Background:

In 2008, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Office of Families and Children began a concerted effort to review food assistance policy to improve efficiency and payment accuracy. As a result of the 2002 and 2008 Farm Bills, federal law provided states with the option to move to 12-month certification periods to all households. To utilize these policy options efficiently, we received a waiver from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service to allow caseworkers to reinstate terminated benefits instead of taking new applications, as long as assistance groups return requested verifications or take the required actions within 30 days of the closure date. As part of an ongoing process, we will be aligning the cash assistance programs with food assistance to improve efficiency of case processing.

New Policy:

Reapplication periods

Previously, rule 5101:1-2-10, "Ohio Works First/Disability Financial Assistance/Refugee Cash Assistance: the Reapplication Requirement," required all Ohio Works First (OWF), Disability Financial Assistance (DFA) and Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) assistance groups to have a six-month reapplication.

Effective April 1, 2010, OWF and DFA assistance groups that previously were required to complete a reapplication every six months will now be completing a reapplication every 12-months and OWF child-only assistance groups that previously completed a reapplication every six months will now be completing a reapplication every 24 months.

Any OWF and DFA assistance groups expecting a change that would make them ineligible to receive cash assistance, that include migrant farm workers, or that are homeless may now receive a reapplication period of either four, five, six or twelve months, to align with the food assistance certification period. The reapplication period for these groups will be decided based on county discretion.

Refugee cash assistance groups will continue to have six-month reapplications because of the time-limited nature of their benefits.

Reinstatement

Effective April 1, 2010, the same reinstatement policy that is being implemented for the food assistance program will also be applied to the cash assistance programs. County agencies will reinstate terminated benefits without a new application if an assistance group returns requested verifications or takes the required action within 30 days of the closure date as long as the assistance group is not in the last month of the food assistance certification period and is otherwise eligible for cash assistance benefits (i.e., not under a period of ineligibility or sanction). This includes assistance groups whose benefits were terminated for failure to return an interim report. However, cash assistance benefits shall not be reinstated if the assistance group is otherwise ineligible (i.e., serving a penalty period of ineligibility or a three-tier sanction).