1142.040.00  RESPONSIBLE MEMBERS

For claims established before August 6, 2001, the head of the EU is responsible for the claim.

For claims established after August 6, 2001, the following individuals are responsible for the claim:

• Any adult member of the EU, age 18 or over, when the overpayment or trafficking occurred, even if this individual is no longer in the EU. If a responsible member was in the home for only part of the claim period, two or more claims will have to be established. A claim is needed for any months the responsible member was in the home, and separate claims are needed for the months the responsible member was not in the home.

  NOTE:  If an adult member of the EU can provide verification they were not in the home during the claim period, they are not considered responsible for the claim.

  EXAMPLE:  Ms. A applies for Food Stamp benefits for herself and her adult sister.  Ms. A fails to report her income increased to over 130% of poverty, so a claim is established including Ms. A's adult sister.  Ms. A's adult sister states she did not live with Ms. A during the claim period and provides verification.  The adult sister is not responsible for the debt.

  EXAMPLE:  Ms. A applies and was approved for Food stamp benefits for herself and her adult sister. Ms. A fails to report her income increased to over 130% of the federal poverty level in January.

  The EU is overpaid for March to September. Ms. A’s sister moved out of the household in July, and returned to the household in September.

  Claims for three periods must be established. The first claim is for March through July and includes Ms. A and Ms. A’s adult sister as responsible claim members. The second claim is for August and includes only Ms. A as the responsible member. The third claim is for September and includes Ms. A and Ms. A’s adult sister as responsible members.

• Any member of the EU, age 18 or over, who was not reported in the Food Stamp household is a responsible member of a claim.

  EXAMPLE:  Mr. B applied for himself and his three children.  It is discovered his wife has been living in the home since the time of application and has income over the 130% of poverty making the EU ineligible for Food Stamp benefits.  Since the wife is a mandatory EU member she is also a responsible member of the Food Stamp claim.

• A sponsor of an immigrant EU member if the sponsor is at fault;
• A person connected to the EU, such as an authorized representative, who actually traffics or otherwise causes an overpayment or trafficking;

  EXAMPLE: The authorized representative signs the eligibility statements and applies for the EU. There is an overpayment due to information provided by the authorized representative. The authorized representative is a responsible member of the claim.

• A Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center (DATC), while the DATC is acting as authorized representative for the resident. The resident of the DATC is not responsible.

If an individual is established as a responsible member in error, the individual must be deleted from the claim.  Contact the Food Stamp Program and Policy Unit at ColeFSPolicy@dss.mo.gov to have the individual deleted.

1142.045.00 DEMAND LETTERS

A CARS-3 demand letter is generated and sent to all EUs when a Food Stamp claim is entered. The day the letter is generated is the day the claim is established. The demand letter contains:

• the amount of the claim,
• the time period of the claim,
• the reason for the claim,
• the persons responsible for the claim,
• the calculation of the overpayment,
• repayment agreement options including notification of allotment reduction procedures,
• notification of ability to request reduction of claim balance for some claims (compromise), and
• notification of the right to a fair hearing.

A repayment agreement is included with the demand letter.

When a demand letter for a Food Stamp claim is returned as undeliverable, check to see if there is a current address available.

• If there is an updated address available, place the entire demand letter in another envelope and mail to the correct address. Update the claim address using OVDC screen.
• If there is no updated address available, refer the claim to WIU using a DOI-1 Referral for Investigation form requesting a current address.

WIU attempts to locate a current address for the EU and notifies the eligibility specialist. Re-mail the letter to the address provided by WIU.

Note:  After a Food Stamp CARS-3 is sent, collection procedures are initiated and continue regardless of the letter being returned as undeliverable.

Record a comment regarding whether contact was made with the EU and the address to which the demand letter was re-mailed on the Note Add (OVNA) screen.