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Transitional Food Assistance (TFA)

Revised March 6, 2009

Transitional Food Assistance What is TFA?   Who is eligible for TFA?   Who is not eligible for TFA?   How long is the TFA certification period?   How is TFA opened?   How are TFA benefits calculated?   Do changes affect the TFA benefit amount?   What changes result in TFA closure?   What happens when a TFA member leaves the TFA household?   Can a new household member be added to an active TFA AU?   How do I reinstate a TFA AU?   What happens when I reopen/re-screen TFA?   What happens when a review is initiated on a TFA AU?   What is the process to delete Tribal TANF income from the UNER screen?   TFA Processing Question and Answers

What is TFA?   ·         Transitional Food Assistance (TFA) is a food assistance program that provides food benefits to families leaving TANF or Tribal TANF cash assistance programs.   Who is eligible for TFA?   ·         Clients who were receiving Basic Food Assistance at the time their TANF closed or Tribal TANF income was removed. See EAZ Manual – WAC 388-489-0005 Who is Eligible for Transitional Food Assistance?   Who is not eligible for TFA?   ·         TFA cannot be authorized when any member of the Basic Food AU receives TANF or Tribal TANF benefits. See EAZ Manual – WAC 388-489-0005 Who is Eligible for Transitional Food Assistance?   ·         TFA cannot be authorized when ALL TANF/Tribal TANF members are closing for one or a combination of the following reason codes:   210 – Failed Residency Requirement   244 – Death   249 – Receipt of Benefits from Another State   ·         TFA cannot be authorized if ANY member of the Basic Food AU is under TANF sanction for one of the following reason codes:   228 – IV-D Non-Cooperation   262 – Convicted of Receiving PA in 2 or more States   263 – Convicted of Unlawful Practices   264 – Minor Parent Inappropriate Living Situation   265 – Minor Parent Failed School Requirement   268 – 40% WorkFirst Sanction   ·         TFA cannot be authorized if ALL members of the Basic Food AU (associated with the closed TANF AU) are disqualified from receiving Basic Food for any of the following reason codes:   202 – Citizenship/Alien Status   207 – Failed Eligible Student Requirement – Food Assistance   210 – Failed Residency Requirement   215 – Failed Work Registration Requirements   219 – Voluntary Quit   223 – Failed E & T Requirements – 2nd offense   224 – Failed E & T Requirements – 3rd offense   227 – Under Previous Work Registration Penalty – Food Assistance   232 – IPV Disqualified   244 – Death   246 – Under Previous Penalty   247 – Under Previous Non-Cooperation w/QC Penalty   254 – Under Previous Transfer of Resource Penalty – Food Assistance   256 – Fleeing Felon & Parole Violation – CA/FA   258 – Failed ABAWD Requirement   260 – Food Assistance Voluntary Quit – 2nd offense   261 – Food Assistance Voluntary Quit – 3rd or subsequent offense   269 – 10 year Penalty for Fraudulent Statement   271 – Trafficking Less Than $500 or for Controlled Substance   272 – Permanent Disqual – Illegal Trafficking more than $500 or for Controlled Substance   282 – Indian Food Distribution Program   411 – Transfer of Resource Disqualification 1-12 Months   549 – TFA Ineligible   555 – Application Opened in Error   556 – Non-Coop with QC – Food Assistance   557 – AU Requests Closure   559 – Client Already Received Assistance in Another AU for This Benefit Month.   566 – Refused to Cooperate with the Application Process   How long is the TFA certification period?   ·         The certification period for TFA is 5 consecutive calendar months. See EAZ Manual – WAC 388-489-0015 How Long Will My Family Receive Transitional Food Assistance?   ·         For TANF/SFA clients, the certification period begins the month following the month of TANF/SFA closure.   ·         For Tribal TANF clients, the certification period begins the first of the ongoing benefit month following the removal of Tribal TANF income on the UNER.   How is TFA opened?   ·         The system automatically opens TFA when a Basic Food AU is eligible for TFA. The system opens TFA using the existing Basic Food AU number, calculates the benefits and generates Letter 008-01 (Change in Cash/Food Assistance) to notify clients about their transitional benefits.   ·         TFA is identified by an indicator on the following ACES screens:   o    CHIS – Client Participation History   o    PART – Client Participation History   o    STAT – Assistance Status   o    ELIG – Non-Financial Eligibility   o    CLLI – Client List for Case Unit   o    MISC – AU Non-Financial Miscellaneous   o    DONE – Session Summary.   ·         The TFA indicator displays in aces.online on the header page for all AU pages and on the Client >>Summary page.   How are TFA benefits calculated?   ·         The TFA benefit amount is calculated using the Basic Food budget from the AU’s last month on TANF/Tribal TANF, minus the TANF/Tribal TANF income. Any other changes in income, expenses, or household composition are not considered when calculating TFA benefits. See EAZ Manual – WAC 388-489-0010 How is my Transitional Food Assistance Benefit Calculated?   ·         The system calculates TFA by first identifying which month the benefit amount should be based on by:   o    The Paid Thru Date on the closing TANF AU; or   o    The previous month for a denied TANF AU; or   o    The Status Date identified by the user on the UNER screen, for the Tribal TANF income that is being deleted.   ·         If one or more of these events is occurring during the same session, the latest date will be used.   Do changes affect the TFA benefit amount?   ·         After the TFA benefit amount is calculated, it will normally be the same amount for each month of the 5-month certification period. Changes in income, resources or expenses do not affect the TFA benefit amount.  See EAZ Manual WAC – 388-489-0020 Am I Required to Report Changes in My Household’s Circumstances while on Transitional Food Assistance?   ·         If a TFA member leaves the TFA household and is approved in a new Basic Food AU, the person is removed from the TFA AU so the allotment will decrease, however, the income is not removed from the calculation. The system will recalculate the benefit using the new number of household members.   o    The person will no longer show on the STAT screen but their income will show on the TFA FSFI screen.   o    Reason Code 233 Change in Household Size will display at the bottom of the FSFI screen to indicate the household size has changed.   ·         TFA benefits will change if the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) standards increase or decrease   ·         TFA benefits will change if recoupment starts, stops or changes.   What changes result in TFA closure?   ·         See EAZ Manual WAC – 388-489-0020 Am I Required to Report Changes in My Household’s Circumstances while on Transitional Food Assistance? and EAZ Manual WAC – 388-489-0025 Can My Transitional Food Assistance Benefits End before the End of My Five-Month Transition Period?   ·         If any TFA AU member who is still part of a TFA household, is approved for assistance in a TANF or Tribal TANF household, the original TFA AU will close for Reason Code 131 – A Member of the Household is now Receiving TANF.   ·         If all TFA members in the TFA AU household are not eligible for any one of the invalid TFA reason codes, the TFA AU will close. See Who is not eligible for TFA? to view the list of invalid TFA reason codes.   ·         If a review is not completed at the end of the TFA 5-month certification period, the TFA AU will close for Reason Code 235 – Review not Complete.   ·         If the household requests voluntary termination of their TFA benefits, the user will need to close the TFA AU with Reason Code 549 - TFA Voluntary Withdrawal.   ·         The household applies for and chooses to receive Basic Food Assistance instead of TFA.   What happens when a TFA member leaves the TFA household?   ·         When a TFA AU member moves out of the TFA household, that person and their income remain part of the TFA AU unless that person is approved for Basic Food in a different AU somewhere else.   o    Update the DEM1 screen with [NO] – Not in home in the Living Arrangement field to indicate the person is no longer in the home.   o    If that person begins to receive TANF elsewhere (not in this home) it will not affect the TFA until the review is completed to return the case to Basic Food.   ·         When a TFA AU member dies before the TFA cert period is over:   o    Code the person as deceased on the DEM2 screen by entering a date in the Death Date field.   o    The deceased person and income remain part of the TFA AU through the end of the TFA eligibility period.   o    The deceased person will be closed at re-certification for Basic Food.   Can a new household member be added to an active TFA AU?   ·         A new household member can be added to an active TFA AU but the TFA amount and household composition will not change. See EAZ Manual WAC – 388-489-0020 Am I Required to Report Changes in My Household’s Circumstances while on Transitional Food Assistance?   ·         If a household member is to be added to the TFA AU, using the Add a Person process take the following steps:   1.    On the STAT screen:   o    Code the new member as an applicant, financial responsibility code [PN] - Applicant.   o    In Finalize, the system will flip them to a [NM] – Non-member with Reason Code 130 – Not TFA Eligible – Not Recipient of BF in Prior Month.   How do I reinstate a TFA AU?   ·         Reinstatement is allowed on a TFA AU in the same manner as reinstating a Basic Food AU. When TFA is reinstated within the 5-month certification period, it will continue unchanged.   ·         When TFA is reinstated, Letter 021-01 General Reinstatement for Cash/Food will be generated.  The user should suppress the Letter 021-01 and manually create Letter 008-01 Change in Cash/Food Assistance.   What happens when I reopen/re-screen TFA?   ·         When TFA is screened for reopening, it will transform back to Basic Food Assistance even within the five-month certification.   ·         During screening the TFA indicator will be blanked out and upon screening completion, the indicator will display in aces.online and ACES Mainframe as Basic Food Assistance (BF).   What happens when a review is initiated on a TFA AU?   ·         When a review is initiated on an active TFA AU, it will go through Basic Food eligibility and will transform back to Basic Food if eligible with the appropriate certification period.   ·         Any client coded on the STAT screen as a [NM] – Non-member  with Reason Code 130 – Not TFA Eligible – Not Recipient of BF in Prior Month will be included in the Basic Food household and if they pass all eligibility for Basic Food, they will be an active [RE] – Recipient in the Basic Food AU.

NOTE: If a review is initiated on a TFA AU prior to the end of the 5-month certification period, the following soft edit message will display on the REVI screen: Edit 2163 - REVIEW INITIATED EARLY ON TRANSITIONAL FOOD ASSISTANCE.

What is the process to delete Tribal TANF income from the UNER screen?   ·         To delete Tribal TANF income from the UNER screen, take the following steps:   1.    From the AMEN, access the TFA AU via Option R – Interim/Hist Change.   2.    On the UNER screen:   o   Code the Appl/Ben Type, Stat, and Date fields at the bottom of the screen. See <F1> Help to determine the correct valid value codes.   o   Delete the Tribal TANF income by entering [Y] in the delete field next to the Tribal TANF income. Press Shift <F24>.

NOTE: If the Appl/Ben Type, Stat, and Date fields are not completed when deleting Tribal TANF income from UNER screen, edit error messages display on the ERRO screen requiring completion of this field.

TFA Processing Questions & Answers

EXAMPLE Mr. R and his family are receiving TFA for the period of January through May. On February 22nd Mr. R’s adult daughter and her three children move into the home and Mr. R wants to add them to his food assistance. Since the new household members have no income. Mr. R applies for Basic Food on February 23rd. The worker processes the application on March 3rd. When is the household eligible for Basic Food? How does the worker get the client the correct benefits for March?

·         To the determine the correct benefit amount for March, take the following steps:   1.    Screen in a new application for Basic Food. See Screening – aces.online.   2.    Terminate the TFA AU effective the last day of the current month.   3.    Go through Interview, Process and start the Finalize function for the pending Basic Food application. Go through Options O – Interview, P – Process Application Month, and start the Finalize function Q –Finalize Application for the Basic Food application.   4.    In Finalize for the current benefit month, ACES will provide the dual participation edit on the ELIG screen. <F4> past the ELIG screen to review the Basic Food calculation on the FSFI screen. Make a note of the benefit amount.   5.    Take the calculated Basic Food benefit for the month and subtract TFA benefits already issued for the month. Create a manual BEG on the TFA AU for the difference in benefits.   How do I reopen Basic Food when TANF has been reinstated and the TFA AU has closed?

EXAMPLE Mrs. P’s worker requests she provide information to determine her continued eligibility for TANF. Mrs. P does not provide the information within the given timeframe and her worker closes her TANF, which causes her Basic Food to transform to TFA. Mrs. P submits the requested information and her worker reinstates her TANF, which causes the TFA to close. How does the worker get Mrs. P back onto Basic Food?

·         After the TANF AU has been reinstated and the TFA closed, screen in a new FS AU or reopen an old FS AU (do not reinstate). If “reinstate” is chosen, the TFA will not change back to regular Basic Food and will close down again due to the active TANF case. See Screening – aces.online.   ·         When the Basic Food AU is approved, the review end date will be set to match the existing TANF review end date.

EXAMPLE Ms. F and her children receive Basic Food and a Tribal TANF grant. On February 10th she reports that her Tribal TANF will end March 31st. On February 15th the CSO goes into the ongoing month of March and deletes her Tribal TANF income on UNER and enters an Appl/Ben date of 03/31/06 at the bottom of UNER. What day does the TFA begin?

·         TFA will begin 04/01/06 and run through 08/31/06.

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Modification Date: March 6, 2009

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