Nebraska Administrative Code › Topic - HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SYSTEM › Title 475 - SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM › Chapter 2 - HOUSEHOLD PROCESSING › Section 475-2-004 - PROCESSING APPLICATIONS UNDER SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

Current through June 17, 2024
Special procedures are used for households which are:
004.01
EXPEDITED
  SERVICE.
Expedited service standards require that processing be
  completed with timeframes that are shorter than the usual 30 days. If this is
  an initial application, the criteria apply to the month of application. The
  household may be certified under expedited service procedures if they are
  determined to be entitled to expedited service and have either provided all the
  required verifications since the last certification or have been certified
  under the 30-day processing standards since the last expedited service
  certification.
If otherwise eligible, a household cannot waive its right to expedited
	 service. If otherwise eligible, the following households are entitled to
	 expedited service:
(1) Households with
  less than $150 in monthly gross income provided their liquid resources do not
  exceed $100;
(2) Households whose
  combined monthly gross income and liquid resources are less than the
  household's monthly rent or mortgage and utilities; and
(3) Migrant or seasonal farmworkers who are
  destitute provided their liquid resources do not exceed $100.
004.01(A)
SPECIAL PROCEDURES FOR
  EXPEDITED SERVICE.
The following procedures apply for expedited
  cases.
004.01(A)(i)
EXPEDITED
  APPLICATION.
If the application is complete enough to determine
  the household is entitled to expedited service, the expedited time frame starts
  with the receipt date of the application. If an application is not complete
  enough to determine if the household is entitled to expedited service, an
  interview is scheduled to meet the expedited time frame. If the household does
  not appear for the interview, the household will receive a written notice of
  missed interview. If the interview is not rescheduled by the household in time
  to meet the expedited time frame from the receipt date of the application, the
  household loses its entitlement to expedited service and the application is
  approved or denied within the normal 30 days.
004.01(A)(ii)
VERIFICATION.
Other than identity, verification is not required to receive an
  initial issuance. In order to receive a second issuance, the following
  information must be verified:
004.01(A)(ii)(1)
IDENTITY.
The applicant's identity and the authorized
  representative's identity, if applicable, must be verified. If identity cannot
  be verified within the expedited timeframe, the household is not entitled to
  expedited processing.
004.01(A)(ii)(2)
RESIDENCY.
The household's Nebraska residency must be
  verified in order to receive a second issuance.
004.01(A)(ii)(3)
INCOME.
For the second issuance, income must be
  verified.
004.01(A)(ii)(4)
DEDUCTIONS.
The following verification standards apply
  to deductions:
004.01(A)(ii)(4)(a)
MEDICAL.
In circumstances when a individual's
  eligibility for the medical deduction and expenses cannot be verified, the
  following applies:
(i) If the disability
  cannot be verified in time to meet expedited timeframes, the medical deduction
  is allowed for the first issuance. Medical deductions which cannot be verified
  are removed from the budget for the second issuance;
(ii) If the household claims medical expenses
  and no insurance, the Department accepts the household's estimate of expenses
  for the first issuance;
(iii) If
  the household claims medical expenses and insurance, the household must report
  to the Department which expenses will be reimbursed by insurance. The medical
  expenses which will not be reimbursed will be deducted for the first issuance.
  For the second issuance, verification is necessary; and
(iv) If the household is unable to provide
  information on which portion is reimbursable by insurance, no deduction is
  allowed.
004.01(A)(ii)(4)(b)
DEPENDENT
  CARE.
If the household claims an allowable dependent care expense
  that is not reimbursed from another source and the expense cannot be verified
  in time to meet the expedited timeframes, the household's statement of expenses
  is accepted. To allow the dependent care deduction for the second issuance,
  verification is required.
004.01(A)(ii)(4)(c)
UTILITIES.
If the household is responsible for
  utilities, either the standard utility allowance, limited utility allowance,
  one utility allowance, or telephone allowance are used for the utility
  deduction. The exception to this is if a household is eligible for a standard
  homeless shelter deduction which would be used instead of a utility cost
  because the deduction's calculation includes utility costs.
004.01(A)(ii)(4)(d)
CHILD
  SUPPORT.
When the household is entitled to expedited processing
  and has an obligation to pay child support for a non-household member, the
  household's statement regarding the child support payment amount is accepted
  for the first issuance. To allow the child support deduction for the second
  issuance, verification is required.
004.01(A)(ii)(4)(e)
DEDUCTIONS IN
  FUTURE ISSUANCES.
In all cases, verification must be provided
  before the second issuance of the certification period or the expenses will not
  continue to be allowed.
004.01(A)(ii)(5)
SOCIAL SECURITY
  NUMBER.
Initial certification must not be delayed if the Social
  Security number is not provided within the expedited timeframe.
004.01(A)(ii)(6)
WORK
  REGISTRATION.
Household members must be work-registered but meet
  this requirement when they are included on the signed application.
004.01(A)(ii)(7)
OTHER
  VERIFICATION.
Verifications that cannot be obtained in time to
  meet expedited processing standards are postponed. All required verifications
  must be provided before the second issuance of the certification
  period.
004.01(B)
PROCESSING STANDARDS
  FOR EXPEDITED SERVICE.
The following applies to processing
  expedited cases.
004.01(B)(i)
ISSUANCE OF ELECTRONIC BENEFITS TRANSFER CARD.
The
  Electronic Benefits Transfer card will be available for the household or its
  authorized representative no later than the seventh calendar day after the
  application filing date.
004.01(B)(ii)
AGGREGATE
  ALLOTMENT.
When applications are received after the
  15th of the month and identity is verified, the
  prorated first month's expedited benefits and the full second month's aggregate
  benefits are issued to households. All of the following conditions must be met
  to be an aggregate benefit:
(1) The
  application month must be expedited;
(2) The eligibility for benefits must be
  determined during the application month;
(3) The application date must be the 16th of
  the month or later; and
(4) The
  household must be eligible for benefits for both the application month and the
  following month.
004.01(B)(iii)
INTERVIEWS.
An expedited household must have an
  interview before certification to complete the application process.
004.01(B)(iv)
LATE
  DETERMINATIONS.
If the initial expedited screening fails to
  identify that a household is entitled to expedited service, and the Department
  later learns the household should receive expedited service, then the
  household's application receives expedited processing.
004.01(C)
CERTIFYING HOUSEHOLDS
  ENTITLED TO EXPEDITED SERVICE.
There is no limit to the number of
  times a household can be certified under the expedited procedures as long as
  the household has provided the required verifications or was certified under
  the 30-day processing standards since the last expedited certification.
  Household applications not eligible for expedited service are processed within
  30 days of the application date.
004.01(D)
DESTITUTE
  HOUSEHOLDS.
Migrant or seasonal farmworker households may have
  little or no income at the time of application and may be in need of immediate
  food assistance even though they receive income at some time during the month
  of application. To determine when households in these circumstances may be
  considered destitute and, entitled to expedited service and special income
  calculation procedures, the following applies.
004.01(D)(i)
TERMINATED
  INCOME.
A household whose only income for the month of application
  was received before the date of application, and was from a terminated source,
  is a destitute household and is provided expedited service.
(1) If income is received on a monthly or
  more frequent basis, it is considered as coming from a terminated source if it
  will not be received again from the same source during the balance of the month
  of application or during the following month.
(2) For a household that normally receives
  income less often than monthly, the income is considered as coming from a
  terminated source if it will not be received in the month in which the next
  payment would normally be received.
004.01(D)(ii)
NEW SOURCE OF
  INCOME.
A household whose only income for the month of application
  is from a new source is destitute and is provided expedited service if income
  of more than $25 from the new source will not be received by the tenth calendar
  day after the date of application.
(1) Income
  which is normally received on a monthly or more frequent basis is considered to
  be from a new source if income of more than $25 has not been received from that
  source within 30 days before the date the application was filed.
(2) If income is normally received less often
  than monthly, it is considered to be from a new source if income of more than
  $25 was not received within the last normal interval between payments.
004.01(D)(iii)
TERMINATED SOURCE AND NEW SOURCE.
Households may
  receive both income from a terminated source before the date of application and
  income from a new source after the date of application and still be considered
  destitute if they receive no other income in the month of application and
  income of more than $25 from the new source will not be received by the tenth
  calendar day after the date of application.
004.01(D)(iv)
TRAVEL
  ADVANCES.
Some employers provide travel advances to cover the
  travel costs of new employees who must journey to the location of their new
  employment. Receipt of travel advances will not affect the determination of
  when a household is destitute.
004.01(D)(iv)(1)
TRAVEL ADVANCES
  AS WAGES.
If the travel advance is an advance of wages later
  earned by the employee and the advance is by written contract, the travel
  advance is considered income. The receipt of a wage advance for travel costs of
  a new employee does not affect the determination of whether subsequent payments
  from the employer are from a new source of income, nor whether a household must
  be considered destitute.
004.01(D)(v)
SOURCES OF
  INCOME.
A household member who changes jobs but continues to work
  for the same employer is considered as still receiving income from the same
  source. A migrant farmworker's source of income is considered to be the same
  grower for whom the migrant is working at a particular point in time and not
  the crew chief. A migrant who travels with the same crew chief but moves from
  one grower to another is considered to have moved from a terminated income
  source to a new source.
004.01(E)
MIGRANTS.
If a migrant household eligible for expedited services applies:
(1) On or before the
  15th of a month, then the Department:
(a) Requires postponed verification from
  sources within the state before the second issuance; and
(b) Requires verification from out-of-state
  sources before the household's third issuance.
(2) After the 15th
  of a month:
(a) The household must provide
  all postponed verifications before the third month of the certification period
  to continue to be eligible to receive benefits.
004.01(E)(i)
VERIFIED
  CHANGES.
If verification results in changes in a household's
  eligibility and benefit levels, the Department acts on these changes without
  sending the household a notice of adverse action.
004.01(E)(ii)
OUT-OF-STATE
  VERIFICATION.
Migrant households are entitled to postpone
  out-of-state verification only once each season. If a migrant household
  requesting expedited service has already been allowed to postpone out-of-state
  verification during the current season, the postponement is allowed only for
  the initial month's issuance and not for any following month's
  issuance.
004.01(E)(iii)
IN-STATE VERIFICATION.
When in-state verification that
  has been postponed is received, the second month's benefits are issued within
  seven calendar days from receipt of the verification or the first of the second
  month, whichever is later.
004.01(E)(iv)
RECERTIFICATION.
Verification factors are treated the
  same at time of recertification as at initial application except that:
(1) If a household has postponed providing
  verification at time of last certification, the verification must be provided
  before recertification; and
(2) If
  a household reported a change within the certification period that resulted in
  a benefit decrease and it was not verified, verification of the change must be
  obtained before recertification.