(a) Prior to the
action to reduce, terminate, suspend, withhold, or change the manner or form of
payment to protective or vendor payment, except as provided in section
17-649-9, the branch shall provide the recipient with timely and adequate
notice before the adverse action is taken.
(b) The notice of adverse action shall be
considered timely when the branch mails the notice at least ten days prior to
the effective date of action. For the financial assistance programs, when the
department obtains facts indicating need for the action because of probable
fraud, the branch shall mail a written notice at least five days before the
effective date of action. If the notice period ends on a weekend or holiday and
a request for a hearing and continuation of benefits is received the day after
the weekend or holiday the request shall be considered timely.
(c) For the financial assistance programs,
timely notice shall not be required in the following circumstances but adequate
notice shall be sent not later than the date of action:
(1) The department has verified the death of
a recipient or of the AFDC payee and there is no relative available to serve as
new payee;
(2) The department
receives a clear written statement signed by a recipient that:
(A) The recipient no longer wishes
assistance; or
(B) Provides
information which necessitates termination or reduction of assistance and
indicates that the recipient under-stands the consequences of supplying the
information shall be reduction or termination of assistance;
(3) The recipient has been
admitted or committed to a public institution;
(4) The recipient has been placed under
skilled nursing care, intermediate care, or long-term
hospitalization;
(5) The
recipient's whereabouts are unknown and mail sent to the recipient has been
returned by the post office indicating no known forwarding address. When mail
is returned, both timely and adequate notice shall be issued only when the
recipient has provided the department with a new address. The returned
benefits, however, shall be released to the recipient if the recipient's
whereabouts become known during the payment period covered by the returned
benefits;
(6) The recipient has
been accepted for assistance in another state and this fact has been
established by the department;
(7)
The AFDC child has been removed from the home by judicial action or placed in
foster care by the parent or legal guardian;
(8) A special allowance granted for a
specific period is terminated and the recipient has been informed in writing at
the time allowance was made that the allowance would automatically terminate at
the end of the specified period;
(9) The department establishes protective or
vendor payments because of money mismanagement;
(10) A change in the level of medical care is
prescribed by the recipient's physician.
(11) The recipient has opted to participate
in grant plus and has agreed to the following:
(A) The payment of the financial assistance
to the employer for the employer's use in paying wages to the recipient;
and
(B) Accept $650 as the full
monthly assistance payment regardless of household size; or
(12) The grant plus recipient is
no longer participating in grant plus and the financial assistance payment is
restored to the standard of assistance for the applicable family
size.
(d) For the
financial assistance programs, timely and adequate notice shall be given when
automatic grant adjustments for classes of recipients are made due to changes
in state or federal law. The notice shall be adequate if it includes a
statement of:
(1) The intended
action;
(2) Reasons for the
intended action;
(3) The specific
change in law requiring the action; and
(4) The circumstances under which a hearing
may be obtained and assistance may be continued.
(e) In situations involving categorical
changes in the financial assistance programs, timely and adequate notice, shall
be required when a transfer is made between a federal and state category such
as AFDC and GA, or between state categories such as GA and state
AABD.
