2145 Documentation of Citizenship -
2145.1- Citizenship Documentation for all Programs Except Medical Assistance - For Food Assistance, United States citizenship shall be documented and verified only when a household's statement concerning a member is questionable. For TANF and Child Care, United States citizenship shall be documented for all individuals for whom assistance is requested when identified as U.S. citizens on their application. For those who are identified as non-citizens on their application, eligibility shall be established based on KEESM 2146. For each TANF individual and each child care child for whom assistance is requested, and for Food Assistance individuals for whom citizenship is questionable, acceptable forms of documentation are:
Birth certificate showing birth
in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico (on
or after 1/31/41), Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands (on or after 1/17/17),
American Samoa, Swain's Island, Panama Canal Zone (from 1904 to 101/1/79),
or the Northern Mariana Islands (with the exception of persons born
to foreign diplomats residing in the U.S.);
This includes report of birth abroad of a U.S. citizen per form FS-240
(issued by the Department of State to U.S. citizens), Certificates
of Birth per form FS-545 (issued by a foreign service post), and Certifications
of Report of Birth per form DS-1350 (copies available from the Department
of State).
Religious records;
Voter registration cards;
Certificates of citizenship or naturalization
provided by BCIS, such as Identification Cards for Use of Resident
Citizens in the U.S. (INS Form I-79 or INS Form I-97);
U.S. passports; and
Receipt of medical assistance if
verification of citizenship was obtained for that household.
If the above forms of documentation cannot be obtained and the individual can provide a reasonable explanation as to why documentation is not available, the agency shall accept a signed statement from someone who is a U.S. citizen which declares, under penalty of perjury, that the person in question is a U.S. citizen.
The signed statement shall contain a warning of the penalties for helping someone commit fraud, such as: "If you intentionally give false information to help this person get assistance, you may be fined, imprisoned, or both."
Delayed Documentation
Citizenship
Questionable - For Food Assistance, the individual whose
citizenship is being questioned shall be ineligible to receive assistance
until proof of U.S. citizenship is obtained. The individual disqualified
pending documentation and verification of questionable citizenship
will have his or her income and all of his or her resources considered
available to any remaining family or household members as set forth
in 4113 and 4212.
Citizenship Not Questionable - Failure to provide documentary evidence of citizenship for Medical (per 2145.2), does not make the individual's U.S. citizenship questionable for food assistance. Therefore, persons shall not be denied or terminated based solely on the failure to provide documentation for other programs. In addition, since the Medical Assistance citizenship requirements are different from TANF, there may be situations of TANF participation without medical benefits.
Citizenship Documentation
Delayed for TANF and Child Care - Individuals whose U.S.
citizenship is not questionable may be allowed a reasonable opportunity
to provide verification of that citizenship . If otherwise eligible,
the application shall be processed and approved granting a reasonable
opportunity period to the individual to provide the verification.
The reasonable opportunity period shall be three calendar months commencing
from the date the case is authorized. If the verification is not received
by the end of the reasonable opportunity period, benefits shall end
allowing for timely and adequate notice. If verification is provided
within the month after the month of case closure, eligibility may
be reinstated without a new application or request. If U.S. citizenship
is questionable, the individual would be ineligible to receive assistance
until proof of U.S. citizenship is provided. Note: The reasonable
opportunity period may be extended in situations where the individual
is making a bona fide effort to obtain the verification, but circumstances
outside his/her control are delaying the effort. A decision to extend
the period must be thoroughly documented and supported in the case
file.
2145.2 Citizenship Documentation For Medical Assistance - Documentation of U.S. citizenship is required for each person requesting medical coverage who claims to be a U.S. citizen. This requirement does not apply to the following individuals:
Current or former SSI recipients
Current or former Medicare
beneficiaries
Current or former recipients of Social Security Disability benefits
Children in foster care or recipients of foster care maintenance
Children who are recipients of adoption support payments
All documents used to verify citizenship must be retained in the case
file indefinitely per KEESM 1711 (9).
For persons exempt from the requirement due to SSI or Medicare status,
verification of such status is required.
Acceptable documents and the hierarchical protocol for obtaining acceptable
documents are described in Appendix Item A-12.
When obtaining documents the following applies:
Primary
Document - A document that verifies both citizenship and
identity (as described in 1322.1(5))
and is further defined in Appendix
Item A-12. The availability of a Primary Document shall be explored
prior to using a secondary or other citizenship document. Persons
born outside of the United States who were not citizens at birth per
2141.1 must submit a Primary Document.
Secondary
Citizenship Documents - A document verifying citizenship
only. The statement of the applicant/recipient that a Primary Document
is not available is sufficient to seek a secondary or other document.
However, if a primary document is not used, two different documents
must be used to establish citizenship and identity.
Third
and Fourth Level Citizenship
Documents - These may only be used if primary or secondary
documents are not available. These documents must show a place of
birth and it must match the place of birth reported by the applicant/recipient.
A second document verifying identity is also needed.
If a second, third or fourth level document is received; this is accepted
as a statement from the client that no other primary documents were
available.
Written
Declaration - A written declaration may be used as verification
of citizenship if no other documents are available. The EES Program
Administrator, KanCare Clearinghouse Manager, or designee, must approve
the declaration in order for it to be considered acceptable verification.
A declaration must be provided by at least two separate individuals,
one of whom is not related to the individual, who have personal knowledge
of the event(s) establishing the claim of citizenship. Appendix
Item P-8, Third Party Declaration of Citizenship, is used for this
purpose. The person(s) making the declaration must:
provide proof of his/her own
citizenship and identity, and
provide information why
documentary evidence establishing the individual’s claim of citizenship
does not exist or cannot be readily obtained as part of the declaration,
and
sign the declaration under penalty
of perjury in the presence of a witness.
When a declaration is
used to document citizenship, the original must be retained in the
case file indefinitely.
2145.3 Documentation for Citizens at Birth -
For
Food Assistance Only - For program processing purposes, no
additional documentation will generally be required when a child is
conferred citizenship under 2141.1.
A declaration made by the person signing the application that household
members are citizens is acceptable, and that same process is applicable
regardless of how citizenship was attained. Because these children
are now legal citizens, this same declaration procedure will apply
to these children. A request to add a child newly conferred citizenship
to an ongoing case may also be made without additional verification
in most cases. If previous documentation of alienage status conflicts
with the current statement, a written statement from the client specifying
the date the child became a citizen will generally be sufficient to
document citizenship. The prudent person and simplified eligibility
verification requirements outlined in KEESM 1300
are also to be followed.
For
Medical Assistance - For most foreign born individuals attesting
to be U.S. citizens, primary documentation as established in 2145.2
is necessary. However, secondary or subsequent documents may be used
to verify citizenship and identity for persons considered citizens
at birth.
For TANF and Child Care – For most foreign born individuals attesting
to be U.S. Citizens, documentation as established in 2145.1
is necessary.
2145.4 Reasonable
Opportunity to Provide Documentation (Medical Assistance Only) –
The following provisions apply when an applicant or recipient declares
U.S. citizenship, but is unable to provide verification.
The agency may not request verification of citizenship and identity from
the applicant or recipient if that information is available through an
available resource. The agency shall make every effort to verify citizenship
and identity through those resources. The following automated and manual
verification resources shall be utilized:
Tier 1 – The Federal Data Services Hub. The Hub accesses the Social Security Administration (SSA) database in real-time to verify citizenship and identity status.
The Electronic Access to Social Security (EATSS) database. If the Hub is not available, EATSS may be accessed to verify citizenship and identity status for those individuals who are current or former recipients of SSI, Medicare or Social Security disability benefits (2145.2). EATSS may not be used to verify citizenship or identity of individuals who do not meet that criteria.
Tier 2 – The Electronic Verification of Vital Events (EVVE) database. The EVVE interface provides access to birth records for individuals born in Kansas (and 48 other states and territories) to verify citizenship only. The Kansas Immunization Register (KSWebIZ) database. The KSWebIZ interface is a statewide database that includes immunization records for all Kansas residents that may be used to verify identity only for children. The Department of Revenue (Driver’s License) database. The Driver’s License interface may be accessed to verify identity only of an individual with a valid Kansas license.
Tier 3 – Research by the agency. If the agency has been unable to verify citizenship and identity through the available automated and manual interfaces, staff shall review the case file and imaged documents to determine whether a hard copy verification has already been provided.
Tier 4 – Contact with the applicant or recipient. If the agency is unable to verify citizenship and identity via any of the means above, verification shall initially be waived and a reasonable opportunity period applied as described below. The individual shall be contacted to provide verification and notified of the reasonable opportunity period.
An application shall not be delayed or denied because the agency was unable to verify citizenship or identity. If otherwise eligible, the application shall be processed and approved granting a reasonable opportunity period to the individual to provide the verification. The reasonable opportunity period shall be three (3) calendar months commencing from the date the case is authorized. If the individual fails to provide verification (or the agency is unable to independently verify) by the end of the reasonable opportunity period, coverage shall end allowing for timely notification. If verification is provided within the month after the month coverage ends, eligibility may be reinstated without a new application/request. The following examples illustrate:
Example 1: The agency is unable to verify citizenship or identity for an applicant for medical assistance. Since the individual is otherwise eligible, assistance is approved on 03/11/2014 with notification that verification must be provided by 06/11/2014. Verification is provided within the reasonable opportunity period on 04/23/2014. Eligibility continues without interruption.
If the individual failed to provide verification (and the agency was unable to independently verify) by 06/11/2014, coverage would end effective 06/30/2014 (assuming action was taken by timely notice deadline).
Example 2: The agency is unable to verify citizenship or identity for an applicant for medical assistance. Since the individual is otherwise eligible, assistance is approved on 02/27/2014 with notification that verification must be provided by 05/27/2014. The recipient fails to provide verification within the reasonable opportunity period. Coverage ends effective 06/30/2014.
If the individual provides verification by 07/31/2014 (the month after the month coverage ends), eligibility may be reinstated without a new application/request for assistance. If verification is provided after 07/31/2014, a new application/request is required.
Note: The reasonable opportunity period may be extended
in situations where the individual is making a bona fide effort to obtain
the verification but circumstances outside his/her control are delaying
the effort. A decision to extend the period must be thoroughly documented
and supported in the case file.