Transitional Benefits

A Work in Progress

February 1, 2002

Author: Barbara Weiner

In the last issue of the Legal Services Journal we reported that the New York Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) was about to implement a program providing transitional food stamp benefits to households whose welfare cases close.  The program, the Transitional Benefit Alternative (TBA), is a state option provided by the Food and Nutritional Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (FNS), and it is designed in large part to ensure that families who remain eligible for food stamps after leaving welfare will continue to receive them. 
 
The TBA authorizes the states to provide up to three months of continued food stamp benefits for families leaving welfare, in large part to make sure that the local social services district has sufficient time to make a redetermination of the household’s food stamp eligibility under the family’s post-welfare financial circumstances.  It is an attempt to remedy the current problem that many families who remain financially eligible for food stamp benefits when they leave welfare nevertheless lose their connection to the food stamp program once their welfare cases close.
 
Transitional food stamp benefits are currently only available to households leaving Family Assistance (FA) and the State’s federally participating Safety Net program.  Households in receipt of state and locally funded Safety Net assistance are not eligible for TBA if their welfare case is closed, though New York is in the process of seeking a waiver from FNS to extend the transitional benefit program to these households as well.
 
The launching of TBA, which began with FA cases closing on or after November 30, 2001, was preceded by intensive State training sessions with local districts.  However, in New York City, where the case closing system is fully automated, the necessary modification of the system to accommodate the transitional program is not yet complete, particularly with respect to the issuance of required TBA notices and the calculation of the appropriate TBA amount.  The expectation is that the system will be fully in place in New York City by April of this year.  The case closing system is not automated in the upstate districts.  There, where it is the caseworkers who must initiate the provision of TBA in appropriate cases, the transitional program should be fully implemented by now. 
 
The State will be able to monitor local implementation of TBA by comparing the number of monthly FA case closings in a particular social services district to the number of households in the district receiving transitional benefits.  Even though not all households whose FA assistance terminates are eligible for TBA, if there is too great a discrepancy in these numbers it should be a signal to the State that the local district may be having problems correctly implementing the program. 
 
Ensuring that TBA is fully and accurately implemented will also be a task that the legal services and community advocate communities will want to undertake on behalf of their clients.  Following is an outline of the major elements of TBA against which local district implementation can be measured.
 
Eligibility for TBA
 
Because TBA is currently only available for people leaving programs funded by TANF, a household must have been in receipt of Family Assistance (FA) or federally participating Safety Net in order to be eligible for TBA.  Mixed income households who also had income from sources other than federal welfare assistance are also eligible. Acceptable case closing reasons include when the FA case is closed because the household has reached the federal 60 month time limit, when increased income renders the household ineligible for further cash assistance, or simply when the family asks the local district to close their welfare case.  Households who transition from FA to state and locally funded Safety Net assistance are not eligible for TBA, though these households should of course continue to get regular food stamp benefits.
 
A household will not be eligible to receive TBA benefits if the household includes a member who, at the time of case closing, has:

• violated a food stamp work requirement,
• committed a welfare or food stamp intentional program violation (IPV),
• failed to comply with food stamp reporting requirements, or
• is under a food stamp sanction for violation of a TANF/FS requirement.

However, if the sanction or disqualification period has run at the time the welfare case closes or if the food stamp sanction terminates concurrently with the closing of the FA case, the household is eligible for TBA. 
 
Calculating the Time Period and Grant Amount under the TBA
 
Transitional benefits are provided for up to three months, starting with the first month after the welfare case closes.  Unless the household is on a 12 month certification cycle, the household’s food stamp certification period must be extended if necessary to allow the household the full three months of transitional benefits.  However, the certification period of a non-disabled/non-elderly household cannot be extended beyond the statutory 12 month maximum.  Thus, households who are in their 10th, 11th or 12th month of certification when their welfare case closes will not be able to fully reap the benefits of TBA.
 
The transitional benefit amount is set either at the amount of monthly food stamp benefits the household was receiving in the last month before their welfare case closed or at a higher amount if circumstances have been reported and verified that would result in an increase in food stamp benefits.  For example, because the household will be losing welfare income as a result of leaving FA, the transitional food stamp grant should be recalculated to reflect the loss in cash assistance.  However, if the household has reported an increase in earnings but not verified the amount, the transitional benefits will be frozen at the pre-welfare case closing amount even though the household is no longer getting a welfare grant.  If a change in circumstances has been reported and verified by the household at welfare case closing, a comparison will be done between the pre-welfare case closing food stamp grant and what the grant would be, taking into account the household’s new circumstances.  The higher of these two amounts will be the transitional benefit amount.
 
Households are not required to report changes during the three month transitional benefit period.  However, if the household reports a change that would increase their food stamp grant, the local districts must recalculate the household’s transitional benefits and provide the increase. A reported change that would decrease the transitional allotment cannot be acted upon until the transitional benefit period is over. 
 
Required Notices under TBA
 
Households found eligible for TBA must be provided with the following information in the cash assistance case closing notice:

• that the household is eligible for transitional benefits;
• the transition period during which the household will receive these benefits;
• that the food stamp allotment has been frozen at the pre-welfare case closing amount or, if the household’s income is decreasing because it is leaving cash assistance, the allotment has been recalculated to reflect that loss in income; 
• that the household does not have to report any changes in household circumstances during the transition period but may do so if it would result in an increase in the transitional benefit amount; and
• that the local district must re-evaluate the household’s eligibility for continuing food stamp benefits before the end of the 3 month transitional benefits period.

Determining Continuing Food Stamp Eligibility at the End of TBA
 
At the end of the transitional benefit period, the local district must determine the continued eligibility of the household for food stamp benefits.  The procedure for doing so will vary depending on whether the household is within or at the end of its food stamp certification period when the transitional benefit period expires.
 
If the household is within its certification period, the local district must send a Request for Contact (RFC) notice to the household at least 30 days before the expiration of the transitional benefit period, providing the household with at least 10 days to report and verify any changes in income, household composition, or allowable costs.  If the household fails to respond, or fails to provide all the necessary information, the household’s food stamp case will be closed at the end of the transition period.
 
If the information the household submits in response to the RFC notice requires a change in the benefit amount, the local district must process the change and inform the household of the new benefit amount before the end of the transition period. 
 
If the food stamp grant is to be reduced or terminated based on the household’s current circumstances or a failure to respond to the RFC, timely and adequate notice must be given to the household, with an opportunity for fair hearing and aid continuing.
 
If the household’s food stamp certification expires concurrently with the end of the transition period, the local district must provide the usual re-certification call in notice.  At its re-certification interview, the household will have to provide information and verification about its current circumstance.  If the household fails to respond to the re-certification notice, its food stamp grant will terminate.
 
Potential Trouble Spots in TBA
 
The biggest concern is, of course, that households eligible for TBA receive it.  This means, first of all, that the local districts must use the correct case closing code when closing the FA case.  In New York City, when TBA is fully automated, it will be the case closing code that will trigger issuance of the TBA notice, extension of the certification period if necessary, and calculation of the correct transitional benefit amount.   In areas outside of NYC where procedures are not automated, not only must the caseworker assign the correct public assistance case closing code, (s)he will also have to manually process the case for TBA benefits, including adjusting the certification period if necessary and determining the correct  TBA grant amount.
 
The other major area of concern is that sanctions not be inappropriately imposed or continued in the food stamp case at the time of FA case closing, making the household ineligible for TBA.  For example, a household with a member who is under a welfare sanction at the time of FA case closing for conduct that is not sanctionable under the food stamp program, like cooperation with child support enforcement, is eligible for TBA.  There is one situation that may be especially susceptible to mistakes being made by local districts.  Under its Simplified Food Stamp Program, New York has been authorized to require a single parent with a child or children under the age of six who is receiving both FA and food stamps to participate in workfare to earn both the household’s public assistance and food stamp benefits.  The failure of the parent to comply subjects the parent to a sanction in both the welfare and food stamp case.   However, the Simplified Food Stamp Program does not apply to households that only receive food stamp benefits. Because parents with children under the age of six are ordinarily exempt from food stamp work registration requirements, the food stamp sanction must terminate immediately when the FA case closes.  A food stamp sanction that does not survive the closing of the FA case cannot render a  household ineligible for transitional food stamp benefits under TBA.
 
(If you have questions about TBA or want assistance with a particular case, you can contact Barbara Weiner at (518) 462-6831.  For cases arising in New York City, contact Anne Pearson of the Welfare Law Center at (212) 633-6967.)