Verified Upon Receipt

CALFRESH

Verified Upon Receipt

Release Date

01/20/2021

Section Heading

Purpose

To convert an existing policy to a new writing system, no concept changes.

Policy

The purpose of this Administrative Release is to release policy and procedures related to Verified Upon Receipt (VUR).

CalFresh households (HHs) have a simplified reporting process with limited reporting requirements between certification periods. HHs are mandated to report new information or any changes to previously reported information at:

Intake;
Semi-Annual Report (SAR) 7; and
Renewal (RE).

Any changes reported outside of the Intake, SAR 7, or RE periods are considered mid-period reports. Mid-period reports can be:

Mandatory;
Voluntary; or
County-initiated.

Changes or information reported that is complete and received from a primary source, is not questionable, and does not require further information/verification, is considered VUR. The reported information is verified by the originating source, such as the HH (e.g., removal of a HH member) or a government agency.

Examples of information from the primary source considered VUR include:

BENDEX and SDX from Social Security Administration (SSA);
Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlement (SAVE) from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS);
Unemployment compensation for the Employment Development Department (EDD); or
Workers’ compensation from the State agency.

Examples of internal agency information that is considered VUR include:

State agency’s determination of an Intentional Program Violation (IPV); or
Information from a State, county, or local work agency that a customer failed to comply with work requirements.

If the information reported at Intake, SAR 7, RE, or mid-period is questionable or requires follow-up questions/verifications, then it is not considered VUR. The information that is not considered VUR must be verified separately, following existing procedures to make an informed judgment as to the HH’s eligibility.

If secondary verification is required to take action on a change in another program (such as Medi-Cal), then it is not considered VUR.

Any report of changes in HH composition by the Head-of-HH or a responsible adult HH member is considered VUR, and action must be taken on the reported change.

When a HH is required to report a change on a Public Assistance CalFresh (PACF) case (e.g., mandatory mid-period report for CalWORKs) or on other programs, such as General Relief or Medi-Cal, and the other programs take action, CalFresh must take action on the reported information.

Background

On mandatory changes, HHs are required to report when their income exceeds the Income Reporting Threshold (IRT) of 130% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) for the HH size, and if there is a decrease in Able-Bodied Adult Without Dependents (ABAWD) hours worked that is less than 20 hours per week or 80 hours average monthly. The changes are to be reported to the county within 10 calendar days from the date the change becomes known to the HH.

Note: The Statewide ABAWD waiver ended on March 31, 2020. The ABAWD Time Limit was scheduled to begin in Los Angeles County effective April 1, 2020; however, an injunction issued on March 13, 2020, postponed the ABAWD implementation until June 2021.

On voluntary changes, HHs may voluntarily report any changes at any time during the certification period. For changes not required to be reported mid-period or not considered VUR, the Eligibility Staff must document the change information on the Journal page only and take action upon receipt of the SAR 7 or the RE, whichever is earlier. On changes considered VUR, the Eligibility Staff must take action to increase/decrease/discontinue benefits at any point during the SAR payment period.

On county-initiated changes, these are certain changes that the county must take action on by the end of the month in which a timely and adequate notice must be provided, even if it results in a decrease or discontinuance of benefits, such as Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) changes.

Definitions

Terms and Descriptions

VUR

Information or reported change is;

From a primary source,
Not questionable, and
Complete, no further information/verification is needed to take action.

Note: If the information or reported change requires follow-up questions or verification, then it is not considered VUR.

Primary Source

A primary source of the information can be a person with direct knowledge of a situation or a document of information considered VUR. It serves as the source of information that can be expected to have complete and accurate information.

Complete Information

Has all the information necessary to be acted upon. The income information, for example, at a minimum, requires the gross amount, date, and frequency.

Questionable Information

There is contradicting, contravening, or discrepant information that will cause doubt on the completeness or accuracy of the information.

Mid-Period Report

Any changes or information reported by the HH between the SAR 7 report and the RE. Mid-period reports can be mandatory, voluntary, or county-initiated.

Mandatory Mid-Period Report

Two types of mandatory mid-period reports are:

Gross monthly income exceeds the IRT for the HH size (for HHs certified with income under 130% FPL); and
A decrease in ABAWD hours worked that are less than 20 hours per week or 80 hours average monthly.

Voluntary Mid-Period Report

Changes or information that the HHs choose to voluntarily report any time during the certification period.

County-initiated Changes

Changes the county is required to take action on anytime during the certification, such as COLA.

Requirements

CalFresh SAR HHs are only required to report mid-period when their income exceeds the IRT of 130% FPL for the HH size and if there is a decrease in ABAWD hours worked that are less than 20 hours per week or 80 hours average monthly. When changes are reported mid-period by the primary source and considered VUR, CalFresh must take action on the changes at any point during the certification period, regardless if the other programs take action or not, and if the change will decrease/increase/discontinue the CalFresh benefits.

Benefits are determined for the duration of the certification period. There are exceptions to this rule as listed below.

Eligibility Staff must take action on changes that:

Are required to be reported on the SAR 7;
Are considered VUR and result in a mid-period increase/decrease/discontinuance of benefits;
Result in an increase/decrease/discontinuance based on mandatory mid-reports;
Result in an increase/decrease/discontinuance based on county-initiated actions; or
The HH requests discontinuance.

The changes that cannot be verified by the participant’s statement alone are:

Income;
Medical costs for a deduction;
Legal obligations to pay child support and the amount paid; or
Any information or change that requires mandatory verifications.

However, HHs certified between 131% and 200% of the FPL are NOT required to make any reports of income during the SAR payment period. These HHs do not have a CalFresh IRT because the HH already reported income of over 130% FPL. The HH’s statement is sufficient for VUR when the HH reports their income is over 130% FPL for non-Modified Categorical Eligibility (MCE) HH or is over 200% for MCE HH.

For all other changes, document the Journal page only and take action upon receipt of the SAR 7 or the RE, whichever is earlier. This applies to changes not required to be reported mid-period or not considered VUR.

The table below includes, but is not limited to, examples of information/reports that are considered VUR and not considered VUR.

Examples that are considered VUR but are not limited to:

Information received via Medi-Cal Eligibility Data System (MEDS) (e.g., BENDEX and SDX system from SSA).
SAVE information from USCIS.
Unemployment compensation benefits received through EDD.
Workers’ compensation from a State agency.
State agency’s determination of an IPV.
Payment Verification System (PVS) Reports.
The primary source requests to discontinue the case.
Information from a State, county, or local work agency indicates that a participant failed to comply with work requirements.
HH composition changes reported by the Head-of-HH or a responsible HH member.
Cash aid received by the HH.
Report on shelter expense and/or utility expense.
HH reports mid-report of income over 130% (for non-MCE) or 200% (for MCE) of the FPL.

Examples that are not considered VUR (Verification is Required)

Any income reported that is not VUR.
Information is received (by WFP&I via the Fleeing Felon Match Report) about the Probation or Parole Violator Status.
Nationwide Prison Match (NPM).
IRS Asset Match.
Franchise Tax Board (FTB) Asset Match.
Beneficiary Earnings Exchange Record (BEER).
Deceased Persons Match (DPM).
Welfare Institution Match.
Integrated Fraud Detection (IFD) Wage Match.
Jail Match Interface.
Disability.
ABAWD individual’s work hours.
Eligible Noncitizen Status.
Incomplete or inaccurate information received from The Work Number Express Service.
In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) Match Report.
Quarterly Wage Match Data.
New Hire Matches.
Unearned Income matches from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Verification Docs

N/A

Attachments

N/A

DPSS ePolicy

NAVIGATION