Bay State CAP – Reporting Requirements During Case Maintenance

Bay State CAP households must report certain changes in income or household circumstances to the Social Security Administration (SSA) in accordance with SSA rules, while some changes such as allowable expenses can be reported directly to DTA. If a Bay State CAP household reports changes in income or household circumstances (except adding a new household member) to DTA, you must refer the client to SSA. DTA cannot make these changes, however the reported information and referral to SSA must be noted in the narrative.

Note: The SSA phone number is 1-800-772-1213.

Bay State CAP clients may report the following changes to DTA:

changes in shelter cost (rent/mortgage)
utility payments separate from shelter cost (SUA)
medical expenses
dependent care expenses
child support payments for non-household members
address change
household composition changes
death (reported by client’s family or close friend)

Bay State CAP Case Maintenance

If an ongoing Bay State CAP client reports an allowable expense to DTA, BEACON will compare the Bay State CAP benefit amount to the regular SNAP benefit amount and pay the higher amount.

Bay State CAP case maintenance Actions are handled by a FAW. BEACON access has been enabled for all staff.

BEACON Functionality During Case Maintenance

The following pages may be updated:

Shelter Expenses
Standard Utility Allowance (SUA)
Health Insurance
Medical Expenses
Dependent Care Expenses
Support Expenses
Address
Household

Adding a Household Member to a Bay State CAP Case

If a Bay State CAP client reports an additional household member, you must add the household member to the case. For information regarding how to add a household member, please click here. Adding the household member will also require the client to provide the new household member’s SSN and verify any additional income. At this time, you will update the income pages based on what the client states or submits. You must send a VC-1 confirming the new income and expense amounts, if applicable.

After the changes have been wrapped up, the case will be automatically converted to EDSAP or Simplified Reporting, based on program eligibility because Bay State CAP certification type is for a household of one only.

Important: Household members are not allowed to be added to an Active Bay State CAP case when the recertification is due (less than or equal to 45 days from end certification period). The Household member will be added as part of the recertification.
You must not initiate the recertification until the form is received. Enter a narrative to indicate that the household member must be added when the recertification is being processed.

Address Change

Active or pending Bay State CAP clients can contact the Department to update their address. Clients can update their address through DTA Connect, the DTA Assistance Line IVR system, or through speaking with a case manager. You will edit the Address page in BEACON to update the client’s address. Once the client’s address is updated in BEACON, the Shelter and SUA pages will require a re-edit. You must confirm with the client if their shelter and/or utility expenses have changed. If you cannot get in touch with the client, you must send an optional VC-1 and leave the current expenses in BEACON.

If the Bay State CAP client updates their address using the DTA Assistance Line IVR system and was not able to be automatically validated, an action called Process Unvalidated Address - IVR will be created for a FAW to process.

After the address is updated in BEACON for Bay State CAP clients, BEACON will block SDX from overriding the address change for the next 30 days. This will give the client time to update their address change to SSA. The client must be instructed to report the change to SSA.

When a Bay State CAP client verifies a shelter, medical and/or any other deductible expense to DTA, the expense information must be entered in BEACON.

The following pages are available for viewing only. These pages cannot be updated in Case Maintenance mode. The Bay State CAP client must report changes related to these pages directly to SSA. The information on these pages will be changed by the daily SDX update.

Assessed Person
Citizenship
Noncitizen
Disability
Employment Status
Other Income Status
Reinstatement workflow
Address

Although you are able to update the client’s address during Case Maintenance, address changes will also continue to be sent to DTA via the SDX batch. If a client reports an address change to DTA, after the change is made at DTA, the SDX batch will not be able to update the client’s address for 30 days. Be sure to remind the client to update their address with SSA as well.

Processing Case Maintenance Changes

double click the item to be verified in the Verifications Tab
go to the Interview Wrap-up page
click Selection
select the applicable checkboxes pertaining to the case maintenance changes
click Finish
click EBC Results
click Calculate
click Save
click Finish

Review the calculation and write a detailed Narrative pertaining to the case maintenance changes.

Once the changes have been processed in the Interview Wrap-up page, BEACON will:

calculate the regular SNAP benefit using the changed or new expense information
recalculate the Bay State CAP benefit using the information; and
compare the regular SNAP benefits to the Bay State CAP benefit amount.

If the regular SNAP benefit is greater, BEACON will:

switch the Bay State CAP case to regular SNAP benefits
set the Bay State CAP Status to Closed
shorten the certification period to 90 days
pay the new, higher regular SNAP benefit amount
send the client a Bay State CAP Switch to Regular SNAP notice
create a transaction to notify SSA that the case is no longer Bay State CAP; and
select the case as part of the next timely case closing/recertification process

Important: At recertification, the reported expense information along with all other eligibility information must be reviewed and verified.

If the Bay State CAP benefit remains the same and is greater than the SNAP benefit, BEACON will continue to pay the current Bay State CAP benefit.

If the Bay State CAP benefit changes as a result of a change from the high to low shelter expense or the low to high shelter expense, BEACON will:

pay the new Bay State CAP benefit
send a Bay State CAP Change notice; and
create a transaction to notify SSA of the shelter expense change.

Case Closure Due to Death

If a person associated with the client confirms that the Bay State CAP client has passed away, you must enter in the date of death on the Assessed Person screen and close the Bay State CAP case by using the AU reason of “Death.” Select Other as the Document of Evidence and write “Statement from Family Member” in the Other field unless you have a death certificate or some other proof that verifies the death of the client.

Clients that are closed due to “Death” will not be reopened by SSA data.

Note: The Death date field will be the only item available to edit in the Assessed Person screen.