Bay State CAP Eligibility

Bay State CAP clients can choose to opt-out of Bay State CAP at any time. Clients who would like to opt-out of Bay State CAP reporting must complete a Bay State Client Options form or provide a signed, self-declaration stating that s/he no longer wants to be on Bay State CAP.

Clients that have fluctuating income and SSI and who otherwise meet the eligibility criteria for Bay State CAP due to nonfinancial data, are not eligible for Bay State CAP.  These clients must be marked as “Ineligible for Bay State CAP” in the Bay State CAP Eligibility workflow.  For more information, see Processing Clients not Currently on Bay State CAP Who Receive SSI and Have Fluctuating Unearned Income below.

Opting-Out (Client Request)

Bay State CAP client tells you that they wish to opt-out, you must initiate a request to opt-out by selecting the Initiate button, with a reason of Client Request, on the Bay State CAP Eligibility page. Initiating the opt-out will populate the opt-out request in the Verification tab as an outstanding verification. You must ask the client if they want to use the telephonic signature line to provide a telephone verification that they want to opt-out, and to also provide telephonic self-declaration of their shelter and utility expenses.

If the client says yes, you must follow the telephone verification steps in Telephonic Signature to obtain the telephone verification.

Once the steps to obtain the telephonic self-declaration are completed, you must mark the opt-out request as verified in the Verification Details tab.  Marking the opt-out request as verified will prevent the Bay State CAP Client Options form from being automatically sent to the client.  To mark it as verified, you must select Other under Documents of Evidence, type “Telephonic Self-Declaration” in the textbox, and click Save. You must call or email the SNAP Field and Eligibility Operations (SNAP FEO) business group to request that they process the opt-out. You must provide the FEO with the client’s name, APID, shelter expenses, and utility expenses. You must also annotate the details of the self-declaration in the narrative.

Note: You can email the FEO at DTA-DL-CEP.

If the client says no, you must not mark the outstanding opt-out request in the Verification tab as verified. An optional VC-1 with the Bay State CAP Client Options form will be issued for the client to complete.

Once the completed form or written self-declaration is returned, processing is restricted to the SNAP FEO. The opt-out option will be processed by selecting the Submit button on the Bay State CAP Eligibility page in the Bay State CAP Eligibility workflow. Once the Submit button is selected, information from the Bay State CAP Shelter page and SUA page will be cleared from BEACON. The regular Shelter Expense page will be available for the case manager to enter in the client’s actual expense data. The case manager must enter the shelter and SUA expenses that are reflected on the client options form. If the form is not returned, the case will remain on Bay State CAP. The authorized case manager processing the opt-out will also be responsible to update any expenses reported on the Bay State CAP Client Options form, or any other information that the client verifies.

If the Bay State Client Options form or self-declaration to opt-out is incorrectly indexed and is sent as an Action to a FAW, it must be re-indexed as Bay State CAP Client Options Form and dispositioned as Pending Agency Review. This will redirect the document to the appropriate FEO Business Group pool. This specialized staff will pull the action, Process Scanned Bay State CAP Eligibility and process the document. You must write a detailed narrative stating that you re-indexed and dispositioned the document for authorized staff. You do not need to call or email the SNAP FEO about the case.

However, if a cash case closes, and the client is subsequently approved for Bay State CAP and immediately requests to opt-out by submitting a Bay State CAP Client Options form, the form will be assigned to the cash case manager within the first thirty days of the case closing.  When this happens, the cash case manager must have his/her supervisor contact the SNAP FEO to assign the document and process.

Once opt-out has been processed in BEACON, SSA will continue to batch over information applicable to the case, but BEACON will prevent the system from converting the case back to Bay State CAP reporting.

The client will complete the remainder of their original certification period under the certification type to which they have been converted. If a case that has opted-out of Bay State CAP closes and is reinstated within 30 days, the case will hold the previously recorded opt-out request.

If the client requests to be put back on Bay State CAP before the release of the opt-out request and they are still eligible for Bay State CAP, you must go back to the Bay State CAP Eligibility page and delete the request to opt-out by clicking Cancel Request. Additionally, you must enter the previous High or Low shelter amount and remove any shelter expenses that were entered for the opt-out request. These pages will be set to reedit. BEACON will automatically enter the Bay State CAP SUA during the wrap up.

Important: If a client is no longer eligible for Bay State CAP, do not initiate an opt-out request to send the Bay State Client Options form to the client. Opting-out of Bay State CAP is for clients who are otherwise eligible for Bay State CAP reporting. You must Initiate and select the Ineligible for Bay State CAP reason located on the Bay State CAP Eligibility Workflow when a Bay State CAP client is ineligible to continue on Bay State CAP reporting.

ExampleExample

Gerald Gomes is applying for regular SNAP benefits.  He receives SSI and a fluctuating pension.  He also meets all the nonfinancial requirements for Bay State CAP. 

Since Gerald would eventually be batched over to Bay State CAP reporting due to receiving SSI and meeting the nonfinancial criteria, you must Initiate and select the Ineligible for Bay State CAP reason located in the Bay State CAP Eligibility page. Clients who have SSI and fluctuating unearned income must be indicated as Ineligible for Bay State CAP on the Bay State CAP Eligibility page, regardless if the client chooses to mandatory income average or not.

Once you have initiated the Ineligible for Bay State CAP request, you must exit the case.  This will then create an action for processing by the CCMO to submit the request and process the case for Mandatory Income Averaging, if applicable.

Opting Back into Bay State CAP

Clients who are currently active on SNAP and who had previously opted out, may request to be recapped by submitting a signed self-declaration stating their request to opt back into Bay State CAP reporting. The recapping will be completed by a TAO manager. The recapping will only be completed if the household is eligible for Bay State CAP.

Clients who are not active on SNAP and request to be put on Bay State CAP may either apply at DTA for regular SNAP benefits or go to the SSA office to apply for Bay State CAP, if they meet Bay State CAP requirements. If the client is ineligible for Bay State CAP, you should advise the client to apply for SNAP at DTA.

Processing Clients that are Ineligible for Bay State CAP but Who Are Currently on Bay State CAP

Clients who have fluctuating income are no longer eligible for Bay State CAP, regardless if they choose to mandatory income average or not.

  • if a client contacts DTA or you are doing case maintenance on a case and realize that the client is no longer eligible for Bay State CAP because the client has SSI and fluctuating income, you must:
  • initiate and select the Ineligible for Bay State CAP reason located in the Case Maintenance workflow
  • explain to the client that s/he is no longer eligible for Bay State CAP. If the client is not on the phone with you, perform a series of three cold calls
  • send an optional VC-1 requesting updated shelter, utility and medical expenses, if any. Bay State CAP households use a High or Low Shelter value and the Bay State CAP SUA so their real shelter expenses are likely unknown
  • encourage the client to submit as soon as possible so they may maximize SNAP benefits
  • write a detailed narrative.

The CCMO will put this case on income averaging after they receive the action which signifies that the request has been initiated. The case will then covert to either Simplified Reporting or EDSAP, based on eligibility. Provided the Ineligible for Bay State CAP reason is selected, the case will then be blocked from converting to Bay State CAP in the future. For more on income averaging, see Income Averaging Due to Fluctuating Income.

Processing Clients not Currently on Bay State CAP Who Receive SSI and Have Fluctuating Unearned Income

If a client that is a household of one, receives SSI and fluctuating unearned income and based on nonfinancial information may one day meet Bay State CAP criteria, the client must also have the “Ineligible for Bay State CAP” reason selected so the regular SNAP case does not get converted to Bay State CAP by the conversion batch in the future.

Remember: Clients who receive both SSI and fluctuating unearned income must be defaulted to income averaging regardless of certification type. Additionally, the “Ineligible for Bay State CAP” reason must be selected for these households so that they will not be converted to Bay State CAP by the conversion batch in the future.

If the client does not want their income to be averaged, they must send DTA a note stating their request. At that time, income averaging will be removed from the case, but the Ineligible for Bay Sate CAP reason will remain. You must attempt three cold calls to contact the client to explain that due to their fluctuating income, their SNAP benefits will also fluctuate based on data from SSA.

For more information regarding fluctuating income and mandatory income averaging, please click here.

Last Update:  May 27, 2021