351.24 Mandatory Reporting.
(a) The following definitions are used in this Part:
(1) Quarterly reporting refers to a procedure
for obtaining information concerning the incomes and circumstances of certain public
assistance recipients through semi-annual recertifications and semi-annual mailed reports.
Quarterly reporting is a modified system of monthly reporting in which written reports are
made at semi-annual intervals and public assistance grants are calculated prospectively.
(2) Authorization period means the six-month
period for which public assistance benefits are authorized pursuant to sections
350.2(a)(2) and 350.2(a)(4) of this Title following a recertification pursuant to section
351.21(b)(2) of this Title. Each authorization period is divided into two payment
quarters.
(3) Quarterly report means a form upon which a
recipient reports income for the most recent four weeks in a three-month period and
household circumstances for that three-month period.
(4) Report quarter means the three-month period
covered by a quarterly report.
(5) Process month means the month in which
information contained in a quarterly report or obtained during a recertification is
reviewed. With respect to information obtained from a quarterly report, the process month
is the third month of an authorization period. With respect to information obtained at
recertification, the process month is the last month of the authorization period.
(6) Payment quarter means the three-month
period after the process month.
(b) Social services districts that have received prior approval from
the office are not required to comply with the quarterly reporting requirements of this
section but are required to comply with the provisions section 351.21(b)(2) and 352.17(c)
of this Title
(c) A public assistance household must submit a quarterly report form
to the social services district in the first process month following recertification when:
(1) any member of the public assistance case
has earned income; or
(2) another member of the household, whose
income must be applied in determining the amount of the benefit, has earned income.
(d) The quarterly report form must contain the following information:
(1) report quarter income, household
composition and other circumstances relevant in determining the amount of assistance; and
(2) any changes in income, resources, or other
relevant circumstances affecting eligibility for or the amount of benefits which the
household expects to occur in the current or future months.
(e) The quarterly reporting process does not relieve recipients of
their responsibility to report changes in income, resources or family composition in a
timely manner. Recipients must report the receipt of new or increased income no later than
10 days after the receipt of the income. A report of such income made more than 10 days
after receipt is not timely, but a report made more than 10 days prior to the end of the
month is timely with respect to the next month and any succeeding month.
(f) (1) Quarterly report forms must be provided to recipients in
sufficient time for recipients to return completed reports to the social services
districts by the tenth day of the process month.
(2) A quarterly report is considered complete
when the recipient has:
(i) answered all
questions;
(ii) provided
verification of all reported income; and
(iii) signed and dated
the report on or after, but not before, the last day of the report quarter.
(g) Failure to submit a completed report. If a recipient fails, without
good cause, to return a completed quarterly report by the tenth day of the process month,
the social services district must send a timely and adequate notice of discontinuance
along with a copy of any quarterly report which was returned incomplete or along with a
second quarterly report if no report has been returned.
(h) If the recipient responds to the discontinuance notice and submits
a completed report before the effective date of the discontinuance, the social services
district must accept the completed quarterly report and void the notice of discontinuance.