FSTL 238 (Food Stamp Program: Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000)
Food Stamp Transmittal Letter No. 238
January 17, 2002
TO: Food Stamp Certification Handbook Holders
FROM: Tom Hayes, Director
SUBJECT: Food Stamp Program: Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 New Hire Reporting Program (W-4)

Rule 5101:4-3-06: Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 was enacted in October 2000. The federal guidance on this has been issued and the regulations explained in this Food Stamp Transmittal Letter (FSTL) have an effective date of March 21, 2002. If no revisions are made to the proposed rule prior to the finalization by JCARR, it will be effective March 21, 2002. If changes are necessary, a copy of the revised rules will be forwarded to you at that time.

This transmittal obsoletes FACT No. 21. The FACT was implemented with an immediate effective date.

Background Information

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, Pub. L. No. 106-386, Division A, 114 Stat. 1464 (2000), makes adult victims of severe forms of trafficking who have been certified by the U.S. department of health and human services (HHS) eligible for benefits and services to the same extent as an alien who is admitted to the United States as a refugee under Section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Victims of severe forms of trafficking who are under age 18 are also eligible for benefits to the same extent as refugees, but do not need to be certified by HHS as victims of severe forms of trafficking.

Section 103 (8) of the Act defines "severe forms of trafficking in persons" as sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or, the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act aims to combat trafficking through increased law enforcement, to ensure effective punishment of traffickers, to protect victims and to provide Federal and State assistance to victims. This transmittal contains the procedure for county departments of job and family services (CDJFS) to follow and the acceptable documentation in determining eligibility for benefits.

HHS Process

HHS' office of refugee resettlement (ORR) will make certification determinations and issue letters of certification for adult victims of severe forms of trafficking. Children under 18 years of age who are determined to have been subjected to a severe form of trafficking do not need to be certified by HHS in order to receive benefits. ORR will issue letters, similar to the adult certification letters, stating that a child is a victim of a severe form of trafficking. Victims of severe forms of trafficking are eligible for benefits and services to the same extent as refugees under section 207 of the INA. Other agencies may issue letters or other documents to victims of severe forms of trafficking. However, only the ORR certification letter or letter for children may be accepted as proof of certification. Victims of severe forms of trafficking are not required to provide any immigration documents to receive benefits.

County Agency Process

The county agency will follow their regular procedure for a refugee and treat the victim of a severe form of trafficking the same as a refugee. However, instead of requiring immigration and naturalization service (INS) documentation, such as the I-94 Arrival/Departure Card, a certification letter or letter for children shall be accepted as proof of status that confers eligibility for benefits. A sample copy of the certification letter is provided in Appendix 67 and a sample of the letter for children is Appendix 68. Please note that the signature and make-up of the letters may change in the coming months.

Verification

The certification letter for adults and the letter for children have a phone number to call to verify their validity. The county agency must call the trafficking verification line at (202) 401-5510 for verification before providing benefits. During the verification phone call, the county agency must notify ORR of the benefits for which the victim of trafficking has applied. At this time, the INS Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program does not contain information about victims of severe forms of trafficking. ORR is working with INS on this issue and further instructions will be released as soon as possible. Until further notice, the county agency shall not contact the SAVE system to confirm eligibility for benefits for victims of a severe form of trafficking.

Rule 5101:4-3-06 outlines the procedures in processing these applications. Due to the nature of these individuals' situation, verification of identity and social security number may not be available. This rule provides the specific steps that the county agency must take to assist individuals in obtaining this information.

Individuals Without Certification

If a county agency encounters an individual that is believed to meet the definition of a victim of a severe form of trafficking, but the individual has no certification, the county agency should call Michael Jewell at (202) 401-4561 or Neil Kromash at (202) 401-5702.

If the county agency encounters a child believed to have been subjected to a severe form of trafficking and lacks a letter for children, the county agency should call Loren Bussert at (202) 401-4732.

Rule 5101:4-7-08: New Hire Reporting Program (W-4)

Senate Bill 180 repealed Ohio Revised Code Section 5101.312 that had contained the requirements for the New Hire Reporting Program. With the passage of S.B. 180, these requirements have been moved from Revised Code Section 3121.89 to 3121.891. Rule 5101:4-7-08 of the Administrative Code has been amended to correct the Revised Code section.

Training and Technical Assistance

Training and technical assistance needs to implement rule 5101:4-3-06 will be minimal. Eligibility for victims of severe trafficking is treated the same as eligibility for refugees as outlined in rule 5101:4-3-07 of the Administrative Code.

The revisions to rule 5101:4-7-08 require no training or technical assistance to the county agency staff. Clarification regarding these rules will be available to county staff by ODJFS through the regional offices.

Fiscal Impact

There should be no fiscal impact for the county agencies to implement rule 5101:4-3-06. No additional staff will be needed to implement this policy. The time to process these applications would be approximately the same time to process as those of refugees. No additional supplies, equipment or travel is involved.

The revisions to rule 5101:4-7-08 do not impose any new requirements on county agencies; therefore, the implementation should result in no fiscal impact on the county agencies.

CRIS-E Processing:

Manual budgeting must be completed to process cases involving victims of severe forms of trafficking under rule 5101:4-3-06. The county agency must fiat the individual's eligibility to pass on AEWIF and the assistance group on AEWFT.

Claim Referral Management

The Recipient Claim Establishment and Collection Standards Regulation 7 CFR 273.18, published on July 6, 2000 and effective August 1, 2001 required that each state implement a process for efficient and effective management of claim referrals. Ohio's Claim Referral Plan and accompanying flow charts for different types of claims were inadvertently omitted from the final print packet of FSTL #236 dated October 3, 2001 and are included in this transmittal letter.

Ohio's Claim Referral Plan is being provided as Appendix 76.

The flow chart for the "Food Stamp Claim Referral Process - Administrative Error and Inadvertent Household Referral - Non QC" (Referrals not identified in the quality control review process) is provided as Appendix 77.

The "Food Stamp Claim Referral Process - IPV Referrals" is being added as Appendix 78.

Appendix 79 is the "Food Stamp Claim Referral Process - Administrative Error and Inadvertent Household Error Referrals - Identified by QC" (Referrals identified in a quality control review).

Miscellaneous

An error in preparing the cover letter for FSTL #236 resulted in the omission of explaining the purpose of removing rule 5101:4-5-05, "Issuing identification (ID) cards" from the Administrative Code. Amended Substitute House Bill 94 eliminated the language from the Ohio Revised Code requiring identification cards be issued by the county agency to each household or household's authorized representative authorized to receive food stamp benefits. With the implementation of electronic benefit transfer payments, identification cards are no longer required.

Page 7, second paragraph, of the Instructions for FSTL #236 incorrectly contained directions to remove and file as obsolete the Appendix 64, "Consent of Disclosure" and replace with an attached corresponding page. This instruction is to be ignored. Appendix 64 will be addressed in a future transmittal letter.

The Table of Contents has been revised to reflect the addition of rule 5101:4-3-06, "Victims of Trafficking" and the removal of rules 5101:4-5-05, "Issuing Identification Cards" and 5101:4-10-01, "State Funded Food Stamp Program for Qualified Aliens". Rule 5101:4-10-01 was removed from the Administrative Code via FSTL #233-A.

The Outline of Contents to Chapter 3000 has been revised to reflect the addition of rule 5101:4-3-06. The Outline of Contents to Chapter 5000 has been revised to reflect the removal of rule 5101:4-5-05 from the Ohio Administrative Code.

Page 12 of the Index has been revised to reference the Victims of Trafficking rule.

The Part II, Procedural Section Index has been revised to reflect the correct revision date of October 2001.

The Appendix Index has been revised to reflect the removal of Appendix 19, "Authorization to Participate Card", Appendix 20, "Household Activity Card", Appendix 28, "Examples of Immigration Documentation", and Appendix 38, "Statement of Expected Income" which were removed from the Appendices with the issuance of FSTL #236.

Appendix 22, "Applicant/Recipient Authorization for Release of Information" and Appendix 49, "Work Registration" have been revised to reflect updated language.

Appendix 34, "Food Stamp Notice of Change (Model)" has been revised to correct an inadvertent numbering error as well as provide improved instructions regarding the calculation of farm losses.

New Ohio Administrative Code Format

In accordance with Senate Bill 11 (which is now incorporated into Chapter 119 and section 111.15 of the Revised Code), the Legislative Service Commission (LSC) is mandated to implement a new format for the rule filing process. This format is similar to the new style for drafting bills for the General Assembly, which was recently adopted by the LSC. The old style of all capital letters to reflect new language in the rule is being replaced with underlined lower-case characters to reflect the new portion of the rule. This new format will commence with the issuance of this transmittal letter.

Instructions

Remove and file as obsolete the entire Table of Contents dated October 1, 2001 and replace with the attached corresponding pages.

Remove and file as obsolete the Outline of Contents to Chapter 3000 dated October 1, 2001 and replace with the attached corresponding page dated March 21, 2002.

Insert all pages headed 5101:4-3-06 directly behind the last page of rule 5101:4-3-05 dated June 4, 1998.

Remove and file as obsolete the Outline of Contents to Chapter 5000 dated February 1, 1999 and replace with the attached corresponding page dated March 21, 2002.

Remove and file as obsolete the page headed 5101:4-7-08 dated August 1, 1998 and replace with the attached corresponding pages.

Remove and file as obsolete page 12 of the Index which begins with the word "deductions" and replace with the attached corresponding page.

Remove and file as obsolete Part II Procedural Section Index dated July 2001 and replace with the attached corresponding page dated October 2001.

Remove and file as obsolete all pages of the Appendix Index dated October 1, 2001 and replace with the attached corresponding pages dated March 21, 2002.

Remove and file as obsolete Appendix 22, "Applicant/Recipient Authorization for Release of Information", DHS 7341 dated November 1995 and replace with the attached JFS 07341 dated October 1, 2001.

Remove and file as obsolete page headed Appendix 34, "Food Stamp Notice of Change (Model)" dated July 2001 and replace with corresponding page November 2001.

Remove and file as obsolete Appendix 49, "Work Registration", DHS 7446, dated July 1993 and replace with the attached JFS 07446 dated May 2001.

Insert the "Sample Certification Letter for Adult Victims of Severe Forms of Trafficking" as Appendix 67.

Insert the "Sample Letter for Children Who are Victims of Severe Forms of Trafficking" as Appendix 68.

Insert all pages of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Claim Referral Plan" as Appendix 76.

Insert the "Food Stamp Claim Referral Process - AE and IHE Referrals - Non QC" as Appendix 77.

Insert the "Food Stamp Claim Referral Process - IPV Referrals" as Appendix 78.

Insert the "Food Stamp Claim Referral Process - AE and IHE Referrals - Identified by QC" as Appendix 79.

Update Appendix 35, Record of Changes to Handbook, with the number and date of this transmittal.