The purpose of this letter is to announce changes to two Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) rules affecting the Food Assistance program. The revisions are explained in detail below. If no further changes are made prior to the rules' finalization by Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR), they will become effective on a permanent basis on February 1, 2012. If changes are necessary, a copy of the revised rules will be forwarded to you at that time.

Chapter 4000

5101:4-4-01, "Food assistance: resource eligibility standards"

The Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 required resource limits to be indexed annually to inflation and rounded down to the nearest $250 increment. As a result, because resource limits are now able to change every year, OAC Rule 5101:4-4-01 has been amended to remove stated limits. Food Assistance Change Transmittal 44 - which had an effective date of October 1, 2011 - increased the resource limit for elderly and disabled assistance groups from $3,000 to $3,250. Future adjustments to resource limits will be announced in subsequent Food Assistance Change Transmittals.

Chapter 8000

5101:4-8-19, "Food assistance: Initiating collection actions and managing claims"

As a result of clarification received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) regarding how to manage multiple claims against a single assistance group, paragraph (M) of OAC Rule 5101:4-8-19 has been amended. Previously, the rule allowed benefits to be reduced for an assistance group for multiple claims simultaneously. However, FNS clarified that assistance groups with multiple claims may have their benefits reduced for only one claim at a time.

Instructions: The following chart identifies the material that should be removed from the Food Assistance Certification Handbook and the material that should be added.