Address Error Detail page - TOP
This business process flow shows the high level steps utilized in the TOP process.
The Treasury Offset Program (TOP) involves tracking and collecting Food Assistance recovery account claims through the interception of federal money owed to the debtors. Recovery Accounts have to meet the following criteria to be eligible for collection through TOP.
The Recovery Account is in Active Status
The Initial Demand Notice has been sent
The Responsible Party is associated to an Inactive Food Assistance program
The Responsible Party has been delinquent on repayment for 30 days
The Recovery Account claim balance is $25 or more
The Responsible Party/Primary Debtor is not in bankruptcy
To display TOP as an option, a Primary Applicant of the Recovery Account must have a Repayment Plan in place.
NOTE: A Recovery Account claim can have multiple responsible parties or joint debtors.
After the Recovery Account claim meets the criteria, the TOP process begins.
KEES submits an address request monthly to Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) via the Outbound Batch – Address Request Match. This batch requests a valid federal address, which is required by FNS for the 60-day TOP Notice. The notice is used to inform the Responsible Party that DCF intends to refer them to TOP unless the Recovery Account is paid or other arrangements are made.
NOTE: The TOP Status is set to ‘P’ (Initial) when the address request is being processed.
Within 30-60 days, KEES receives the Match/No Match file and processes the address information received from FNS via the Inbound Batch – Address Match/No Match Response. This file contains records that match on Social Security Number (SSN) and Name.
NOTE: Names + SSNs are either a match, partial match, no match, or they match a deceased person according to federal records. When no match or some partial matches are received, the TOP Status Code is changed to ‘E’ (Error). If deceased records are received, the TOP Status Code is changed to ‘D’ (Deceased). Other possible error codes include:
| Error Code | Definition |
|---|---|
| 00 | Match was made on both name and SSN |
| 02 | Match was made on SSN but not name |
| 03 | No match was made on SSN |
| 04 | No match was made because the SSN may be invalid based on a profile of numbers assigned by the Social Security Administration |
| 07 | Match was made on SSN to an individual reported to the Social Security Administration as deceased |
If errors are received, the Central Collection Unit (CCU) can choose to:
Use the KEES address, FNS address, or use another address found
Update the Name and/or SSN and re-submit the address request to FNS the following month
Delete the address error and end the TOP process
CCU works the address error records on the Address Error Detail page in KEES. The TOP Status Code changes to ‘N’ (need) to be picked up by the next TOP 60 Day Notice Batch.
The matched address from FNS is used by KEES to send the 60 Day Notice to the debtors via the Create 60 Day Notice Batch. After the batch runs, the TOP Status Code is set to ‘S’ (Notice Sent).
If there is no response to the TOP 60-day Notice from the Responsible Party after 60 days, KEES checks to see if the Recovery Account claim still meets all criteria for submission to TOP. If the criteria is met, the debt is submitted via the Outbound Batch – Weekly Update to FNS Request. The debt must be 120 days old from the delinquent date.
If the debtor responds to the 60-day TOP Notice and establishes a Repayment Agreement, the case is monitored by CCU. If the debtor fails to pay as agreed, the debt is eligible for TOP, and the criteria is checked again.
Receivables posts any transactions to the Recovery Account claim. See Posting a Repayment Transaction for detailed steps.
NOTE: The Recovery Account claim is closed via the Recovery Account Close Batch if the balance reaches $0; otherwise, it remains in ‘Active’ status. See the Recovery Account Refund Process for information on Recovery Accounts with a negative balance.
KEES checks weekly to see if the Recovery Account claim still meets all criteria for submission to TOP via the Outbound Batch – Weekly Update to FNS Request. When the debt meets the TOP criteria, the TOP Status Code is changed to ‘C’ (Certified) via the Outbound Batch: Weekly Update to FNS Request. Certified means the Recovery Account claim has met all federal requirements for TOP collection.
NOTE: The Outbound Batch: Weekly Update to FNS Request adds new debts and updates existing debts. Updates are for the debts or debtors.
After the weekly update is processed by the Treasury, any records that cannot be processed are returned on the Unprocessable Report. KEES processes this through the Inbound Batch: TOP Unprocessed Response. CCU reviews the TOP Reports and makes corrections as needed. See Scheduled TOP for information on accessing this report. Updates are sent back through the Outbound Batch – Weekly Update to FNS Request.
The TOP collection files are sent from FNS weekly, via the Inbound Batch – Collection/Offset/Reversal Response when the Treasury offsets a federal payment. A collection report is generated listing all TOP collections and reversals received for that week or cycle. Processed transactions are posted to the Recovery Account.
NOTE: The Recovery Account is closed via the Recovery Account Close Batch if the balance reaches $0; otherwise, it remains in its original status of ‘Active’. See the Recovery Account Refund Process for information on Recovery Accounts with a negative balance.
TOP transactions can be viewed on any of the following reports:
TOP Adjustments
TOP Collections
TOP Reversals
NOTE: See Scheduled TOP for information on accessing these reports.
If a collection cannot be posted, staff can work the Collection Report and have a transaction posted manually, request a refund, or make other adjustments.
N/A
To display TOP as an option, a Primary Applicant of the Recovery Account must have a Repayment Plan in place.
See Treasury Offset Program (TOP) for detailed steps on viewing and updating specific TOP pages in KEES.
The Unprocessable Report for a given date applies to claims that went on the Weekly Update file two weeks prior to the report date.
Food Assistance Recovery Accounts can be transferred to the joint debtor when a Primary Applicant becomes deceased on a TOP Pre-Certified Recovery Account. See Recovery Account Transfer for process guidelines.