UNFINISHED ISSUANCE FOR SNAP	

Narrator: In this video you will learn how to code a SNAP certification with unfinished issuance. Unfinished issuance is a procedure used if a change needs to be made for the calendar month following the month of certification, even if the certification is processed after advance notice deadline. This procedure is helpful when your case has actual and anticipated income, terminated income or changes of income, household members, or expenses that are known at certification. 

Unfinished issuance can only be used on initial applications, excluding EOs with postponed verification commonly called S/EOs. 

Let's look at these calendars and go over a few examples. Samantha Fisher applies for SNAP on August 23rd. During the interview the client reports she started a new job and will be paid $400 twice a month on the 5th and the 20th. Ms. Fisher received her first check of $400 on August 20th. She will receive a check for $400 on September 5th and September 20th. We will need to consider $400 actual income in August and $800 anticipated income in September. To do this we will need to process the case using unfinished issuance. 

Let's go over an example with terminated income. Now, let's say Ms. Fisher applies for SNAP on August 26th. During the interview she reports that she was terminated on August 17th. Ms. Fisher had been paid weekly. She received a check in the amount of $500.00 on August 6th, $300.00 on August 13th and she received her final check in the amount of $100.00 on August 20th. We will consider $900.00 actual income in August and remove the terminated income for September.
 
Now let's walk through coding this terminated income example using unfinished issuance. After you have coded all the required FACS tabs in the Interview notebook, click on the eligibility notebook or "money bags" icon on the FACS toolbar. Click on the SNAP tab to enter the certification information. In the field labeled "SNAP-TYPE ACTION TAKEN", click on the drop-down menu and choose "Certified". Next go to the REASON field and select "SNAP certification" or "EO". In this example, we will use "SNAP certification". The "APPLICATION SOURCE" field has two entry choices. When the client applies at a local county office, you will select "County office". The OKDHS Live code is automatically entered by the computer when the client applies for benefits online. The application date will already be coded. In the certification date field, enter the same date as your application date or the first day of the month after the application month. In this example, the cert date is the same as the application date. In the "EFFECTIVE MONTHS" field, click on the drop-down menu. This field tells the system to use the information for a specific length of time. Normally, this field is coded with "99 - Benefits will be issued using this information indefinitely". However, we need to make a change on the case in the second month of certification, so select "One month's benefits issuance using this information". Two or three months are also options, but these are rarely used for SNAP. Next, in the "CERT PERIOD" field, enter the number of months of eligibility. The number of months coded here will range from one to four, depending on the household members' ABAWD status. Your supervisor can advise you in coding this field. In this example, we will enter "03". No entry is needed in the Advance Notice required field. The "Date of Expedited Entitlement" will automatically populate from what is entered on the expedited services tab for an EO certification. In this example, Ms. Fisher's certification is not an EO so no entry is needed. For EO certifications, update the Total Countable Resources field with the household's total amount of countable liquid resources. Finally, go to the "ELDERLY/DISABLED INDICATOR" and select the code which reflects the current household composition. In this example, we will select "N - No household members are elderly or disabled".

Now we will code the unfinished issuance. Go to the tool bar, select "application topics" then select "unfinished issuance case." When an unfinished issuance dialogue box appears, click "Yes" to start an unfinished issuance entry. Click "OK" when the unfinished issuance box appears to alert you that the unfinished issuance can not be sent to PS2 without supervisor approval. This opens the unfinished issuance entry window. In the top left section of this window, you will see the letters B, C, and D. To certify, close, or change SNAP benefits use the C row. In the "Action type" field for the C section, use the dropdown menu to select "Change which does not affect section status and is not a recertification". No reason entry is necessary for a change. Next, go to the "effective date" field and enter the date the change will begin. In this example, the certification month was August, so the next effective date will be "09/01/2015." Now, enter the number of months you want the system to use this information. For this example, this is the last change for this certification, so select "99- Benefits will be issued using this information indefinitely." The notice indicator must be addressed but a notice does not need to be issued. Click and unclick the "Yes" box.

Notice in the middle section of the window there is an area labeled "SNAP only". Here you have options for changing the application date, certification date, and certification period as well as other SNAP-specific expenses and deductions. These fields are only coded if using unfinished issuance to certify after denying the initial application month. 

Next, make whatever changes are appropriate. You can add a person that has been added in the household tab, or remove a person, add, change or remove income or expenses. In this case, you are removing income. 

Keep in mind these types of changes are person-specific, so go to the "person name" dropdown menu to select the correct household member. In this example, we will select "Samantha Fisher". Click in the earned income field to update the income information. When changing the income to zero the Earned Income dialogue box will appear and ask if you want to set this field to zero dollars. Click "Yes".After you have completed your unfinished issuance, click "Save" in the upper right hand corner of the unfinished issuance window and then close the window. In this example we certified the case, but keep in mind that unfinished issuance can also be used when denying for the initial month. 

You are now ready to save the case by clicking the "SAVE THE CASE" icon on the FACS toolbar and check for edits. 

Today you have learned how to code a SNAP certification with Unfinished Issuance. 

We hope it was helpful. 

This video was presented by the MET Unit and approved by the SNAP Unit and the Training Unit.