Summary of Changes KEESM Revision 32 effective July 1, 2007

STATE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL September 20, 2007
REHABILITATION SERVICES
Integrated Services Delivery
Docking State Office Building
Room 681 - West
Topeka, Kansas 66612

TO:	Area Directors Economic and Employment Support Chiefs Economic and Employment Support Staff KHPA Staff, including the HealthWave Clearinghouse Social Service Chiefs Other Staff
Re:	Summary of Changes for Kansas Economic and Employment Support Manual (KEESM) Revision No. 33 effective October 1, 2007.

PURPOSE, BACKGROUND, and REASON FOR CHANGE

The purpose of this document is to transmit Revision No. 33 of the Kansas Economic and Employment Support Manual effective October 1, 2007.

Adult Protective Services - This revision contains changes to the language for consistency changing “alleged victim” to “involved adult”, and clarifications on procedures for consistency across the regions.

Child Care -

This revision introduces a child care check list designed as a desk aid to assist with identifying all steps needed to complete processing of a child care case.

A clarification to child care assistance planning policy is also being included in this revision.

Since the agency has not used a child care waiting list for a number of years, and does not plan to do so, information about establishing a child care waiting list has been removed and replaced with priorities for child care services. This does not reflect a change in policy.

Food Assistance - This revision incorporates the annual adjustments to the Food Stamp Program that are effective October 1 of each year. Increasing are: the standard deduction amounts, the excess shelter deduction; the gross and net income limits; and the maximum allotment amounts. Also changing this year are the Standard Utility Allowance, the Limited Utility Allowance and the Telephone Allowance. These changes were processed with rollover in August, effective October 1, 2007. Further information about these changes was provided prior to rollover in August.

Several other technical corrections and clarifications applicable to food stamp policy are also being included in this revision.

Kansas Early Head Start - The 2007 Kansas Legislature approved funding for the expansion of Kansas Early Head Start (KEHS). KEHS is a state administered grant program now available to 15 agencies in 48 counties. This revision provides updated information about this program.

Successful Families - This revision incorporates wording from the 2008 Kansas Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence (KCSDV) contract into the Orientation, Assessment, Referral, Safety (OARS) manual material. EES has worked with KCSDV on this manual material and believes this revision will help staff understand their roles in working with mutual OARS customers.

TAF Assistance - Minor clarifications and corrections are being made to section 4113, but no policy changes have been made for this revision.

MULTIPLE PROGRAMS
1. CHANGES
  
  None
2. CLARIFICATIONS
  1. Disqualification Penalties - A note is being added to Section 11221 to clarify that ineligibility for 10 years for having made a fraudulent statement or representation with respect to the identity or place of residence in order to receive multiple benefits, is counted when determining if the individual’s fraud violation is the first, second or third. For example, an individual served his/her first disqualification for 12 months from 7/1/2003 through 6/30/2004. The individual is next found ineligible for 10 years per the provisions of 11221(3). This is the household’s second finding of fraud. A third finding of fraud will result in permanent disqualification from the applicable program. This is a USDA clarification that is being applied to all programs (except child care and medical) for consistency purposes.
ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES
1. CHANGES
  1. Critical Incident Notification - Section 12132 is being modified to include a form for reporting critical incidents and changed to reflect appropriate regional notification and specified the time frame to be 24 hours.
  2. Screening Reports - Section 12210 regarding evaluation of the referral to determine services is being deleted due to the PRCs handling intake and screening.
  3. Imminent Danger - Section 12220 (1) regarding response time is being changed to include a definition for what constitutes imminent danger. The examples (a-e) are being deleted due to definition being given.
  4. Authorized Collateral - Section 12221 regarding reasonable efforts to determine safety is being changed to include a Director of Nursing or facility administrator for allegations invMarch 23, 2010 4:30 PM>
  5. SRS Licensed Facility or Agency based Investigations - Section 12320 is being changed to reflect accurate language regarding licensure. Community Developmental Disability Organizations (CDDOs) is being deleted as they are contracted not licensed, and Adult Family Home (AFH) is being deleted as it was not current language. Community Service Provider is being added as they are licensed by Health Care Policy.
  6. Courtesy Investigations and Interviews - Section 12370 regarding courtesy investigations and interviews is being changed to separate requests for courtesy interviews which may be done from Supervisor to Supervisor. Requests for courtesy investigations need to be handled in consultation with the Program Administrator. 12370 (3) is being deleted and included in (1).
  7. Case Decisions - In sections 12420 and 12430 “Case Decision” is being deleted for consistency in language regarding findings.
  8. Notice of Agency Decision (ES - 1008) - In sections 12420 (2) and 12430 (1), the time for sending notice of agency decision to the alleged perpetrator is being increased from 3 days to 5 days.
  9. APS database - In section 12430 (5), data entry into the APS database is being changed from 5 days to 10 days and (b) is being deleted due to a change made in the functionality of the APS database. This change is also effective in section 12441(f).
  10. Memo Notification to Facility (ES-1016) - Section 12430 (2) is being changed and the first sentence right after the heading is being deleted as (a) provides the instruction on what needs to be sent. Also, in sections 12420 (5)(a) and 12430 (2)(a), the time for notification is changing from 3 days to 5 days.
  11. Criteria to Determine CAP - Section 12441 regarding criteria for creating a Corrective Action Plan (CAP), (7) is being deleted as a possible reason for consideration because it is an invalid statement.
  12. Agency Response to Request for Fair Hearing - Section 12521 regarding confirmed findings and hearing requests, is being changed to include the APS Program Manager in receiving notification for placement on the registry.
  13. Expungement of Central Registry Records - Section 12523 regarding requests for expungement information, is being changed to include a process for staff when an expungement request has been received.
  14. Provision of Necessary Protective Services - Section 12610 regarding service plan creation is being modified to state that a service plan shall be used for all involved adults who accept services, not just those confirmed of self neglect.
2. CLARIFICATIONS
  1. Involved adult - “Involved adult” will replace “alleged victim” throughout Section 12000.
  2. Protection Report Centers (PRC) - Sections 12200 and 12210 are being modified to include the PRC in the intake and screening process.
  3. Quality Enhancement Coordinator (QEC) - QEC is being replaced with Performance Improvement Regional field staff (PI field staff) to reflect the change in Health Care Policy
  4. Facilities or agencies - Section 12360 regarding joint investigations is being modified to include language regarding facility or agency investigation.
  5. Providing Services - In section 12600, clarification is being provided indicating services may occur at the start of, or throughout an investigation.
CHILD CARE
1. CHANGES
  1. EM (Non-TAF) Child Care - Section 2835, item (3) is being revised to reflect the current name of what used to be the KBOR Waiver Program. It is now the Kansas Foster Child Educational Assistance Act or Foster Care Tuition Waiver Program. For clarification purposes, it is also being noted that education funded by the WIA program also qualifies to allow the employment criteria to be waived.
  2. Priorities for Child Care Services - KEESM 2840 is being revised to remove information about establishing a child care waiting list, and to replace it with priorities for child care services. The section is being re-titled to reflect this change.
2. CLARIFICATIONS
  1. Included Individuals - Section 4410 is being modified to clarify that all children for whom an adult on the case is the primary caretaker are to be included in the assistance plan (with the exception of foster children for whom the foster care contractor is providing child care). For example, if a household consists of a mother and her two children, ages 3 and 5, as well as a 16 year old niece, all three children would be included in the child care assistance plan, even though child care is not being requested for the 16 year old.
FOOD ASSISTANCE
1. CHANGES
  1. Work Related Exemptions - A change is being made to food stamp work related exemptions for a person who is age 17 or younger or who is age 18 and working toward attainment of a high school diploma or its equivalent. The policy states the exemption does not apply to a person who is pregnant or a parent of a child in the home when the person does not possess a high school diploma or its equivalent. With this manual revision, the exception noted above will only apply to the TAF program. Section 3210 (1) is being modified to reflect this change.
  2. Annual Adjustments to the Food Stamp Program Standards - Effective October 1, 2007, the following appendices are being updated to incorporate the annual federal adjustments to the FSP that increases the standard deduction, excess shelter deduction, and gross and net income limits:
    
    Item F-2, Food Stamp Program Standards;
    Item F-3, Food Stamp Program Benefit Tables; and
    Item F-11, 130% Income Reporting Chart for Simplified Reporters.
    
    (The changes to item F-11 result from the increase in the Gross income limit.)
  3. Standard Deduction - Section 7222 is being modified to increase the standard deduction amounts. The new amounts effective 10-01-07 are:
    
    Household size 1-3 = $134 (No Change)
    Household size 4 = $143
    Household size 5 = $167
    Household size 6 or more = $191
  4. Shelter Costs - Section 7226 is being modified to increase the excess shelter deduction to $431.
  5. Utilities - Section 7226.3 is being modified to include the following increases:
    
    Standard Utility Allowance from $282 to $334
    Limited Utility Allowance from $168 to $215
    Telephone Standard from $31 to $35
    
    These amounts were entered into the KAECSES-AE system prior to rollover in August 2007 and were processed automatically with rollover. Further information about the implementation of the annual adjustments was provided separately.
2. CLARIFICATIONS
  1. Excluded Household Members - Section 4212.2 is being modified to clarify that persons who are closed for failure to cooperate with Quality Assurance per 2123 shall be considered excluded household members (SEPA code DI) should they enter another household that is receiving or wanting to apply for food stamps. An example is included in the manual.
    
    In addition a note is being added to clarify that a household loses its “special” status per 7420, if the excluded (or disqualified) individual is the only member of the household that is elderly or disabled. This same note is added to 4212.3, Disqualified Household Members.
    
    7420 is being modified to clarify that special status means the household contains a member that is elderly or disabled and entitled to the medical expense deduction and the uncapped excess shelter deduction. In addition, the gross income limit does not apply to special households.
  2. Veteran’s Educational Income - The manual is being revised to clarify the treatment of Veteran’s Education Income by including a note in item 6410(18) that explains that Veteran’s Educational income includes GI Bill; vocational rehabilitation payments for service related disabilities (Chapter 31); and education payments to children (18-26) and spouses of veteran’s with a service connected death or 100% disability. This information was contained in the SOC for KEESM Revision No. 25, but was inadvertently not included in the manual until now. In addition, a cross reference to 6410(18) is being included in 6410(61) where regular VA payments are discussed.
  3. Averaging of Child Support and Alimony Income - Several clarifications are being included in section 7124. The lead in paragraph clarifies that the averaging budgeting methodology is different and distinct from prospective budgeting. When averaging, all income received in the calendar months being used for the average is counted (with the exception of exempt lump sums per 6410(37)). Making a determination of whether or not a payment is representative, or what month the payment is for, does not apply when averaging.
    
    Item 1 of that section is being corrected to remove the word “current” when discussing the averaging of child support/alimony income. All support received in the month is averaged, current and arrears. A note has also been added to that same item to clarify that when averaging support income, the date of receipt is considered to be the disbursement date on the Kansas Pay Center and KAECSES CSE. The note further clarifies that when a consumer is getting child support through KAECSES-CSE, that that system shall be used to verify child support income, instead of the Kansas Pay Center.
    
    When discussing the prospecting of child support/alimony, the manual is also being clarified by stating that current support income is converted up to the amount of the court order and that arrears are projected separately. This is found in 7124 (1)(a).
    
    Last, item 7124(2) is being clarified to state that calculating child support/alimony income means that it is averaged or prospected as appropriate.
  4. Shelter Costs - The manual is being revised in 7226.2 to clarify that personal property taxes and insurance for an RV or other motor vehicle used as a home can be allowed as a shelter cost. The portion of insurance that is for the vehicle itself can be allowed, but not amounts for liability, medical, etc. A copy of the insurance policy with these details will be needed to allow insurance as a shelter expense.
  5. Expenses Not Allowed - The manual in 7227.1 is being clarified to state that an expense covered by a housing assistance payment per 6410(27) - housing assistance from federal housing programs including negative rent payments made to tenants of subsidized housing under HUD regulations - shall not be deductible.
  6. Medical Expenses - A cross reference to the list of allowable medical expenses, item P1, Medical Necessity, is being included in section 7227.5. In Appendix item P1, a new item is being added to clarify that HCBS obligations are an allowable medical expense for food stamps. When the HCBS obligation is reduced due to other medical expenses, care should be taken to determine if the other expenses being allowed for Medicaid are allowable for food stamps.
  7. Processing Information Reported on the Interim Report Form - Section 9122.6 is being revised to clarify that child support and alimony income must be reaveraged or prospected (as appropriate) when processing the interim report. This means that child support income will have to be verified to determine the average and that the caveat that gross unearned income changes of $50 or less that do not have to be verified does not apply to child support income.
  8. Treasury Offset Program - This section is being clarified to state that the 10 year collection rule does not apply to claims with a court judgment. Therefore, if a claim has court judgment for collection, the status reason code of “JD” must be entered on OVCA. This code will tell the TOP system that collection past the 10 year rule is allowed for that claim. This change is being made to 11126.1.
FOOD STAMP EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING (FS E & T)
1. CHANGES
  1. Work Components - With the implementation of the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) and the expansion of FS E & T services into Shawnee County, we have noted the need to provide additional clarification on the use of work components for FS E & T. We have modified section 3300 to clarify which work components are available for FS E & T customers. We have also updated the Comparison of TAF and FS E & T Employment Services Chart in Appendix E-10.
KANSAS EARLY HEAD START
1. CHANGES
  1. Kansas Early Head Start (KEHS) Initiative - Updated information regarding the expansion of KEHS to additional programs and counties is being incorporated in section 1728.
2. CLARIFICATIONS
  
  None
LOW INCOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (LIEAP)
1. CHANGES
  1. Income Guidelines - The income guidelines in 13362 is being updated to reflect the current FPL guidelines.
2. CLARIFICATIONS
  
  None
MEDICAL ASSISTANCE
1. CHANGES
  1. Long Term Care Partnership - KEESM 5130 is being revised to reflect a change in the resource limit for individuals who have received benefits under a Qualified Long Term Care Insurance Partnership policy.
  2. Citizenship/Identity - The following changes are related to citizenship and identity.
    1. Verification of Citizenship and Identity - Effective October 1, 2007, children in foster care or recipients of foster care maintenance and children receiving adoption support payments are exempt from the requirement to verify citizenship and identity. KEESM 1322.1 and 2145.2 are being revised with this change. A clarification regarding verifying citizenship and identity for newborns has also been added to KEESM 2145.2.
    2. Reasonable Opportunity Period - KEESM 2145.4 is being changed to clarify the length of the reasonable opportunity period.
    3. Acceptable Verification of Citizenship and Identity - Appendix 12 is being modified to include additional clarifications regarding acceptable documentation which has been provided by CMS.
    4. Declaration of Identity for Disabled Adults - Appendix form P-9 is being created to accommodate a new allowance for a declaration of identity for disabled adults.
    5. Declaration of Identity for Children - Appendix form P-7 is being revised to incorporate the allowance that this form may also be signed by the caretaker relative.
2. CLARIFICATION
  1. Working Healthy Earned Income Requirement - KEESM 2664.3 is being clarified by the addition of a NOTE and an Example to the end of this section to explain that exempt earned income would not be used to determine the $65.00 per month countable earned income threshold, but would be used to determine if the employment meets the minimum wage requirement.
  2. Transfer of Property Penalty Period - KEESM 5724.4 is being changed to clarify that the transfer of property penalty would be determined by using the divisor in effect on the date the penalty actually begins.
SUCCESSFUL FAMILIES
1. CHANGES
  1. Orientation, Assessment, Referral, Safety (OARS) - Wording from the KCSDV contract is being incorporated into section 3330.8 to clarify staff roles in working with mutual customers. Additional clarification is being added regarding the limit of OARS services to current TAF cash customers and those former TAF customers who lost cash eligibility within the last 12 months.
2. CLARIFICATIONS
  1. Work Program Education/Training Plan Review and Authorization Guidelines - Training plans approved by our EES partners are considered approved for TAF and Food Stamp E & T work program participation purposes. Terminology in section 3300.2 is being updated to reflect current programs: RS, WIA, the Kansas Foster Care Education Assistance Act, the Foster Care Tuition Waiver Program, or the Workforce Development Loan Program.
  2. Community Service Program (SRV) - Clarification is being added in section 3310.6 that nonprofit status of community service sites may be determined by the tax exempt status (501C3) or the State of Kansas not-for-profit status. This section has also been modified to incorporate community service site injury requirements.
TAF ASSISTANCE
1. CHANGES
  
  None
2. CLARIFICATIONS
  1. Cash Excluded Members - At the suggestions of the field, items (1), (3), and (6) of KEESM 4113 are being modified. Item (1) of this section is being corrected to align policy with the instructions given in October 2006. The SEPA participation code for a MFU individual receiving SSI is SS. Item (3) of this section clarifies that this policy item is only applicable to individuals who are in state custody. Mandatory Filing Unit (MFU) individuals who are in the custody of the state and whose needs are met through foster care payments are cash excluded members and are to be coded DI on SEPA. Item (6) refers to adults convicted of a drug-related felony. Item (6) of this section is being obsoleted as this reference was inadvertently overlooked when the drug-related felony policy was changed in July 2006.

FORMS (Not previously discussed in this summary)

Adult Protective Services
1. ES-1019A, Notification to Law Enforcement, and ES-1019B, Confirmation Notification to Law Enforcement - These forms will replace ES-1019 in order to communicate more specific information related to reporting and confirmation of abuse, neglect, or exploitation. ES-1019A will fulfil the mandate to notify law enforcement that SRS has received a report. ES-1019B will fulfil the mandate to notify law enforcement that SRS has confirmed that abuse, neglect, or exploitation has occurred.
2. ES-1023, Interview Notice to Alleged Perpetrator - This notice has been created as a mechanism for SRS to notify alleged perpetrators of the date, time and location of a scheduled interview. It gives the alleged perpetrators the opportunity to reschedule and informs them that the investigation will move forward without their input if they do not appear for the interview or contact SRS to schedule an alternative interview.
Food Assistance
1. ES-1510.1, Computation of Food Stamp Budget (Electronic Version) is being modified to incorporate the increased standard deduction and other amounts effective October 1, 2007.
Successful Families
1. EP- 4411, Claim for Comparable Coverage, is being renumbered to the ES-4411. This form and the instructions are also being updated to reflect current terminology and expanded to indicate that comparable coverage is applicable to community service in addition to work experience.

APPENDIX (Not previously discussed in this summary)

C-10 ES-1655, Child Care Provider Handbook,is being modified to correct a reference to child care plans being sent to provider
C-25, Child Care Checklist, is being added as an optional method to track all the elements involved in determining Child Care eligibility.
T-7 IR Set Up Schedule, has been corrected in the notes section since IR’s are now mailed on the 20th day of the month, not the 25th.
V-1, Electronic Benefit Transfer System Guide, has had the following items changed recently:
- FSMAIL and CCEBTMAIL groupwise accounts have been deleted. The new email address for the EBT Unit is EBTMAIL@srs.ks.gov
- Item 9 has been updated to give instruction on how to remove authorized representatives from the EBT system.
- Reissuing Vision Cards to clients, but not resetting the PIN information has been added to item 18.
- Item 27 has been updated to get staff information on the process when a client reports that the ATM did not dispense funds as requested, but the account was debited.

EFFECTIVE DATE

All policies in this revision are effective October 1, 2007. Additional information is being included in the Implementation Memo.

EFFECT ON LOCAL STAFF

There is expected to be increased call volume and inquiries related to implementation of the LTC Partnership. Changes related to deemed newborns and citizenship and identity verification requirements should simplify current processes.

MATERIALS OBSOLETED BY THIS REVISION

COORDINATION EFFORTS

Within EES, the material in this letter and manual revision has been coordinated with staff in Economic and Employment Support, the EES Program Administrators, the Implementation Planning Team, the Training Advisory Team. The medical material has been coordinated with KHPA. Successful Families material has been coordinated with the Work Experience/Community Service Work Site Development/Utilization Work Group, SRS Legal, and KCSDV.

Sincerely,
Bobbi Mariani, Director
Economic and Employment Support
BM:AM:lf

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