In accordance with Ohio Revised Code (ORC) Section 119.032, each state agency is required to review its rules a minimum of once every five years. The intent of the law is to ensure that rules are clearly written and that program requirements are accurate, up-to-date and clearly expressed. To the extent possible, unnecessary paperwork will be eliminated, and local agencies will be given increased flexibility. The purpose of a rule review is to determine whether a rule should be continued without amendment, amended or be rescinded, taking into consideration each rule's scope and purpose.

The rules will become effective on May 01, 2014.

The following describes the revisions:

CHAPTER 2000

5101:1-23-70: Ohio works first: erroneous payments.

This rule sets forth the policy for the determination of erroneous payments for the Ohio Works First program.

This rule has been amended to clarify when an erroneous payment has occurred:

• The acronym "CDJFS" has been changed to "county agency" to align with the Food Assistance rules.
• Paragraph (H) has been revised to explain the effective date of budget adjustments.
• In order to align with food assistance policy, when an assistance group is required to report a change in circumstance and fails to do so, the budget adjustment will be effective the month following the OWF benefit month the change was required to be reported.
• A new paragraph has been added which describes what happens when a county agency discovers that an assistance group failed to report a change.
• This rule has other minor language changes and has been put into question and answer format to improve clarity.

CHAPTER 3000

5101:1-5-70: Disability financial assistance: interim assistance.

This rule sets forth the policy for the administration of Disability Financial Assistance as interim assistance.

This rule has been amended to clarify the interim assistance reimbursement process:

• The acronym "CDJFS" has been changed to "county agency" to align with the Food Assistance rules.
• This rule had significant formatting changes and has been rescinded and replaced with a rule of the same number and same title.
• In 2010, the Social Security Administration (SSA) began processing interim assistance reimbursements electronically via the eIAR system. County agencies now directly receive notifications and communication with SSA and submit interim assistance reimbursement requests through this system. As part of SSA's technology change in how interim assistance reimbursement is requested and issued, this rule has been revised to only set forth policy on defining interim assistance and when interim assistance may be requested for reimbursement from SSA. Language on the manual procedure to request interim assistance reimbursement from SSA has been stricken as it is no longer applicable.
• This rule has other minor language changes and has been put into question and answer format to improve clarity.

Instructions:

The following chart identifies the material that should be removed from the Cash Assistance Manual and the material that should be added.