Households With a Decrease in TANF 430-05-50-15-15

(Revised 04/01/08 ML3136)

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Food stamp benefits cannot be increased when a household’s income is reduced because of a sanction and/or penalty imposed by TANF, TANF Diversion or TANF Transition Assistance, if the sanction and/or penalty was imposed for a failure to perform a required action to improve the well being of a recipient family.   

 

Examples:

• Failure to follow through with the Health Tracks Program.
• Failure to follow through with the Child Support Enforcement Unit.
• Failure to follow through with the JOBS Program.
• Failure to comply with TANF Work Requirements, including a job quit.
• Client claims for failure to comply with TANF.
• Fraud claims for failure to comply with TANF.

 

This provision does not apply to:

• Individuals who are sanctioned and/or penalized at the time the individual applies for TANF.

Example:

A household applies for TANF and food stamps. An individual in the household has a Health Tracks penalty in place at the time of application. The actual TANF grant is counted when calculating food stamp benefits.

• Individuals that were not certified for food stamps at the time of the sanction and/or penalty.

• Individuals who are unable to perform as opposed to refusing to perform a required action.

• Procedural requirements in TANF such as:

• Filing a late monthly report.
• Benefit capped children.
• When an individual reaches the time limit for benefits.
• Reworking first two pro-months for TANF if the household reported correct information.

 

If an individual in an ongoing TANF case IS certified for food stamps at the time a sanction and/or penalty is imposed in TANF for failure to perform a required action, the gross amount of the TANF grant is counted in calculating Food Stamp benefits.

 

If an individual in an ongoing TANF case IS NOT certified for food stamps at the time a sanction and/or penalty is imposed in TANF for a failure to perform a required action, later applies for food stamps, the actual TANF grant is counted in calculating food stamp benefits.

 

Example:

An ongoing TANF household applies for food stamp benefits. An individual in the household has a JOBS sanction.

 

If the individual was certified for food stamp benefits at the time the sanction was imposed, the gross amount of the grant is counted.

 

If the individual was not certified for food stamps at the time the sanction was imposed, the actual amount of the grant is counted.

 

If an individual with a sanction and/or penalty (who was certified for food stamps at the time the sanction and/or penalty was imposed) moves into a new household, the gross TANF grant is counted in calculating food stamp benefits for the gaining household as long as there was no break in the individual’s TANF benefits.

 

If the individual moves here from another state and had a sanction and/or penalty in place in the other state, the ban on increasing benefits must not be applied.

 

When it is determined that the gross amount of the TANF grant must be used in calculating Food Stamp benefits, the gross amount is used each month until the county becomes aware that the individual is ineligible for TANF.

 

If it is determined at a later date that the reduction was incorrect (the fault of the county or an IPV was reversed), underpayment(s) must be completed and issued to the household.

 

Calculating Benefits Due to a Decrease in Income from TANF

The procedures for determining food stamp benefits when there is such a decrease in income are:

1. Identify that portion of the decrease that is attributable to the sanction and/or penalty or to the repayment of benefits overissued as a result of the household’s failure to comply.
2. Calculate food stamp benefits using the benefit amount that would have been issued by the program as if no sanction and/or penalty or overpayment had been deducted from the client’s income.

Example:

An ongoing food stamp/TANF case fails to perform a required TANF action and is sanctioned. The gross amount of the TANF benefit must be counted as income for the ongoing food stamp case.