The
Farm Security and
Rural Investment Act
of 2002 (Public Law
107-171), commonly
referred to as the
Farm Bill, restores
food assistance eligibility
to many legal immigrants
who lost eligibility
under the 1996 welfare
reform legislation
(PRWORA). The changes
in the Farm Bill incrementally
reinstate eligibility
for three groups of
non-citizens who meet
the program's other
requirements.
The
first group, persons
receiving disability,
regardless of when
they entered the country,
was implemented October
1, 2002. The second
group, restoring eligibility
to certain legal immigrants
who have been in the
country for 5 years
(or had qualified
status for five years)
is effective April
1, 2003. (The third
group, restoring eligibility
to children under
the age of 18, regardless
of date of entry into
the country is effective
October 1, 2003. This
change will be included
in the October 2003
manual revision.)
This
Policy Memo implements
the restoration of
eligibility for the
second group noted
above until KEESM
Revision 14 is issued
to the field.
The
primary group of non-citizens
affected by this restoration
are legal permanent
residents who formerly
could only qualify
for food assistance when
they had worked 40
qualifying quarters
of coverage (or by
being credited with
such qualifying quarters)
as defined under Title
II of the Social Security
Act. 40 qualifying
quarters equates to
approximately 10 years
of work. For all practical
purposes, therefore,
effective April 1,
2003, immigrants who
have lived in the
country for a period
of five years or longer
as a lawful permanent
resident are now eligible
for food assistance. (As
long as all other
eligibility criteria
are met.)
In
addition to the affect
on lawful permanent
residents, this change
also affects non-citizens
who were formerly
only eligible for
7 years after date
of entry into the
country as specified
in KEESM 2143.1.
Since these non-citizens
are eligible effective
April 1, 2003 after
they have lived in
the country for 5
years, the 7 year
eligibility limit
is moot. These groups
of non-citizens are
eligible when they
enter the country
and are eligible indefinitely,
as long as other program
requirements are met.
Other
groups now eligible
include persons paroled
into the U.S. under
Section 212(d)(5)
of the INA and persons
granted conditional
entry under Section
203(a)(7) of the INA
in effect before 4/1/80
also regain eligibility
for food assistance April
1 after residing in
the U.S. for five
years. Those are specified
in KEESM 2143.2, along
with a clarification
that persons with
a Violence Against
Women Act case are
eligible for food
assistance after residing
in the country for
five years. Manual
sections modified
to implement these
changes are KEESM
Sections 2143,
2143.1,
2143.2,
and 2143.3.
Please
note that the effective
date of the immigrant
restoration for food
assistance is April 1,
2003. Attached to
this Policy Memo are
the following reference
materials which will
also be included in
KEESM Revision No.
14. Final manual material
will be available
on-line around April
1.
KEESM Section 2143
(pages 2-12 through
2-15) of the May manual
material is attached
for your information.
Revised Appendix Item
1, Non-Citizen Qualification
Chart.
New Appendix Item
8A, Guidance on the
Five-Year Residency
Requirement
IMPLEMENTATION
ISSUES
- Special
Provisions
for Applicants
- The
new policies
described
above are
to be used
on all applications
for food
assistance received
or processed
on or after
March 1,
2003 for
April benefits.
Eligibility
and benefit
amount for
March would
be determined
using the
rules as
they exist
in March
2003. The
new rules
would be
applied
to appropriate
household
members
for April
2003 benefits.
Reviews
processed
in March
for April
shall also
have eligibility
and benefit
amount for
April determined
using the
new policies.
-
Ongoing
Cases -
A printout
of potentially
eligible
"DI"
non-citizen
household
members
will be
provided
to staff
to determine
if currently
coded "DI"
non-citizens
are eligible
for food
assistance and
need to
be changed
to "IN".
All persons
listed on
the printout
must be
evaluated
for possible
FS eligibility
based on
the April
1 policy
changes,
and if determined
eligible,
added to
the FS case
no later
than the
benefit
month of
July 2003.
Here
is
pertinent
information
about
the
printout:
- The
printout
will
contain
all
non-citizen
household
members
coded
DI
with
a
citizenship
code
that
is
NOT
"US"
on
SEPA.
The
majority
of
persons
affected
will
have
citizenship
codes
of
"IA",
but
all
others
are
being
included
in
case
of
miscoding.
- The
printout
will
be
sorted
by
Area
and
worker,
with
page
breaks
by
unit
and
will
list
the
case
name
and
individual
names
of
all
affected
persons
on
the
case.
Also
included
will
be
case
number,
ID
number,
relationship,
sex,
age,
ethnicity
code,
citizenship
code
and
next
review
due
date.
Listing
the
next
review
due
date
will
allow
staff
to
prioritize
case
actions
to
those
cases
who
do
not
have
a
review
due
in
April,
May
or
June
2003.
- The
printout
will
be
issued
electronically
to
the
Chiefs
in
mid
March.
NOTE:
A preliminary
printout
issued in
February
indicates
that there
are 2,048
individuals
on 1,263
cases statewide
that will
need to
be reviewed
and processed
for possible
eligibility
by the July
benefit
month.
- Notification
to Households
- Applications
approved
under the
new policies
shall result
in the regular
approval
notices
being sent.
If some
household
members
are still
not eligible
under the
new provisions,
this should
be noted
to the client
in the "other"
section
of the notice.
For ongoing
cases, the
food assistance
change notice
should be
sent as
appropriate
with the
following
suggested
wording
added:
"Federal
laws
have
changed
which
allow
certain
immigrants
who
have
lived
legally
in
the
U.S.
for
5
years
or
longer
to
get
food
assistance.
We
have
determined
that
the
following
persons
in
your
household
have
lived
legally
in
the
U.S.
for
5
years
and
can
now
get
food
assistance:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX."
If
some
persons
in
the
household
are
eligible
and
some
are
not,
those
that
are
not
eligible
under
the
new
provisions
should
also
be
listed
with
an
explanation
of
why
they
are
not
eligible.
For
example,
the
person
has
only
resided
legally
in
the
country
for
3
years.
- Quality
Control
- Since
the State
agency is
implementing
this policy
timely,
errors resulting
from the
misapplication
of the five-year
requirement
will be
excluded
for a period
of 120 days,
or until
the next
review.
CASE
EXAMPLES
-
Maria A.
and her
3 children
apply for
food assistance.
Maria and
her 16 year
old son
Luis were
admitted
for permanent
residence
on July
15, 2001.
Her other
2 children
were born
in the U.S.
Maria has
5 qualifying
quarters
of coverage.
Who
is
eligible?
The
2
U.S.
citizen
children.
Maria
will
be
eligible
July
15,
2006.
(Luis
will
be
eligible
10/1/03,
when
children
under
the
age
of
18
become
eligible.)
Maria
and
Luis
are
coded
DI
on
SEPA.
KEESM
2143.2
-
Jose S.
and his
family just
moved to
Kansas.
His family
consists
of himself,
wife Elena
and 4 children.
They entered
the country
in 2000
and all
became lawful
permanent
residents
on January
21, 2003.
Jose, while
living in
Mexico,
worked across
the boarder
in Texas.
He has 40
qualifying
quarters
of coverage.
Who
is
eligible?
Jose,
his
wife
and
children
are
eligible.
Even
though
they
have
not
lived
in
the
U.S.
legally
for
5
years,
Jose
has
40
qualifying
quarters
of
coverage
which
qualifies
the
family.
KEESM
2143.2
(NOTE).
-
Hoa L. and
his wife
and one
child entered
the U.S.
as refugees
(INA Section
207) on
February
1, 2003.
Who
is
eligible?
Hoa
and
his
family.
The
five
year
waiting
period
does
not
apply
to
refugees.
KEESM
2143.1
-
Rodrigo
O. entered
the U.S.
illegally
in 1997.
He joined
his wife
and children
that were
already
living legally
in the U.S.
(permanent
residence
was granted
in January
1998.) Rodrigo
was granted
permanent
resident
status in
August of
2002.
Who
is
eligible?
Rodrigo's
wife
and
children
are
eligible
since
they
have
resided
legally
in
the
U.S.
for
five
years.
(1-98
to
1-2003).
Rodrigo
is
not
eligible
until
August
2007.
He
is
coded
DI
on
SEPA.
KEESM
2143.2.
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