worker assistance groups shall not be classified as destitute.
(1) Migrant or seasonal farm worker
assistance groups whose only income for the month of application was from a
terminated source are considered destitute and therefore entitled to expedited
service. A migrant or seasonal farm worker's source of income shall be
considered to be the grower for whom the migrant is working at a particular
point in time, and not the crew chief. A migrant or seasonal farm worker who
travels with the same crew chief but moves from one grower to another is
considered to have moved from a terminated source to a new source. These
assistance groups shall be provided expedited service because they may be
without income for some time, and may not be able to wait as long as thirty
days for SNAP. Income is considered from a terminated source when:
(a) It was received prior to the date of
application; and
(b) It is received
monthly or more frequently and will not be received again from that same source
in the month following application; or
(c) It is normally received less often than
monthly and will not be received in the month the next payment from that source
is normally received.
(2) Migrant or seasonal farm worker
assistance groups whose only income for the month of application is from a new
source are considered destitute. These assistance groups may expect to start
receiving income from a new job or may have applied for, but have not yet begun
to receive benefits from public assistance, unemployment compensation,
supplemental security income (SSI), social security, or a similar program.
These assistance groups may be totally without income for a number of weeks
before the new income begins and therefore unable to meet their current food
needs. Income is considered from a new source when:
(a) Income of more than twenty-five dollars
will not be received from the new source by the tenth calendar day following
the date of application;
(b) Income
of twenty-five dollars or less that is normally received monthly or more
frequently has not been received from that source within thirty days prior to
the date the application was filed; or
(c) Income of twenty-five dollars or less
that is normally received less often than monthly was not received within the
last normal interval between payments.
(3) Migrant and seasonal farm worker
assistance groups may receive both income from a terminated source prior to the
date of application and income from a new source after the date of application.
These assistance groups are considered destitute
if
when they receive
no other income in the month of application from the terminated source and do
not receive income of more than twenty-five dollars from the new source by the
tenth calendar day after the date of application.
(G) How is eligibility and level of benefits
for destitute migrant and seasonal farm worker assistance groups determined?
(1) Destitute migrant and seasonal farm
worker assistance groups have their eligibility and level of benefits
calculated for the month of application by considering only income from a
terminated source that is received between the first of the month and the date
of application. Any income from a new source that is anticipated after the day
of application is disregarded.
(2)
Some employers provide travel advances to cover the travel costs of new
employees who must journey to the location of their new employment. When these
payments are reimbursements, and therefore excluded, travel advances will not
affect the determination of when an assistance group is destitute. However,
when the travel advance is not a reimbursement but is really an advance on
future wages and will be subtracted from wages later earned by the employee,
the wage advance counts as income. Wage advances, whether excluded as
reimbursements or included as income, are not considered when determining if
the assistance group has a new source of income or if the assistance group
meets the definition of destitute. When an assistance group receives a travel
advance prior to filing, income from a travel advance is not considered when
determining if a new source of income was received in the thirty days prior to
filing.
(3) The procedures for
destitute migrant and seasonal farm worker assistance groups shall apply at
initial application and at recertification, but only for the first month of
each certification period. At recertification, income from a new source shall
be disregarded in the first month of the new certification period
if
when
income of more than twenty-five dollars will not be received from this
new source by the tenth calendar day after the date of the assistance group's
normal issuance cycle.
(H) What are the requirements for
verification under expedited service?
(1)
Identity:
The applicant's identity shall be verified through a collateral
contact or readily available documentary evidence at initial application.
Examples of acceptable documentary evidence that the assistance group may
provide include, but are not limited to: a driver's license, work or school
identification or voter registration card. When an authorized representative
applies for the assistance group, the identity of both the authorized
representative and the assistance group name shall be verified.
(2) Social security number (SSN):
Assistance groups entitled to expedited service will be asked
to furnish a SSN for each person applying for benefits or apply for one for
each person applying for benefits before the second full month of
participation. An assistance group member unable to provide the required SSN or
who does not have one prior to the second full month of participation shall be
allowed to continue to participate only if
when he or she satisfies the good cause
requirement specified in rule
5101:4-3-24 of the
Administrative Code. All other information is not verified prior to expedited
certification unless the processing standards can be met.
(3) Other verification requirements:
All reasonable efforts shall be made to verify within the
expedited processing standards the assistance group's residency, income
statements, liquid resources and all other factors required in rule
5101:4-2-09 of the
Administrative Code, through collateral contacts or readily available
documentary evidence. However, benefits shall not be delayed beyond the
expedited service processing standards solely because these factors have not
been verified.
(I) What are the work registration
requirements for expedited service processing?
The county agency shall register all assistance group members
for work (unless exempt).
(J) What happens when verification
requirements are postponed?
(1) For an
assistance group applying on or before the fifteenth of the month, the county
agency may postpone verification requirements until the second month of the
certification period. Any postponed verifications must be provided to the
county agency before benefits are issued for the second month, or any
subsequent months, of the certification period. When the verification
requirements are postponed the assistance group will be sent a notice of
eligibility advising that no benefits for the second month will be issued until
the postponed verification requirements are satisfied. When the assistance
group does not satisfy the postponed verification requirements, the county
agency does not need to contact the assistance group again. The assistance
group must reapply and satisfy all verification requirements that were
postponed or be certified under normal processing standards in order to receive
SNAP benefits for subsequent months.
(2) For an assistance group applying after
the fifteenth of the month, the county agency may postpone verification until
the third month of participation,
if
when necessary, to meet the expedited time frame. Upon
determination of eligibility for the initial month and subsequent months the
assistance group shall receive a combined allotment consisting of prorated
benefits for the initial month of application and benefits for the first full
month of participation within the expedited service time frame. When the
verification requirements are postponed the assistance group shall be sent a
notice of eligibility advising that no benefits for the third month will be
issued until the postponed verification requirements are satisfied. When the
assistance group does not satisfy the postponed verification requirements the
county agency does not need to contact the assistance group again. The
assistance group must reapply and satisfy all verification requirements that
were postponed or be certified under normal processing standards in order to
receive SNAP benefits for subsequent months.
(K) Is there a limit on the number of times
an assistance group can be certified under the expedited process?
There is no limit to the number of times an assistance group
can be certified under the expedited procedures, so long as prior to each
expedited certification, the assistance group either completes the verification
requirements that were postponed at the last expedited certification or was
certified under normal processing standards since the last expedited
certification. Expedited service provisions do not apply for recertification
(i.e., when the assistance group recertifies before the end of its current
certification period).
Notes
Ohio Admin. Code 5101:4-6-09
Effective:
12/1/2020
Five Year Review (FYR) Dates:
9/3/2020 and
12/01/2025
Promulgated
Under: 111.15
Statutory
Authority: 5101.54
Rule
Amplifies: 5101.54,
329.04,
329.042
Prior
Effective Dates: 06/02/1980, 12/01/1980, 04/01/1981, 06/18/1981, 10/01/1981,
01/22/1982, 07/01/1982, 10/01/1982, 06/01/1983, 12/01/1985 (Emer.), 02/23/1986,
08/20/1986 (Emer.), 11/15/1986, 05/01/1987 (Emer.), 07/10/1987, 03/24/1988
(Emer.), 06/18/1988, 05/01/1989 (Emer.), 07/17/1989, 10/01/1990, 05/01/1991
(Emer.), 06/01/1991, 07/01/1992, 08/01/1992 (Emer.), 10/30/1992, 09/01/1994,
08/01/1995 (Emer.), 10/13/1995, 09/22/1996 (Emer.), 12/21/1996, 04/01/1997
(Emer.), 06/06/1997, 10/01/1997 (Emer.), 10/18/1997, 02/01/1999, 06/01/2001
(Emer.), 08/27/2001, 08/01/2005, 10/02/2008, 09/01/2010, 09/01/2012,
11/01/2015, 09/01/2018
