Title 7 . Health and Social Services

Chapter 46 . Hearings

Section 21. State options

7 AAC 46.021. State options

(a) The department will apply the following state options in administering the food stamp program. The department will,

(1) under 7 C.F.R. 273.1(d), designate the head of household;

(2) under 7 C.F.R. 273.2(e)(2)(i), conduct a telephone interview or home visit for those households for which the office interview is waived;

(3) under 7 C.F.R. 273.2(f)(2), consider information to be questionable if the information is subject to more than one interpretation, or is inconsistent with or contradictory to information on the application, information on a previous application, other information received by the department, or statements made by the applicant;

(4) under 7 C.F.R. 273.2(f)(3)(i), mandate verification on a state-wide basis of the following factors that affect household eligibility or allotment level:

(A) liquid resources;

(B) educational loans;

(C) shelter charges at the time of initial application, or if the residence changes;

(D) claimed utility expenses for heat at the time of initial application, if the household is responsible for heating costs and elects to use the standard for utilities;

(E) at the time of initial application claimed dependent care costs;

(5) under 7 C.F.R. 273.2(f)(4)(iv), at state option, verify information received from a source other than the household, that contradicts statements made by the household, by either contacting the household or contacting the source directly;

(6) under 7 C.F.R. 273.2(f)(7), verify Supplemental Security Income benefits through the State Data Exchange, and Social Security benefit information through the Beneficiary Data Exchange;

(7) under 7 C.F.R. 273.2(f)(8)(i)(A), verify medical expenses at recertification;

(8) repealed 4/10/91;

(9) under 7 C.F.R. 273.2(f)(9)(v), at state option, verify unverified information obtained from the Income and Eligibility Verification System by contacting either the household or the appropriate income, resource, or benefit source;

(10) under 7 C.F.R. 273.2(h)(2)(i)(A), send a notice of pending status on the 30th day following the date the application was filed, which will suspend the case for a second 30-day period and then convert into a denial notice if the household fails to take required action;

(11) under 7 C.F.R. 273.2(h)(4)(i), if the initial delay was the household's fault, require the household to file a new application to determine the household's eligibility in the months after the second 30-day period following the date the application was filed;

(12) under 7 C.F.R. 273.2(h)(4)(ii), if the state agency is at fault for not completing the application process by the end of the second 30-day period following the date the application was filed, but the case file is not complete enough to reach an eligibility determination, continue to process the original application;

(13) under 7 C.F.R. 273.2(i)(4)(iii), assign normal certification periods to those expedited service households whose circumstances would otherwise warrant longer certification periods;

(14) under 7 C.F.R. 273.2(j)(1)(i), permit households applying for public assistance and food stamps at the same time to complete a joint application for both programs;

(15) under 7 C.F.R. 273.2(j)(3), apply the joint application processing procedures of 7 C.F.R. 273.2(j)(1) and (j)(2) to a food stamp applicant household in which some, but not all, members are in the Public Assistance/General Assistance filing unit;

(16) under 7 C.F.R. 273.2(k)(1), arrange at each Social Security Administration office, for the Social Security Administration to complete and forward food stamp applications to the appropriate public assistance office;

(17) under 7 C.F.R. 273.2(k)(1)(i)(B), substitute a state food stamp application for the national food stamp application upon approval by the Food and Nutrition Service and the Social Security Administration;

(18) under 7 C.F.R. 273.2(k)(1)(iii)(A)(2), verify Supplemental Security Income benefit payments through one or more of the following: the State Data Exchange; the Beneficiary Data Exchange; the household;

(19) under 7 C.F.R. 273.2(k)(1)(iii)(A)(3), verify social security benefit amounts through the Beneficiary Data Exchange;

(20) repealed 4/10/91;

(21) under 7 C.F.R. 273.8(e)(8), require verification that property is for sale and that the household has not declined a reasonable offer;

(22) under 7 C.F.R. 273.9(d)(6)(i), offer for use in calculating shelter costs, the option of a single standard utility allowance that includes a heating component to households that are responsible for heating costs;

(23) under 7 C.F.R. 273.9(d)(6)(iii), use an annualized standard utility allowance;

(24) repealed 4/10/91;

(25) under 7 C.F.R. 273.9(d)(6)(v)(C), use a standard telephone allowance, upon approval by the Food and Nutrition Service, for those households that are not eligible for the standard utility allowance, or that do not choose to use the standard utility allowance, but have telephone expenses for which they are responsible;

(26) under 7 C.F.R. 273.10(a)(1)(i), use a standard 30-day calendar month;

(27) under 7 C.F.R. 273.10(a)(1)(iii), to determine the amount of the prorated allotment, use either the appropriate Food Stamp Allotment Proration Table provided by the Food and Nutrition Service or the formula designated in 7 C.F.R. 273.10(a)(1)(iii)(A);

(28) under 7 C.F.R. 273.10(c)(2)(i), use the exact monthly income figure if it can be anticipated for each month of the certification period or, if a full month's income is anticipated but is received on a weekly or biweekly basis, convert the income to a monthly amount by multiplying weekly amounts by 4.3 and biweekly amounts by 2.15;

(29) under 7 C.F.R. 273.10(e)(1)(ii)(B), use the rounding procedure in effect for the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program;

(30) under 7 C.F.R. 273.10(e)(2)(iii)(A), deny the household's application on the grounds that its net income exceeds the level at which benefits are issued;

(31) under 7 C.F.R. 273.10(g)(1)(i)(C), send separate notices of eligibility and expiration;

(32) repealed 4/10/91;

(33) under 7 C.F.R. 273.12(f)(2), use a joint change reporting form that can be used by households to report changes for both public assistance and food stamp purposes;

(34) under 7 C.F.R. 273.14(c)(2), at state option, schedule an early interview before the last month of the certification period or before the date the application is timely filed; however, the household will not be denied benefits for failing or refusing to appear for this early interview;

(35) under 7 C.F.R. 273.15(b), provide a fair hearing at the state level in all areas of the state;

(36) under 7 C.F.R. 273.15(d)(1), offer agency conferences to households adversely affected by an agency action;

(37) under 7 C.F.R. 273.16(e)(1), combine fair hearings and administrative disqualification hearings, if the factual issues arise out of the same or related circumstances and the household receives prior notice that the hearings will be combined;

(38) under 7 C.F.R. 273.16(e)(2), use the same hearing officials for administrative disqualification hearings and fair hearings;

(39) under 7 C.F.R. 273.16(f), allow accused individuals to waive their rights to an administrative disqualification hearing in accordance with 7 C.F.R. 273.16(f)(1) - (f)(3);

(40) under 7 C.F.R. 273.16(h), allow accused individuals to sign disqualification consent agreements for cases of deferred adjudication;

(41) under 7 C.F.R. 273.18(d)(1)(i)(A), after the household has been informed of this policy, initiate collection action for claims that cannot be recovered through allotment reduction and are under $35 if multiple overissuances for a household total $35 or more;

(42) under 7 C.F.R. 273.18(d)(1)(ii), postpone collection action on inadvertent household error claims in cases where an overissuance is being referred for possible prosecution or for administrative disqualification and the state agency determines that collection action will prejudice the case;

(43) under 7 C.F.R. 273.18(e)(1) and (e)(2), suspend collection of inadvertent household or administrative error claims, and intentional program violation claims;

(44) under 7 C.F.R. 273.18(e)(3), terminate collection of claims held in suspense for three years and use suspended claims to offset benefits in accordance with 7 C.F.R. 273.17;

(45) under 7 C.F.R. 273.18(f), initiate collection action against a household and offset the amount of the claim against restored benefits owed to a household that currently contains an individual who was an adult member of another household at the time an overissuance occurred;

(46) under 7 C.F.R. 273.18(g)(2)(iii)(C), invoke allotment reduction against a currently participating household for repayment of an inadvertent household error or intentional Food Stamp Program violation claim if a repayment schedule settlement cannot be reached;

(47) under 7 C.F.R. 273.18(h)(4), repay either with state warrant or with food stamp coupons any excess amount paid on a claim by a household;

(48) under 7 C.F.R. 273.21(a)(2), determine eligibility prospectively;

(49) under 7 C.F.R. 273.21(f)(1)(iii)(C), include an individual who has moved out of one household receiving food stamps within the state and into another with no break in participation, and the individual's income, deductible expenses, and resources, in determining the issuance month eligibility and benefit level of the household into which the individual has moved;

(50) under 7 C.F.R. 273.21(h)(2)(viii), with the form requesting social security numbers, include as an attachment a statement of the state agency's authority to require social security numbers, the purpose of requiring social security numbers, the routine uses for social security numbers and the effect of not providing social security numbers;

(51) under 7 C.F.R. 273.21(j)(1)(vii)(B), consider as income the public assistance grant that is issued in the budget month;

(52) under 7 C.F.R. 273.21(n), suspend a household's food stamp issuance for one month if the household becomes temporarily ineligible due to a periodic increase in recurring income or other change not expected to continue in the subsequent month;

(53) under 7 C.F.R. 273.21(q)(2)(iii), recertify households according to requirements set out in 7 C.F.R. 273.21(q)(3);

(54) under 7 C.F.R. 273.1(a)(1)(iii) consider an individual who lives with others to be customarily purchasing food and preparing meals together, even if the individual does not do so, if the individual is a member of the household for at least part of a calendar month.

(b) C.F.R. references in (a) of this section are to regulations in 7 C.F.R. 273, including subsequent changes.

History: Eff. 12/26/86, Register 100; am 4/10/91, Register 118

Authority: AS 47.25.975

AS 47.25.980

Editor's note: The Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Register may be obtained through the nearest public library. If the Code of Federal Regulations and Federal Register are not available at that library site, the material can be obtained by that library through the interlibrary loan system. Copies of specific CFR sections cited in 7 AAC 46.021 may be obtained from the food stamp section, division of public assistance, Department of Health and Social Services, P.O. Box H-07, Juneau, Alaska 99811.