Pennsylvania Code › Title 55 - HUMAN SERVICES › Part II - Public Assistance Manual › Subpart F - Disbursements › Chapter 231 - CHECKS REQUIRING SPECIAL HANDLING › CHECKS REQUIRING SPECIAL HANDLING PROVISIONS FOR AFDC/GA › Section 231.24 - Procedures

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a)
General.
Assistance checks prepared by the central disbursing
					 office and issued by the Treasury Department will be cleared through the banks
					 and the paid checks will be filed in the Department of the Auditor General.
					 However, if the check is lost, forged, or the like, the procedures set forth in
					 subsections (b)-(k) will be followed.
(b)
Lost checks.
Lost checks
					 will be handled as follows:
(1)
Loss
					 or nonreceipt of check by recipient.
If a recipient reports the
					 nonreceipt of an assistance check, loss of an unendorsed check, or destruction
					 of a check either endorsed or unendorsed, the Treasury Department will conduct
					 an investigation.
(i)
Request for
					 investigation.
Use of Form PA 207 will conform with the following:
(A) The investigation will be initiated by
					 means of Request for or Waiver of Investigation of Check, Form PA 207. A
					 separate Form PA 207 is required for checks that are reported lost. Five copies
					 will be prepared. The county office will retain the No. 2 copy and the
					 remaining copies will be sent to the central disbursing office with the Form PA
					 122-E. The central disbursing office will retain their copy and forward the
					 remaining two Treasury copies and one Postal Inspection Service Copy to
					 Treasury. If the Form PA 207 indicates that referral should be made to the
					 Postal Inspection Service, Treasury will obtain an extra photostatic copy of
					 the check to attach to the Postal Copy of the Form PA 207 and forward both
					 items to the appropriate Postal Inspection Service district office. If postal
					 referral is not indicated, Treasury will retain the postal copy for possible
					 later referral should investigation or further information from the county
					 indicate this to be necessary.
(B)
					 The information on the form should be typewritten if possible, otherwise
					 printed, because legibility is required. The blocks to the right of the
					 heading, "Replacement Issued," will be filled in if a grant has been authorized
					 because of the loss. The Form PA 207 shall be signed by the payee of the check
					 and ten samples of payee's signature will be obtained, if possible, as these
					 are used by Treasury and the Postal Inspection Service for comparison with the
					 signature on the check if paid. If it is not possible to obtain the signature
					 of the payee, any other responsible member of the assistance unit should sign
					 the Form PA 207. If the Form PA 207 is not signed by the payee, an explanation
					 is required on the Form PA 207. Signature samples will be obtained from the
					 payee only.
(C) If it is suspected
					 or there is any possibility that loss or theft occurred in the mail, this must
					 be noted in the "comments" section. This information alerts Treasury that
					 referral to the Postal Inspection Service is also necessary.
(D) The county office should completely fill
					 in the Form PA 207, including zip code, except check and warrant numbers. These
					 will be inserted by the central disbursing office. Form PA 207s with incomplete
					 or incorrect information will be sent back to the County Office for completion
					 or correction. The county office must return corrected forms to the central
					 disbursing office within 2 weeks.
(E) If the county office learns of postal
					 involvement after the Form PA 207 is submitted to central office, a second Form
					 PA 207 will be submitted. The new information will be reported in the
					 "comments" section of the form and "other" will be checked. The only other
					 items to be completed are the blocks above this section to provide the
					 necessary identifying information.