Tracking# 2012-00649 
FA/P 9/7/12, eff. 11/1/12 

I:/11122301.rtf 
(I:/11122301.doc) 

(10 CCR 2506-1) 

[Instructions:  insert before line 1514142.] 
Revisions of Sections B-4011.31 through B-4011.32 and B-4110.1 through B-4110.2 were final adoption following publication at the 9/7/2012 State Board meeting (Rule-making# 11-12-23-1), with an effective date of 11/1/2012. Statement of Basis and Purpose and specific statutory authority for these revisions were incorporate by reference into the rule. These materials are available for review by the public during normal working hours at the Colorado Department of Human Services, Office of Enterprise Partnerships, Division of Boards and Commissions, State Board Administration. 

********

[Instructions: replace lines 2164344 through 2164359. ] 
B-4011.31  Sources of Verification [Rev. eff. 11/1/12] 
Documentary evidence shall be used as the primary source of verification. This consists of written confirmation of a household's circumstances, e.g., wage stubs, rent receipts, and utility bills. When documentary evidence cannot be obtained, such alternate sources of verification, such as collateral contacts and home visits shall be used. 
The Income and Eligibility Verification System (IEVS) provides for the exchange of information on food assistance program recipients with the Social Security Administration (SSA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Through IEVS, recipient SSNs will be matched with source agency records on a regular basis to identify potential earned and unearned income, and resources/assets, including the following:
A.  SSA (BENDEX, SDX, BEER) 
Social Security benefits, SSI, pensions, self-employment earnings, federal employee earnings. 
B.  IRS
Unearned income information, which includes, but is not limited to, interest on checking and savings accounts, dividends, royalties, winnings from betting establishment, and capital gains. 
C.  DOLE
Wage and unemployment insurance benefits. 
The food assistance office shall act on all information received through the Income and Eligibility Verification System (IEVS). For applicants, the food assistance office shall at a minimum, prior to approval of benefits, verify potential earnings or unemployment benefits through the DOLE for all applicants, except institutionalized applicants. All other matches will be initiated through IEVS upon approval of benefits. However, benefits shall not be delayed pending receipt of verification from a collateral source (e.g., employers). In addition, in cases where the food assistance office has information that an institutionalized or group home recipient is working, wage and UIB matches are required at application.
The food assistance office is required to act upon information received from the Colorado Income and Eligibility Verification System within forty-five (45) calendar days of the receipt of that information.
All other information received through IEVS, including wage data from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, and Internal Revenue Service unearned income information, shall be treated as not verified and shall be subject to independent verification by the food assistance office. Such verification of IEVS information may include contacting the household in writing informing them of the information received from the IEVS data source, and requesting a response within ten (10) calendar days, or by appropriate collateral contact. 
Information that is considered verified upon receipt shall be acted upon for both simplified reporting households and non-simplified reporting households. Information considered verified upon receipt shall be acted on at the time of application, recertification, and during a household’s certification period if the information causes a change in the food assistance benefit amount. 
The information shall be considered verified unless the office has reason to believe that the information may be inaccurate. 
The food assistance office shall consider only the following information as verified upon receipt: 
1.  Social Security and SSI benefit amounts obtained from SSA; 
2.  Unemployment insurance benefits that are reported through IEVS and obtained through the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE); 
3.  Public Assistance (PA) benefit amounts (Colorado Works (CW), Aid to the Needy Disabled (AND), Old Age Pension (OAP), Aid to the Blind (AB), and Colorado Supplement to SSI) obtained from the department; 
4.  Child support income amounts obtained through the Automated Child Support Enforcement System (ACSES); 
5.  Non-compliance information obtained from Employment First agencies for failure to participate in a mandated work program; 
6.  Intentional Program Violations (IPV); 
7.  Information obtained from the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system regarding non-citizen status; 
8.  Information that is reported and verified to a PA program which results in a change to the PA benefit amount and that meets the food assistance regulations for verification as specified in Section B-4011.3 “Verification and Documentation”; 
9.  Changes in household composition that are reported and verified and result in one or more members being removed from one food assistance household and added to a new or existing food assistance household. See Section B-4110.12 “Shared Living Arrangements” for situations that involve two households requesting assistance for the same child. Adults may be removed from the household based on self declaration, per Section B-4242.11 “Changes Households are Required to Report”, Subsection A; 
10.  Changes in household composition that are reported and verified by child welfare agencies and result in a child being removed from one food assistance household and added to a new or existing food assistance household. 
B-4011.32  Collateral Contacts [Rev. eff. 11/1/12] 
A collateral contact is a verbal confirmation of a household's circumstances by a person outside the household, made either in person or by telephone. Acceptable collateral contacts are employers, landlords, social/migrant service agencies, and neighbors of the household who can be expected to provide accurate third party verification.  
Confidentiality shall be maintained when talking with collateral contacts. The food assistance office shall disclose only the information that is absolutely necessary to get information being sought. 

=== 
****************

[Instructions:  replace lines 937791 through 937799.] 
B 4110.1  Persons Ineligible for Separate Household Status [Rev. eff. 11/1/12] 
Separate household status shall not be granted to the following, except as noted.
A.  Children twenty-one (21) years of age and under, who purchase and prepare meals separately but are living with their natural parent, adoptive parent or stepparent, cannot be separate households. 
If a child lives in the same home with both parents, both parents shall be included in the household even if one parent does not request assistance or declares that he/she purchases and prepares his/her meals separately from the other parent and child. 
B.  Children (other than foster children) who are under eighteen (18) years of age who purchase and prepare meals separately but live under the parental control of an adult household member who is not the natural parent, adoptive parent, or stepparent, cannot be separate households.  A child is considered to be under parental control if he or she is financially dependent on an adult member of the household, unless the State of Colorado defines the child as an adult or an emancipated minor.
C.  A spouse of a member of a household.  Spouses refer to:
1.  Persons who are defined as married to each other under state law; or,
2.  Persons who are living together, are free to marry, and are representing themselves as husband and wife to relatives, friends, neighbors and trades people. 
B-4110.11  Shared Living Arrangements [Eff. 11/1/12] 
A.  In instances when two households request food assistance for the same child, the child shall be considered a member of the household that provides the majority of the child’s monthly meals. 
If only one household is applying for or requesting food assistance benefits for a child, then determining majority of meals shall not be a factor when determining household composition. 
B.  If two households request assistance for the same child and both households provide an equal number of meals to the child, and the households cannot agree on who should receive food assistance benefits for the child for the duration of the certification period, then the household that applies for food assistance benefits for the child first shall be able to receive benefits for the child. 
C.  In instances when an applicant or ongoing household requests benefits for a child who is already receiving food assistance in another household, the household who provides the child with the majority of meals shall be eligible to receive benefits for the child. 
D.  Changes in household composition shall be handled in accordance to Section B-4242.2 “Action on Reported Changes” and Section B-4243 “Advance Notice of Adverse Action”. 
B 4110.2  Verification of Household Composition [Rev. eff. 11/1/12] 
If questionable, the food assistance office shall verify any factors affecting the composition of a household.  However, the household's statement regarding food purchasing and preparation shall generally be accepted because of the difficulty of verifying such arrangements.  Individuals described in Section B 4100, “Food Stamp Applicant Households”, Subsection D, declaring separate household status from others in the household shall be responsible for providing necessary income information of other household members and medical statements that the individual(s) cannot purchase and prepare their own meals if questionable and requested by the food assistance office. 
A household or applicant that requests benefits for a child that is already receiving benefits in another household is responsible for verifying that they provide the child with a majority of his or her meals prior to receiving benefits for that child. 
When determining majority of meals for shared living arrangements, acceptable documentation includes, but is not limited to: custody arrangements, school enrollment forms, dependent care forms, a statement from both households, or any other document that can reasonably be used to determine meals.
One household’s written or verbal statement regarding its provision of the majority of the meals shall not be the only verification used when the statement results in removing a child from one food assistance household and placing the child in another food assistance household. A calendar completed by the household showing how many meals it provides a child shall be considered a written statement from the household. If both households that are requesting assistance for a child each provide a verbal or written statement regarding how many meals each provide, then both households’ statement can be used as verification to determine who provides the majority of the child’s meals. 

****************