Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services
Janet Schalansky, Secretary

Integrated Service Delivery - Candy Shively, Deputy Secretary (785) 296-3271
Economic and Employment Support - Bobbi Mariani, Director (785) 296-3349

MEMORANDUM

This memo provides implementation instructions and information for the implementation of the exemption of certain counties from the able bodied adults without dependents (ABAWD) provisions of KEESM 2520. See KEESM Revision 19, Summary of Change, item IV, A. This Implementation Memo applies to all staff, not just those in the exempt counties. In particular, staff in the non-exempt counties need to review the section on inter-county transfers.

Effective with this revision, residents of the following 22 counties are exempt from the ABAWD policies of 2520, specifically the three month time limit:

Allen, Anderson, Atchison, Bourbon, Brown, Cherokee, Coffey, Doniphan, Finney, Geary, Jackson, Jefferson, Kearney, Labette, Leavenworth, Linn, Montgomery, Neosho, Shawnee, Sumner, Woodson, Wyandotte.

IMPLEMENTATION INFORMATION

• Exemption from ABAWD Status

  Exemption from the ABAWD provisions applies to the person’s county of residence.

• Persons Currently Considered an ABAWD in Exempt Counties

  Persons currently considered an ABAWD in the exempt counties are not to be closed or removed from an active FS case due to the three month time limit effective June 30, 2004 or after. Cases copied forward to a future month and closed must be identified and the closure removed.

  If the case accidentally closes, it shall be reinstated without requiring a new application and given a review period within the review period limitation of 12 months. The original review period of 6 months can be extended to 12, but be sure to set an IR due date if more than 6 months will be left in the review period. Please note that extending the review period to 12 months only applies to cases that are closed in error. Other ongoing cases shall retain the original 6 month review period. A review period of 12 months (with IR due) can be set when the case comes due for review.

  Example: Single person ABAWD case in an exempt county closes by mistake July 31. The consumer calls in August about no benefits and the case is reinstated. The original review period was April 1 - September 30. When the case is reinstated, the review period can be lengthened to March 31, 2005. Since there will be more than 6 months left in the review period, an IR due date is set for 9/04.

• Application and Review Processing in the Exempt Counties

  In the exempt counties, applications and reviews processed that contain persons who would otherwise be an ABAWD, can be certified for 12 months instead of the maximum of 6 for a case containing an ABAWD. These cases will now be required to complete an IR, so an IR due date will need to be set.

• Intercounty Transfers

  If a person who would otherwise be an ABAWD in an exempt county moves to a county that is NOT exempt from the ABAWD provisions, the provisions will apply in the receiving county effective with the month following the month the case is received. If the customer has already received their three ABAWD months in the time period of 1/1/03 to 6/30/04, they will not be eligible for benefits in the non-exempt county. If it is determined that the customer has not already received their 3 ABAWD months, the notice F845 - FS Important Information - ABAWD, must be sent to the customer to notify he/she of the 3 month eligibility time limit in the new county. This notice must meet adequate notice requirements. The month the case is received in the new county shall not be considered an ABAWD month.

  The ICT checklist will be revised with the October revision. Until the form can be revised, staff need to add an item under the Receiving Counties Checklist. Add
  ”Check ABAWD Status”. The receiving county is expected to check and determine if the person is moving from an exempt county and if the person is eligible for three months in the new county of residence.

• Closed Cases and Persons DI on Active FS Cases
  
  A case file search of recently closed ABAWD cases in the exempt counties is not required.

  However, a case file search of ABAWDs coded DI on active food stamp cases in the newly exempt counties will be required. Affected persons must be reviewed and if eligible, coded IN on the active food stamp case. A printout of all persons coded DI in the exempt counties will be provided on or around June 21,2004. The determinations of eligibility should be made within 60 days of July 1, with restored benefits as appropriate provided back to July 1, 2004.

• KAECSES Coding Issues in the Exempt Counties
  
  JOPR: Persons who would otherwise be an ABAWD shall be coded as mandatory (MD) on JOPR. This will apply to new applications and reviews as they are processed. Existing cases shall be changed at the time of the next review.

  PRAP: Persons in the exempt counties who would otherwise be an ABAWD shall be coded on PRAP with the person alert of ?A. This coding means the person resides in a county that is exempt from the ABAWD provisions (and would be an ABAWD otherwise.) Use of this coding is important for identifying persons that might be subject to the ABAWD provisions should they move to a county that is not exempt from the ABAWD provisions. The current PRAP code of AB means the persons is an ABAWD in a non-exempt county. AB codes on persons in the newly exempted counties can be changed at the time of the next review or when a previously set 3 month alert is generated.

• KAECSES Code Cards

  The following pen and ink revision is needed to the KAECSES code cards:

  Page 23, PRAP: Add the code of “?A” after “?!”. Add the description “ Person resides in exempt ABAWD county”. The type is “B”.

Please direct any questions to Pam Jacob at pjj@srskansas.org or 785-296-5416.

BM:PJ:jmm