New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 8 - SOCIAL SERVICES
Chapter 139 - FOOD STAMP PROGRAM
Part 110 - GENERAL ADMINISTRATION - APPLICATION PROCESSING
Section 8.139.110.16 - EXPEDITED SNAP SERVICE

(1) Entitlement to expedited service: The following households will be expedited, provided that they are otherwise SNAP eligible:

(2) Verification requirements: All households entitled to expedited service must verify identity through readily available documentation or through a collateral contact. All other eligibility factors may be postponed. Reasonable efforts must be made by ISD to verify residence, income, liquid resources, and all other eligibility factors. Benefits will not be delayed because of an inability to verify such factors or any questionable information but for identity.

(3) SSNs and work registration: Applicant households are specifically permitted to receive their first expedited SNAP benefit amount before providing social security numbers (SSN) or applying for them. Such households are required to do so before their next benefit issuance but will remain eligible for participation as long as good cause exists. Unless exempt, the household's work registration status will be established at the time of certification for expedited service. If an individual's work registration exemption status is in question, benefits will not be delayed solely to verify the exemption.

(1) Expedited time limits: All households entitled to expedited service will receive their benefits no later than the seventh calendar day after the date the application is received by ISD.

(2) Out-of-office interview: If a household is entitled to expedited service and waiver of the office interview, the interview will be conducted and the eligibility determination completed within the expedited service time limits, unless the household cannot be reached. The first day of this count is the first calendar day after the application is filed. If a telephone interview is conducted and the application must be mailed to the household for signature, the mailing time involved will not be calculated in the expedited service time limits.

(3) Late identification: If screening fails to identify a household as being entitled to expedited service and it is subsequently determined that the household was so entitled, the household's application will be processed immediately; the time limits in such instances are calculated from the date that it is discovered that the household was entitled to expedited service.

(4) Certification periods: Households entitled to expedited service which provide all necessary verification prior to certification may be assigned a certification period in accordance with 8.139.120.9 NMAC. Households whose verification requirements are outstanding due to an inability to verify via electronic means and the household not providing necessary documentation, will be certified for the month of application, and the following month, or for households whose circumstances warrant, an assigned certification period in accordance with 8.139.120.9 NMAC. When a certification period of more than one month is assigned, the written notification to the household will state that no further benefits will be issued until the verification requirement is completed. The notice also advises that if verification results in changes in eligibility or SNAP benefit amount, ISD will act on these changes without advance notice of adverse action.

(5) Continuation of benefits: Households providing verification by the 30th day after the application date will have their benefits continued. The second month's benefits will be issued within five working days from the date verification is received, or the first day of the second month, whichever is later.

(6) Termination of benefits: Except for migrant farm workers needing out-of-state verification, when the verification requirement is not completed within 30 days of the date of application, the household's participation in the program will be terminated and no further benefits issued.

(7) Denial of expedited service: Households determined ineligible for expedited service will have their applications processed according to normal standards. A household wishing to contest a denial of expedited service will be offered an agency conference to discuss the denial. The conference will be scheduled within two working days of the request for a conference, unless the household requests a later date or states that it no longer wishes to have an agency conference.

(1) Limits: There is no limit to the number of times a household can be certified under expedited procedures, as long as prior to each expedited certification the household either has completed the verification requirements outstanding from the last expedited certification or has been certified under normal processing standards since the last expedited certification.

(2) At every application: Expedited services will be available at initial application based on the circumstances existing in the month of application. If a participating household applies for recertification before the end of its current certification period, the expedited service provision will not be applied.