Ohio Administrative Code
Title 5101:1 - Division of Public Assistance
Chapter 5101:1-2 - Application Process; Verificatio
Section 5101:1-2-20 - Ohio works first, and refugee cash assistance: verification and reporting requirements
Universal Citation: OH Admin Code 5101:1-2-20
Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) What is verification?
(1) "Verification" is a document
or statement from a third party or collateral contact that confirms statements
made by the assistance group regarding need and/or a specific eligibility
factor.
(2) Verification
establishes that the factors of eligibility are met and the assistance group is
eligible to receive benefits under the program. Verification is not an
eligibility requirement in its own right, but a method for assuring that an
eligibility requirement is met.
(3)
A telephone contact may be made by the county agency to secure verification.
Written consent from the assistance group is necessary unless an exception
described in rule
5101:1-1-03 of the
Administrative Code is met. The following information is to
be
included:
(a) The name and telephone number of
the person who gave the information;
(b) The name of the agency or business
contacted, when appropriate;
(c)
The date of the contact; and
(d) An
accurate summary of the information.
(B) What is to be verified?
(1) All eligibility factors
necessary
to establish initial and continuing
eligibility and items subject to change is
to be verified at the time of
application, reapplication and when a change in circumstances occurs in the
assistance group. A change in circumstances includes the discovery of a
discrepancy in income and a change in income amounts.
(2) All income of a member of the assistance
group and any person whose income affects the assistance group
are to
be verified.
(C) What happens when verifications are not received?
(1) It is the assistance group's
responsibility to provide the information necessary to establish
eligibility.
(2) When the
assistance group is aware of the requirements of verification but refuses to
provide both consent and necessary verification, the county agency shall deny
or terminate assistance as eligibility cannot be established.
(3) Assistance will not be
terminated when the assistance group refuses to cooperate in validating past
eligibility because past eligibility has no bearing upon present need and
eligibility.
(4) The assistance
group will
not be compelled to cooperate in giving testimony or records that may prove
guilt of a crime because of protections of the Fifth Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States.
(D) When is verification not necessary?
(1) When
the assistance group's own statement on the application establishes that the
assistance group is ineligible for cash assistance, verification is not
necessary. The county agency is to confirm
the statement on the application to assure it was an accurate statement and not
a mistake in completing the form.
(2) Verification of earned or unearned income
is not necessary when the assistance group either alleges no income or
employment in the current period and there is no reason to question the
statement, or the assistance group reports earnings sufficiently high to make
them clearly ineligible for benefits.
(3) Verification is not
necessary when some other factor of eligibility,
such as age or citizenship, is clearly not met.
(E) What are the county agency's responsibilities?
The county agency is to:
(1)
Explain what verifications and information are necessary to establish
eligibility for cash assistance programs. Explain where and how to obtain
necessary verifications.
(2) Assist in securing all
necessary verifications
to establish eligibility when the assistance group requests such assistance
because of an inability to provide them without the agency's help.
(3) Obtain the verifications when the
assistance group is not financially able or is not competent to secure them.
This is
not to be interpreted as noncooperation, nor
is it
to be used to deny assistance.
(4) The JFS 07341 "Applicant/Recipient
Authorization for Release of Information" is
to be obtained each time
verification of an eligibility factor is necessary.
(a)
Written consent
for verification of
information from public records is not necessary
.
(b) Verification need be obtained only once
when the eligibility factor is not subject to change.
(F) How is verification handled between reapplications?
(1) The county agency
is to
pursue clarification and verification of the assistance group's circumstances
by issuing the JFS 07105
"Verification Request Checklist"
or the Ohio benefits integrated eligibility
system generated equivalent, that clearly advises the assistance group
of the verification it is to provide or the actions it
is to
take to clarify its circumstances.
(a) The JFS
07105 or
the Ohio benefits integrated eligibility
system generated equivalent are
to afford the assistance group
at least ten days to respond and to clarify its circumstances, either by
telephone or by correspondence, as the county agency directs. It
is to
further state the consequences when the assistance group fails to respond to
the county agency.
(b) When the
assistance group does not respond to the county agency, or does respond but
refuses to provide sufficient information to clarify its circumstances, the
county agency is to terminate the cash assistance case.
(c) When the assistance group responds to the
county agency and provides sufficient information, the county agency
is to
act on the new circumstances and adjust the budget accordingly.
(G) What happens when verification is not available or there is a discrepancy?
(1) When verification is not available
through no fault of the assistance group, the determination is based on the
best possible evidence.
(2) Where
information from another source contradicts statements made by the assistance
group, the assistance group is to be afforded a reasonable opportunity to
resolve the discrepancy prior to an eligibility determination.
(3) In situations that there is no available
verification, the county agency is not to deny or
terminate the case but is to accept a signed affidavit, a third-party
statement, notarized statement, or the statement on the application as
verification when the information is consistent with other facts and
statements.
(4) When the statement
provided is incomplete and/or inconsistent and the assistance group is unable
to clarify the statement, the county agency is
to deny or terminate the case as
eligibility cannot be established.
(5) The county agency is to
exhaust all possibilities for verification before accepting these statements.
The use of a statement is to be on a case-by-case basis. This approach
is
not
to be used for the sole purpose of meeting the
promptness requirement of rule
5101:1-2-01 of the
Administrative Code.
(6) Homeless
and migrant assistance groups may have difficulty
accessing
necessary verifications that may exist. In order to
ensure that these assistance groups do not experience a lengthy delay in
receiving Ohio works first (OWF) or refugee cash assistance (RCA) benefits, the
following procedures are to
be followed:
(a) Once the homeless or migrant assistance
group has submitted verification of identity, the county agency
is to
approve the application for assistance when the assistance group appears to
meet eligibility criteria based on statements on the application or a signed
affidavit, and the best evidence available.
(b) The county agency is to
attempt to obtain verification of all other eligibility factors by the next
reapplication. When the verifications cannot be obtained by the next
reapplication, the county agency is to
continue the attempt and document in
the case record.
(7) The
methods used for verification are to
be thoroughly documented in the case
record. All documents submitted to the county agency are to
be
photocopied and retained in the case record.
(H) What are the assistance group's change reporting requirements and the time frames?
(1) The following changes
are to
be reported within ten calendar days of the date that the change occurs for
OWF, or RCA assistance groups:
(a) Change in
the source of earned and unearned income. This includes new employment, loss of
employment, changing of jobs and initial receipt of unearned income;
(b) Change in the amount of gross monthly
income of more than fifty dollars;
(c) Changes in the legal obligation to pay
child support;
(d) Change in the
assistance group composition;
(e)
An assistance group member becomes pregnant, or a pregnancy ends when there are
no other children;
(f) Change in
residence;
(g) Withdrawal from
school for individuals subject to the learning, earning and parenting program
requirements;
(h) Change in
address, job or other information related to an absent parent;
(i) Change in living arrangement for a minor
parent;
(j) An assistance group
member violates a condition of his probation or parole or becomes a fugitive
felon.
(2) The county
agency is to use the time frame provisions described in
paragraph (L) of rule
5101:1-2-01 of the
Administrative Code when calculating the ten day reporting time
period.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Ohio may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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