FACT 37 (Exclusion of the $25 Supplemental Weekly Unemployment Compensation Payment)
Food Assistance Change Transmittal No. 37Action Change Transmittal Letter No. 247
December 7, 2009
TO: All Cash Assistance Manual Holders All Food Assistance Certification Handbook Holders
FROM: Douglas E. Lumpkin, Director
SUBJECT: Exclusion of the $25 Supplemental Weekly Unemployment Compensation Payment

On March 18, 2009, the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service issued guidance stating that state agencies must count the temporary $25 supplemental weekly amount of federal additional compensation as income when determining eligibility for food assistance. This federal additional compensation payment was made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Ohio opted to align its cash assistance programs (Ohio Works First, Refugee Cash Assistance and Disability Financial Assistance) with its Food Assistance Program to count the supplemental weekly unemployment compensation payment as well.

On November 6, 2009, President Obama signed the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 (HR 3548), which requires states to exclude the $25 supplemental weekly unemployment compensation payments from all calculations of resources and income for their food assistance programs.

Food Assistance

Effective November 1, 2009, eligibility determinations and benefit calculations for all months beginning with the entire month of November 2009 must exclude the $25 supplemental weekly unemployment compensation payments from countable income. The state will run a mass change in the CRIS-E system on December 12, 2009, to remove the $25 supplemental weekly unemployment compensation payment starting in January 2010.

Unfortunately, a system-wide change could not be made retroactive to November 2009. As a result, county agencies will need to issue supplements for food assistance cases in which the supplemental unemployment compensation payments were counted as income for the months of November and December. We will provide each county with a list of the affected cases no later than Friday, December 11, 2009.

The CRIS-E table TVIN (the unearned income table), has been updated to reflect this change. The "UCFA" code for federal additional compensation will now be reflected as excluded income. The mass change that will run in CRIS-E on December 12, 2009, will exclude the supplemental weekly unemployment compensation payments listed under the "UCFA" category on the AEFMI screen effective January 1, 2010.

It is possible that some people who were denied food assistance in November or December 2009 were recipients of the $25 supplemental weekly unemployment compensation and could have been eligible if the payments were excluded at the time they applied. If possible, county agencies should examine their records to identify such households, re-open households' applications, certify the households if they are still eligible, and restore any lost benefits back to November 2009. County agencies also could consider notifying their communities about this change in policy and the possibility of restored benefits, through posters in local offices or through other means.

Cash Assistance

The policy to exclude the supplemental weekly unemployment compensation from cash assistance income is effective January 1, 2010. The mass change that is set to run on December 12, 2009, also will remove the $25 weekly benefit from consideration in Ohio Works First, Disability Financial Assistance and Refugee Cash Assistance cases. However, for cash assistance cases this change is not retroactive. County agencies are not required to issue supplements for unemployment compensation payments counted as income for the months of November and December.