Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) The county or municipal agency shall provide
adequate notice to an applicant for or recipient of WFNJ benefits of any action to be taken that affects the
applicant's or recipient's benefits.
1. An adequate notice is a written or
computer generated notice that includes the following:
i. The action the
county or municipal agency intends to take;
ii. The reasons for
the intended action;
iii. The specific regulations supporting the
intended action;
iv. An explanation of the individual's right to
request a fair hearing;
v. An explanation of the circumstances
under which assistance is continued if a hearing is requested;
vi. An explanation of the requirement to repay assistance received during
the period pending the hearing, if the action is upheld;
vii. If
the English version of the notice is not available in Spanish, the notice shall contain a sentence in Spanish
cautioning the individual that the notice relates to a change in his or her grant and if he or she does not
understand the notice, he or she should contact the county or municipal agency; and
viii. The name, address and phone number of the legal services office,
where available.
(b) An adverse action is
an action to deny an application for assistance, or to terminate, suspend or reduce assistance (including
service payments or Medicaid entitlement) or to change the manner or form of payment to a protective, vendor
or two-party payment. When the county or municipal agency intends to take an adverse action, it shall give
both timely and adequate notice to the recipient.
1. A timely notice is a
notice that is mailed to the recipient at least 10 calendar days before the effective date of the
action.
(c) When a county or municipal agency decision
results in an adverse action to a recipient, there will be no change in the amount of benefits until 10
calendar days after the mailing date of the notice, unless assistance had been granted based on immediate
need.
(d) Timely notice may be dispensed with, but adequate
notice shall be sent not later than the effective date of the action when:
1. The county or municipal agency has information confirming the death of a
recipient or of the payee when there is no relative to serve as the new payee;
2. The county or municipal agency receives a clear written statement signed
by a recipient that he or she no longer wishes to receive assistance, or that provides information which
requires termination or reduction of assistance. In such instances, the recipient must indicate, in writing,
that he or she understands that supplying such information will result in a reduction or loss of
assistance;
3. The payee has been admitted or committed to an
institution, and payments to that individual are no longer permitted under State law;
4. The recipient has been placed in a long term care or intermediate care
facility, or is hospitalized;
5. The recipient's whereabouts are
unknown and the county or municipal agency mail directed to him or her has been returned by the postal
service indicating no known forwarding address. The recipient's benefit must, however, be made available to
him or her if his or her whereabouts become known during the payment period of issuance covered by the
returned check, unless (d)5i below applies.
i. The recipient moves
out-of-State, with apparent intent to remain permanently absent from New Jersey;
6. A recipient has been accepted for assistance in another state and that
fact has been established by the county or municipal agency previously providing assistance;
7. An eligible child is removed from the home as a result of a judicial
determination, an intervention by the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, or is voluntarily placed
outside of the home by his or her legal guardian;
8. An
additional payment or special allowance granted for a specific period is terminated and the recipient has
been informed in writing at the time of initiation that the allowance shall automatically terminate at the
end of the specified period, including such payments as directed by a final hearing decision;
9. A recipient has incurred a WFNJ sanction and the sanction is progressing
to the next month within the three-month sanction period (whether pro-rata to suspension, or suspension to
case closure) based on continued refusal to comply;
10.
Assistance is reinstated in the corrected amount following suspension;
11. An application for assistance is being denied and no assistance payment
has been issued, or assistance had been granted based on immediate need;
12. Assistance is terminated due to an individual's receipt of SSI, RSDI or
unemployment benefits; or
13. The WFNJ/GA recipient is confined
to jail for a period in excess of seven calendar days.
