7CFR 273.1(a), 273.2(f), 273.7, 273.8(e), 273.9(a), (e), and (f)

Transcription

1 WAIVER REQUEST DISASTER SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM Type of request: State: Region: Regulatory Citations: Initial Wisconsin MWRO 7CFR 273.1(a), 273.2(f), 273.7, 273.8(e), 273.9(a), (e), and (f) Disaster Information: Between August 17, 2018 and September 14, 2018, Crawford, Dane, Juneau, La Crosse, Monroe, Richland, Sauk, and Vernon counties experienced severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, flooding, and landslides. Governor Walker submitted a presidential disaster declaration, including individual assistance, on October 4, The request was approved on October 18, Disaster Impact: On Friday, August 17, 2018, a noted change in weather patterns occurred which marked the beginning of multiple rounds of severe weather and flooding across Wisconsin. Until mid- August, Wisconsin had seen normal to belownormal precipitation for the summer months. Starting Friday, August 17, a very warm and moist air-mass set up across much of Wisconsin and then persisted through the first week in September. A series of storm systems moving through this pattern caused multiple rounds of severe weather and flooding across portions of Wisconsin and followed it with longer-term river flooding as well. The first of these systems moved through southern Wisconsin on Friday, August 17, and put down a large swath of heavy rainfall. Each event where heavy rain fell helped to set conditions for additional flooding to occur. The most widespread severe weather day was August 28, 2018, when

2 19 tornadoes and widespread damaging winds of mph occurred from central Wisconsin through east central Wisconsin. The last of the series of storm systems came through on Wednesday, September 5, Rivers remain a major flood stage across the state until September 14, when levels began to recede. Seven dams failed in this event, resulting in the severe exacerbation of flooding downstream and additional residences impacted. Nine other dams suffered serious damage. No timeline has been established for the repair of these dams. Six of the dams that failed and five with serious damage have no identified funding source for repairs. The flooding shut down a large number of highways, local road and a number of our interstate highways. In the counties, in which individual assistance was approved, 20 homes were destroyed; 321 experienced major damage; 494 received minor damage; and 281 were affected. For businesses and non-profits, 100 experienced major damage and 190 experienced minor damage. The storms hit one after another from August 17, through September 14, 2018 causing more than one occurrence of disaster loss for impacted households. Benefit Period: The date of loss claimed by the household must fall between the disaster timeframe of August 17 September 15, 2018 (30 days). September will be the DSNAP benefit issuance month. Available income, loss of income, destroyed food and incurred out of pocket disaster expenses between the dates of August 17 - September 15, 2018 (30days) will be considered in the calculation of eligibility for DSNAP. Ongoing benefits will be supplemented for September 2018 if the loss occurred due to disaster within those dates.

3 Application Period: The disaster application submission period will run from December 10, 2018 through December 14, The locations of the application sites will be the local county office where regular SNAP processing occurs. The available hours to request will be regular business day office hours which may vary slightly by county, but would typically fall somewhere within the 7 am - 5:30 pm range. The application period will not take place during a week with a state/federal holiday so special consideration is not necessary in that regard. The application period was established due other priorities including systems changes in progress, Thanksgiving holiday, and health care and SSA COLA changes. Eligibility Criteria: Wisconsin will use the Disaster Gross Income Limit (DGIL) method to determine new DSNAP application eligibility. Applicants must have lived in or worked in the disaster area (Crawford, Dane, Juneau, La Crosse, Monroe, Richland, Sauk, and Vernon counties). Applicants temporarily residing in another county due to the disaster impacts are eligible to apply; the household must have resided in the county of disaster at the time of the disaster. Applicants/members must have experienced at the following adverse effects: damage to or destruction of home, work place, or selfemployment business; or disaster-related expenses paid out of pocket; or loss or reduction of income. If there was food damaged by the disaster or spoiled due to lack of refrigeration from a power outage of at least 4 hours, the household must also met one of the above conditions. A household s take-home income and accessible liquid resources during the disaster benefit period, minus disaster expenses, must not exceed the income limit for its size. The following computations will be used to determine

4 eligibility for new SNAP applicants. #1 - Total anticipated income includes the wages a household actually received after taxes and all other payroll withholding, unearned income payments and net self-employment income received during the benefit period August 17, 2018 and September 15, #2 - Total accessible cash includes all accessible liquid resources such as cash on hand and funds in accessible checking and saving accounts. #3 - Total disaster expenses including those disaster related expenses that were paid out of pocket during the disaster benefit period. The household is eligible for the maximum allotment for their household size if the total available funds (household income + accessible cash - allowable disaster related deductions) is less than the disaster maximum income limit. FFY 2018 DSNAP limits will be used in the determination. Ongoing Households: The DSNAP supplement must be requested via the Affidavit of Loss of Income or Disaster Related Expense during the DSNAP application period. The household reported loss must have occurred during the disaster period of August 17, and September 14. The affidavit can be mailed to the household, it will be available online for printing and the form can be picked up at the local agency office. The completed form can be mailed, faxed, or dropped off in the office. The household will be afforded 10 days to return the completed form and account for holiday closures; no affidavit will be accepted after December 26, Following the receipt of the affidavit, local agencies will issue a supplement equal to the difference between September s issuance (not including replacements due to food loss) and the maximum allotment for the household size.

5 Anticipated Issuance: New DSNAP applications are expected to be approximately 8,629 households. Methodology: Population of the eight counties: 800,462. Average poverty limit in these counties is 11.4%, with the assumption that low income individuals are in need of emergency food, bringing the population in need to 91,253. Of those 91,253 individuals, 70,113 individuals received SNAP benefits in September The remaining individuals (minus those on SNAP) the estimated need for emergency food is 21,140 individuals. Wisconsin s average household size is 2.45 individuals. Expected number of new households applying for DSNAP benefits is 8,629. Estimated ongoing SNAP households is expected to be approximately 35,000 (total eligible for supplemental SNAP benefit minus those who have potentially already received the maximum SNAP benefit for September). Ongoing SNAP household will need to request the disaster supplement and complete the Affidavit of Loss of Income or Disaster Related Expense during the DSNAP application period. EBT: New DSNAP applicants found eligible will receive a Quest card in the mail with their DSNAP benefit load for immediate use. Quest cards will be mailed using express postal service. It is anticipated that due to the timing of the application period, most applicants will not be in need of immediate access to emergency food assistance. Onsite emergency Quest cards, known as vault cards, will be available upon request for those households that indicate the need for immediate access to DSNAP benefits. Vault cards are stored in a secure locked location in each agency. The issuance and activation of the vault card requires two merit staff. One who will issue the card and one who will

6 assist with pinning and activating the vault card. The issuance of all vault cards is tracked and monitored by both agency and state staff. A DSNAP approval notice will be sent to those households found eligible. Those household denied will receive a negative notice of decision. Ongoing SNAP households will receive a supplement equal to the difference between initial benefit issuance and the maximum benefit for the household. The supplement will be loaded into their current Quest account. Upon approval of the DSNAP supplement, the household will receive a notice of supplemental issuance. If a household has requested the supplement and has been found ineligible, a notice of denial will be sent. Wisconsin s EBT vendor is FIS. FIS will have sufficient stock of cards available for the DSNAP. Duplicate Participation: Since the CWW system is currently operational, duplicate participation checks will be done at time of application. Program Integrity: Local agencies will assign fraud staff when available to review DSNAP applications and supplements. Checks for duplicate participation will be done before the DSNAP interview. Workers will check the CWW computer record to see if the applicant is currently participating in the SNAP program, known as FoodShare, in Wisconsin. They will also check each individual on the case member history tab under the Query function in CWW to identify if each individual may be participating on another case to avoid duplication of benefits. Questionable information will be followed up on, including any issues that are unresolved during the interview. Local agency workers will conduct in-person interviews of DSNAP applicants and complete the DSNAP application process at the local agency office. Proper

7 signage and fact sheets will be in place at the local agency. DSNAP materials will be available in waiting areas. Signage will inform potential applicants that duplicate participation checks will be in place, computer checks will be used and that there are administrative, civil, and criminal penalties for committing DSNAP fraud and that questionable applications will be referred to fraud investigators and could delay application processing up to seven days. State staff will visit and provide assistance to agencies operating under the DSNAP. DHS staff will sample the DSNAP applications and review for accuracy of information and eligibility determination process. All state and county employee applications will be reviewed as part of the quality control review. Applications selected for the quality control review are separate from the federal SNAP quality control review sample and process. DSNAP review findings will be included in the final DSNAP report sent to FNS. Logistics: Applications and interviews will occur at the local agencies within the affected counties. Dane county may elect to operate the DSNAP at their satellite office located in Stoughton, Wisconsin. Any additional support that is needed will be provided by the consortia in which the county agency and satellite office is a part of. If additional support is needed, DHS will assist in providing that support. All DSNAP requests are processed and tracked in the CARES (CWW) system. All documents associated with DSNAP will be scanned into the electronic case file. Language access services will be provided to any household in need of those services. Individuals will receive information pertaining to fair hearings and how to file a civil rights complaint. When security is needed, the local agency staff will contact local or state law enforcement agencies. Security of computer

8 equipment, EBT cards and equipment is part of current agency operations. Local agency staff will ensure access to the disaster site office(s) for the elderly or disabled population with handicapped parking available. Additionally, allow authorized representatives to apply for DSNAP on their behalf. Allow the elderly or disabled to use a separate line so their applications can be taken faster, if conditions warrant. Accommodations like water and restrooms will be made available if the lines are long, and will help with crowd control. Staffing: Each of the eight counties are a part of a consortia (Capital, Western, and Southern). The impacted consortia will ensure there is sufficient staffing to manage both the DSNAP and normal daily eligibility processes. DHS will work with consortia to identify and mitigate any conflicts that would negatively impact their ability to effectively operate the DSNAP. Wisconsin s outreach agencies will be available to assist ongoing and new applicants in completing affidavits and applications. Employee Applications: DHS will identify state or county employees who work at a local agency or that are connected with eligibility programs and applying for DSNAP benefits. Workers processing applications will note in CARES Worker Web (CWW) any households that include a relevant state or county employee. CWW will generate a list of these employees Social Security Number for the quality control review. Conflict of interest situations will be identified and appropriate supervisors within the agency or within the consortia will be assigned to process the DSNAP request.

9 Attachments: DSNAP application F-16060, FoodShare Affidavit of Lost or Costs from a Disaster, DSNAP Notice of Decision (positive and negative) F-16105, Positive Supplement Notice of DSNAP Benefits, draft media release on from DHS and one from the Governor s office, draft DSNAP poster, maps of impacted counties issued by Emergency Management, Letter from National Weather Service Milwaukee/Sullivan, FEMA declaration, Presidential Declaration.