Alabama Administrative Code Chapter 660-4-3 — Issuance

660 Alabama Department of Human Resources

Ala. Admin. Code r. 660-4-3-.01 General

Food Assistance issuance activity is contracted. All benefits are to be issued by the contractor in accordance with Federal issuance guidelines. EBT cards are mailed to the households when initially certified and benefits are issued according to an issuance schedule based on the last two digits of the Food Assistance case number. Federal regulations contained in 7 C.F.R. 274.1 through 274.11 are administered by the Department of Human Resources, Food Assistance Division. The Department has adopted the following options and waivers:

• Retailer Participation - Charges to Retailers/Reinstallation Fees, 7 CFR 274.3(a)(2): Waiver to allow the State to support a "Rights Upon Termination" clause in the retailer agreement that allows the Contractor to charge retailers a fee to re-install a POS device that was originally installed at government expense, if removal was due to FNS disqualification as an authorized retailer and the retailer is again authorized. The cost for reinstallation must be clearly specified in the retailer agreement and training material.

• Performance and Technical Standards - PIN Selection via Automated Response Unit (ARU), 7 CFR 274.8(b)(3)(ii)(C): Waiver to allow PIN selection to be handled through the ARU or SIVR/Help Desk.

• Retailer Adjustment - No Hold/15 Calendar Day Debit, 7CFR 274.2(g)(2)(ii): Waiver allowing implementation of an EBT adjustment system which does not place a hold on a household's account for the amount of the debit. Also allows states to act on the debit adjustment within 15 calendar days rather than 10 business days.

• Expunge Benefits for Deceased Single Person Households, 7 CFR 274.2(h)(2): Waiver to immediately expunge benefits for single-person households that are deceased. When an official notice of death has been received, the State will immediately expunge the remaining benefits from the EBT account.

History

• Author: Julia Thomas
• Authority: Food Stamp Act of 1977, 7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq; Code of Ala. 1975, §38-2-6(17); 7 C.F.R. Subtitle B, Chapter II Subchapter C Section 274.2(a)(2) and (3), 274.2(c)(2) and (3).
• Effective June 28, 1983. Amendment effective October 9, 1984. Succedent emergency amendment effective October 2, 1986. Succedent permanent amendment effective January 30, 1987. Succedent repealer effective March 20, 1990. Emergency new rule effective March 20, 1990 (formerly Rule No. 660-4-3-.02). Permanent adoption effective June 11, 1990. Repealed and Replaced: Filed November 1, 1995; effective December 6, 1995. Amended: Filed October 4, 1996; effective November 8, 1996. Amended: Filed October 9, 2018; effective November 23, 2018.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 660-4-3-.02 Providing Benefits To Participants

Benefits are provided in a timely manner following federally mandated guidelines. The Department has adopted the following options and waivers.

(1) OPTIONS:

(a) Providing Benefits to Newly Certified Households: Households which apply for benefits after the fifteenth of the month, fulfill all requirements, and are determined to be eligible for both the month of application and the next subsequent month will receive both allotments in one combined allotment within the appropriate timeliness standards.

(b) Providing Benefits to Ongoing Households: When transferring a household from one issuance procedure to another,provisions are made which would result in no more than 40 days elapsing between issuance of benefits.

History

• Author: Julia Thomas
• Authority: Food Stamp Act of 1977, 7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq; Code of Ala. 1975, §38-2-6(17); 7 C.F.R. Subtitle B, Chapter II Subchapter C Section 274.2(b)(2) and (3), 274.2(c)(2) and (3).
• Effective June 28, 1983. Amendment effective October 9, 1984. Succedent emergency amendment effective October 2, 1986. Succedent permanent amendment effective January 30, 987. Succedent repealer effective March 20, 1990. Emergency new rule effective March 20, 1990 (formerly Rule No. 660-4-3-.02). Permanent adoption effective June 11, 1990. Repealed and Replaced: Filed November 1, 1995; effective December 6, 1995. Amended: Filed October 4, 1996; effective November 8, 1996. Amended: Filed October 9, 2018; effective November 23, 2018.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 660-4-3-.03 Issuance System

Benefits are issued through an EBT card. Each household is issued an EBT card following the initial certification of the household. The EBT cards are mailed to the household. The Department has adopted the following options and waivers.

(1) The Contractor shall receive and process Benefit Authorization records transmitted by the State. Benefit only records shall be transmitted by batch with the exception of benefits added through the Administrative Terminal for those accounts established for the purpose of fraud investigation. The Contractor must process Benefit Authorizations and post the authorized benefit amounts to the appropriate EBT accounts, based on the unique EBT Account Number, benefit type, case number, and unique authorization number generated by the State for each benefit authorization.

History

• Author: Julia Thomas
• Authority: Food Stamp Act of 1977 7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq, Code of Ala. 1975, §38-2-6(17); 44 U.S.C. 1510; 7 C.F.R. Subtitle B, Chapter II Subchapter C Section 274.3(a).
• Effective June 28, 1983. Amendment effective October 9, 1985. Emergency amendment effective October 2, 1986. Permanent amendment effective January 30, 1987. Succedent emergency repealer effective March 20, 1990. Emergency new rule effective March 20, 1990 (formerly Rule No. 660-4-3-.03). Permanent adoption effective June 11, 1990. Repealed and Replaced: Filed November 1, 1995; effective December 6, 1995. Amended: Filed October 4, 1996; effective November 8, 1996. Amended: Filed October 9, 2018; effective November 23, 2018.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 660-4-3-.04 Reconciliation And Reporting

All issuance is accounted for through a reconciliation process. The manner in which this is done corresponds to the type of issuance system used. The Department has adopted the following options and waivers.

As SNAP benefits are authorized by eligibility systems (SCI-II and FACETS), reports are generated that provide the details of the benefits being authorized. The benefits for the two authorization systems are passed through the Alabama EBT Interface System to ensure that an EBT account exists for the client. The Alabama EBT Interface System transmits the benefit files to the EBT Contractor. The State uses the Benefit Batch Posting Reports produced by the current EBT Contractor to ensure that all benefits passed to the EBT System have been posted or otherwise accounted for. The State tracks the availability of future date benefits by using the warehouse totals on Account Management Agent (AMA) to reconcile the monthly postings.

The State receives a Settlement Clearing Statement from the Contractor to determine the amount of funds to settle on a daily basis. State law requires that all Federal funds that the State is disbursing go through the State Treasury. Consequently, as funds are required for settlement, the State performs the draw down for Food Assistance benefits using the Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP). The current process used by the State allows funds to be moved to the Contractor's clearing account on the same day as the Settlement Clearing Statement is received.

History

• Author: Julia Thomas
• Authority: Food Stamp Act of 1977 7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq; Code of Ala. 1975, §38-2-6(17); 7 C.F.R. Subtitle B, Chapter II Subchapter C Section 274.4(a).
• Effective June 28, 1983. Emergency amendment effective October 2, 1986. Permanent amendment effective January 30, 1987. Succedent emergency repealer effective March 20, 1990. Emergency new rule effective March 20, 1990 (formerly Rule No. 660-4-3-.04). Permanent adoption effective June 11, 1990. Repealed and Replaced: Filed November 1, 1995; effective December 6, 1995. Amended: Filed October 4, 1996; effective November 8, 1996. Amended: Filed October 9, 2018; effective November 23, 2018.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 660-4-3-.05 Replacement Issuance To Households

Benefits are replaced when a household provides acceptable proof that benefits which were received or the food purchased with such benefits have been destroyed or when benefits which were mailed were not received. The Department has adopted the following options and waivers.

(1) OPTIONS:

(a) Replacement Restrictions: Replacements made only if the household makes a timely report of a loss. In mail issuance which is made after the 15th of the month, the report must be made by the end of the following month.

History

• Author: Linda Stephens
• Authority: Food Stamp Act of 1977, 7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq; Code of Ala. 1975, §38-2-6(17); 7 C.F.R. Subtitle B, Chapter II Subchapter C Section 274.6(b)(1).
• Effective June 28, 1983. Emergency amendment effective October 2, 1986. Permanent amendment effective January 30, 1987. Succedent emergency repealer effective March 20, 1990. Emergency new rule effective March 20, 1990 (formerly Rule No. 660-4-3-.05). Permanent adoption effective June 11, 1990. Repealed and Replaced: Filed November 1, 1995; effective December 6, 1995. Amended: Filed October 4, 1996; effective November 8, 1996.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 660-4-3-.06 Coupon Management (Repealed 11/23/18)

(REPEALED)

History

• Author: Julia Thomas
• Authority: Food Stamp Act of 1977, 7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq; Code of Ala. 1975, §38-2-6(17); 7 C.F.R. Subtitle B, Chapter II Subchapter C Section 274.7(f).
• Effective June 28, 1983. Succedent emergency repealer effective March 20, 1990. Emergency new rule effective March 20, 1990 (formerly Rule No. 660-4-3-.06). Permanent adoption effective June 11, 1990. Repealed and Replaced: Filed November 1, 1995; effective December 6, 1995. Amended: Filed October 4, 1996; effective November 8, 1996. Repealed: Filed October 9, 2018; effective November 23, 2018.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 660-4-3-A Appendix A

APPENDIX A

FORMS

History

• Author: Julia Thomas
• Authority: Food Stamp Act of 1977, 7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq; Code of Ala. 1975, §38-2-6(17); 7 C.F.R. Subtitle B, Chapter II Subchapter C Section 274.7(f).
• New Rule: Filed October 9, 2018; effective November 23, 2018.