Cash Assistance

Created on: 
Aug 16 2019

See ACES Screens and Online Pages for an example of pages or screens used in this chapter.

Income deeming from a citizen child to an undocumented child in a cash Assistance Unit (AU) (PR 4290)

Situation:

When an undocumented child is added to a cash AU, ACES is deeming income from citizen children in the AU to the undocumented child. This income should not be deemed, as siblings are not financially responsible for each other.

Workaround:

  1. Users need to hand-calculate the difference between the grant with the ineligible household members and the grant without the ineligible household members.  This is the incorrect deemed amount.
  2. Users must add the income back in by coding it as Other Countable CA/MA Only (OA) on the Unearned Income page belonging to the person with the income..
NOTE: If the AU shows a higher income amount the letters will also display that amount.  If this occurs, free form text will need to be added to the letter.

When taking actions on a case that requires a Processing Alternative (PAL), please make sure to narrate your actions.

Fleeing felons with a WorkFirst sanction causes an Abnormal End (ABEND) in ACES (PR 5239)

Situation:

In some cases, when a client with a WorkFirst sanction is coded as being a fleeing felon, a system error causes an ABEND.

Workaround:

To prevent the ABEND from occurring when working a case with a fleeing felon who is in WorkFirst sanction, take the following steps:

  1. Before entering the fleeing felon information, go to the client’s Work Registration page and remove the WorkFirst sanction information. Users should add remarks to document the reason for this action.
  2. On the client's Client Detail page in the Questions section, click the Yes radio button next to the question: Is this client fleeing from the law to avoid going to court or jail for a crime considered a felony, or breaking a condition of parole or probation?
  3. Click on Eligibility in the Navigation Tree and click the Details link.
  4. When benefits are confirmed correct, click the Commit Changes button.

When taking actions on a case that requires a Processing Alternative (PAL), please make sure to narrate your actions.

Multiple prorations during a month cause incorrect Benefit Error Groups (BEG) to be generated for cash Assistance Units (AU) (PR 3248)

Situation:

There are multiple scenarios for this issue.  Some common examples are:

  • Approving a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) AU after the first day of a month and later in the month, adding a person to the same TANF AU.
  • Adding a person to a TANF AU and later in the same month, process an AREN request.
  • Adding a person to a TANF AU and later in the same month, processing a change in income that would cause an increase in benefits.

Workaround:

This workaround can only be completed in ACES Mainframe. 

If the Benefit Error Group (BEG) created by ACES is incorrect, ignore the BEG and create a user generated BEG to issue the correct amount. See How do I manually create an overpayment or underpayment? for more information.

NOTE: If the user goes back into an AU after finalizing add a person and recalculates eligibility on the AU, another incorrect BEG may be created. If users reinstate an AU and complete an add a person on the same day and then take the above actions, the incorrect recalculation may result in the incorrect benefit being issued since no BEG is created on reinstated AUs. Benefits are issued based on the benefit amount that appears on the Eligibility Details page at the end of the day.

When taking actions on a case that requires a Processing Alternative (PAL), please make sure to narrate your actions.

ACES 3G - Cannot modify Non-Custodial Parents page when there are no children in a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Assistance Unit (AU) (PR 325109)

Situation:

When a caretaker on a TANF AU was previously in DCS Sanction for Non-Cooperation and the same AU is reused for pregnancy TANF application, the AU incorrectly denies with Reason Code 228 - IV-D Non-Cooperation.

This occurs because the Non-Custodial Parents page in ACES 3G is not editable and users cannot remove the old Good Cause and/or Status coding in the IV-D Non-Cooperation section.

Workaround:

Deny the pending TANF AU and screen a brand new TANF AU.

When taking actions on a case that requires a Processing Alternative (PAL), please make sure to narrate your actions.

Unable to Modify Overpayment Benefit Error Group (BEG) for General Assistance (GA) Assistance Unit (AU) when Ongoing Month is Program Type GA-U.  (PR 323730)

Situation:

When trying to create an underpayment BEG for a GA AU with Program Type U - Unemployed in the ongoing month, workers receive Edit 2356 - THIS FUNCTIONALITY NO LONGER ALLOWED FOR GA/G01 AUS.  This prevents workers from modifying an overpayment BEG for months when the AU was Program Type A/B/D/X. 

Workaround:

Reinstate the GA-U AU for the ongoing month. Update the disability information so the AU program type changes to GA-A/B/D/X.  Create the underpayment BEG and complete the modification letter. 

Once the overpayment BEG has been modified (next day), be sure to close the AU back down so benefits don’t issue for the ongoing month.  If needed, the disability information can be changed back so the AU program type changes back to GA-U.

When taking actions on a case that requires a Processing Alternative (PAL), please make sure to narrate your actions.

Recipients of State Family Assistance (SFA) who also meet incapacity requirements to receive medical under General Assistance - Unemployable (GA-U). (CR 294738)

Situation:

Recipients of State Family Assistance (SFA) receive cash assistance only.  Some meet incapacity requirements to receive medical under MCS.  ACES does not currently support an individual being active on both programs for the same benefit month.

Workaround:

For an explanation of the workaround for this scenario, please contact IT Solutions Customer Support at (360) 664-4560 option 2.

When taking actions on a case that requires a Processing Alternative (PAL), please make sure to narrate your actions.

Additional Requirement Emergent Need (AREN) issued same day TANF is reinstated - Benefit Error Group (BEG) not created & AREN not issued to client or vendor (PR 320859)

Situation:

When an Additional Requirement Emergent Need (AREN) payment is issued the same day a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Assistance Unit (AU) is reinstated, the system does not generate an AREN Benefit Error Group (BEG) or allow the VEND screen or Vendor Payments Fields to be updated in either ACES 3G or ACES Mainframe.

Workaround:

Reinstate the TANF AU and let the case sit through overnight batch. The following day ACES allows the AREN payment to process correctly.

When taking actions on a case that requires a Processing Alternative (PAL), please make sure to narrate your actions.

Additional Requirement Emergent Needs (AREN). Edit - Additional Requirement Emergent Needs Cannot be processed with other changes (PR 345547)

Situation:

When multiple Additional Requirement Emergent Need (AREN) Benefit Error Group (BEG)s are created in the same day or same month for a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Assistance Unit (AU), the following edit message displays: Additional Requirement Emergent Needs cannot be processed with other changes, on the Eligibility page in ACES 3G. 

Workaround:

For an explanation of the workaround for this scenario, please contact IT Solutions Customer Support at (360) 664-4560 option 2.

When taking actions on a case that requires a Processing Alternative (PAL), please make sure to narrate your actions.

Assistance Unit (AU) Details page displays Reason Code 228 when Division of Child Support (DCS) sanction has been lifted (PR 223290)

Situation:

When a DCS non-cooperation sanction has been lifted for a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) client, Reason Code 228 - IV-D Non-Cooperation continues to display on the AU Details page for the affected client(s). In this situation the TANF grant is correctly increased; however, if TANF is terminated and there is a related Basic Food AU open, the Basic Food AU will not correctly trickle to Transitional Food Assistance (TFA).

Workaround:

In the Clients section of the AU Details page, use the drop down menu in the Reason field to remove Reason Code 228.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients who are in an inpatient facility under 180 days. (CR 372983)

Situation:

A recipient of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in a treatment facility should receive a full grant within the first 180 days of treatment. ACES does not currently support this rule when an individual is coded with living arrangement of ADATSA Residential/Contracted (AR) within the first 180 days of treatment. The system would incorrectly issue a CPI (Clothing and Personal Incidentals) grant.

Workaround:

  1. In the Residency / Living Arrangement section of the Client Details page for all recipients, the Living Arrangement field should be coded as [At Home (AH)].
  2. On the Shelter Expenses page for the Head of Household, add Shelter expense of [0.01] if recipient was previously coded as Homeless. 
  3. Confirm the changes.

Please see CSD Staff Announcement and workaround for additional case processing steps.

Vendor details continue to display after vendor removed from cash AUs in ongoing month (PR 389022)

Situation:

Vendor information continues to display on the Eligibility Details page in ACES 3G when the vendor information is removed in the ongoing month. 

Workaround:

  1. In the ongoing benefit month, on the Eligibility page, click the Calculate Eligibility link.  Then click the Details link for the cash Assistance Unit (AU).
  2. On the Eligibility Details page under Vendor Payments take the following steps:
  • Delete the entry in the Amount field
  • Uncheck the Pay Vendor check box
  • Click Confirm Benefits

The vendor will no longer be issued the cash payment even though the vendor information displays.  

When taking actions a case that require a Processing Alternative (PAL), please make sure to narrate your actions.

Supplied Shelter grant standard given to child-only Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Assistance Units (AUs) (PR 172944)

Situation:

When a child-only TANF AU is opened and the only adult is an SSI recipient, the system ignores the shelter expense if it is coded for the SSI recipient and uses the TANF supplied shelter grant standard.

Workaround:

Add a shelter expense to the child’s Shelter Expenses page. 

NOTE: If the household is also receiving Basic Food assistance, be sure to review the total shelter costs being budgeted for the household.  When taking actions on a case that requires a Processing Alternative (PAL), please make sure to narrate your actions.  

When taking actions a case that require a Processing Alternative (PAL), please make sure to narrate your actions.

ABD Cash grant not prorated when married couple both eligible for/receiving ABD cash and have living arrangement Homeless without Housing (HO) (CR 429439)

Situation:

When a married couple, both eligible for/receiving an ABD cash grant, have living arrangement Homeless without housing (HO), the grant amount is incorrectly allowing a full payment standard for each client.  Each recipient should receive one half of the 2 person grant payment standard.   This issue will be resolved when ACES promotes Change Request (CR) 429439 AUTOMATION CHANGES TO SUPPORT EXPANSION OF HEN REFERRAL ELIGIBILITY TO ABD CASH ASSISTANCE.

Workaround:

To have the system issue the correct grant amount for this situation, code each client with living arrangement Homeless with Housing (HH).

When taking actions on a case that requires a Processing Alternative (PAL), please make sure to narrate your actions.

Diversion Cash Assistance (DCA) denies when client statement (CS) is used for shelter verification (PR 493323)

Situation:

If a household is over the Supplied Shelter income threshold but under the Paying Shelter threshold and the shelter expenses are verified with CS, the Assistance Unit (AU) denies with Reason 331 – Excess Net Income – Cash Assistance.

 Workaround:

 If there is existing verification, enter the appropriate verification valid value. If no existing verification is available, enter Other (OT).

When taking actions on a case that requires a Processing Alternative (PAL), please make sure to narrate your actions.

Edit On Earned Income Page when Changing Valid Value for Working Family Support Hours (PR 468756)

Situation:

The Valid Value (VV) for the Working Family Support Hours field isn’t reset when the Earned Income hours are updated, which results in a hard edit that doesn’t display in ACES 3G. As a result, there is no way to determine what the issue is on the Earned Income Screen.

Workaround:

  1. On the Income Summary page in ACES 3G, click on the employment in the Earned Income section.
  2. On the Earned Income Details page, change the VV for Working Family Support Hours from Verified (VE) to Not Verified (NV).
  3. On the same Earned Income Details page, change the VV for Working Family Support Hours from Not Verified (NV) back to Verified (VE).

When taking actions on a case that requires a Processing Alternative (PAL), please make sure to narrate your actions.

See ACES Screens and Online Pages for an example of pages or screens used in this chapter.