W-2 Eligibility Troubleshooting in CARES Worker Web (CWW) Desk Aid

Transcription

1 W-2 Eligibility Troubleshooting in CARES Worker Web (CWW) Desk Aid Purpose: This document is intended as a reference guide for troubleshooting W-2 eligibility issues in CARES Worker Web (CWW). Using this document, you will be able to: Identify W-2 group sizes calculated by CWW; Recognize non-financial and financial eligibility run results on the respective CWW pages; Identify failure reason codes, and research the data entries that are linked to them.

2 Table of Contents W-2 ELIGIBILITY TROUBLESHOOTING IN CARES WORKER WEB (CWW) DESK AID... 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS... 2 W-2 Contact Information... 3 UNDERSTANDING HOW CWW THINKS... 4 W-2 Group (W-2 Manual, Glossary)... 4 W-2 Non-Financial Eligibility (W-2 Manual, Chapter 2)... 5 Other Non-Financial Eligibility Notes... 6 W-2 Asset Eligibility (W-2 Manual, Chapter 3.3)... 6 W-2 Income Eligibility (W-2 Manual, Chapter 3.2)... 6 SEEING WHAT CWW IS THINKING... 7 Is the W-2 Group correct?... 9 Is CWW counting the correct amount of assets? Is CWW counting the correct amount of income? What if the Case Is PENDing? W-2 Eligibility Failure Non-financial failures Common non-financial failure codes you might see: Asset failures A note on undercounted assets Income failures Additional Notes SUMMARY DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 2 06/23/2016 S://...Curricul/EnhancedCaseManagement/W-2_Elig_Troubleshoot_

3 W-2 Contact Information Questions regarding this training material should be directed via your local agency process to the Partner Training Section, A contact person is available to answer ed questions related to this training material, assist you in completing any activity that you are having difficulty with, and/or provide explanation of anything else about this training material. Questions regarding W-2 production cases and systems should be directed via your local agency process to the W-2 Help Desk at: Telephone: (608) W-2 Policy questions should be directed to your Regional Office staff. DCF is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. If you have a disability and need information in an alternate format, or need it translated to another language, please contact (608) or (866) For civil rights questions call (608) or (866) (TTY). DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 3 06/27/2016

4 Understanding How CWW Thinks Since 1994, eligibility workers in Wisconsin have been using the CARES (Client Assistance for Re-Employment and Economic Support) system to determine eligibility and calculate benefits for various programs. More recently, the CARES system was given an internet-based interface and called CARES Worker Web (CWW). Even though data now is entered into the system through web pages, the underlying programming of CARES still is largely the same using the data factors input by the worker, CARES applies the logic it has been programmed with and determines whether an individual or group is eligible for a program of assistance. As a worker, you will enter names, dates of birth, addresses, and answers to dozens of Yes/No questions, assets, income amounts - and much, much more, into CWW. What does the system do with all that information? Because CWW is a computer system, you need to understand a few things about how it thinks : CWW follows its programming for any data element that is entered. CWW is a linear processing system. It does things in the order it is programmed, and reports the results back to you. CWW always will do exactly what it is told even if you didn t mean to tell it that. Given correct data 99.99% of the time, CWW gives the correct eligibility result. CWW is programmed to build Assistance Groups and test eligibility in three phases : non-financial, assets and income. These are tested for each potential month of eligibility. For W-2, the data CWW uses for these tests can be understood if we review W-2 eligibility policy in these three areas. W-2 Group (W-2 Manual, Glossary) According to the Glossary of the W-2 Manual, the W-2 Group is defined as: An adult custodial parent, all dependent children with respect to whom the individual is a legal custodial parent and all minor children with respect to whom the adult individual s dependent child is a custodial parent. W-2 Group includes any non-marital co-parent or any spouse of the individual who resides in the same household as the individual and any minor children with respect to whom the spouse or non-marital co-parent is a custodial parent. W-2 Group does not include any person who is receiving cash benefits under a county relief block grant program. This is also referred to as the W-2 Assistance Group (W-2 AG). CWW is programmed to apply these rules to every person who is entered as part of the household in the system. It then will include the appropriate persons in the W-2 group and test the group for W-2 eligibility. DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 4 06/27/2016

5 W-2 Non-Financial Eligibility (W-2 Manual, Chapter 2) This encompasses everything from Time Limits to Wisconsin Residency. Each of the non-financial eligibility policy items lives somewhere in CWW. An incorrect entry in any of those relevant data fields will cause an incorrect eligibility determination. For example: on the Current Demographics page in CWW, if you incorrectly indicate that the primary person does not reside in Wisconsin, CWW will fail the group for W-2 eligibility. The following chart can help you find the CWW page for data related to W-2 non-financial eligibility: Eligibility Factor Custodial parent Relevant CWW Page Household Relationships 18 or older Household Members U.S. citizen/qualified alien Residency/intent to reside/migrant worker Child Support cooperation Verify in 7 working days Good faith effort to obtain employment/ Cooperate with W-2 Agency/Apply for other assistance Not receive SSI/SSDI Not participate in a strike SSN cooperation Report changes No other group member in employment position Learnfare cooperation Employment search Fleeing felon/p & P violator Drug Felon Permanent Demographics/Alien-Refugee Current Demographics Absent Parent Verification (VR) fields Employment Gatepost/Non-cooperation Benefits Received Employment Current Demographics Verification (VR) fields W-2 Placement Page School Enrollment CARES Work Programs/WPFR (this will show participants currently with an open ES component. ) Current Demographics Drug Felon DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 5 06/27/2016

6 Other Non-Financial Eligibility Notes Here are common errors found by staff in the field: Be sure the School Enrollment page is completed fully (expected graduation date) for 18 year-olds who will graduate from High School before turning 19. If it isn t, CWW will incorrectly close the case if the youngest child is 18. If a case is closing for No eligible child in the home, double-check that all Living Arrangement codes are entered correctly on the Current Demographics page. Remember that a step-parent cannot be in a W-2 placement unless there is a child in common. W-2 Asset Eligibility (W-2 Manual, Chapter 3.3) If the W-2 group passes non-financial eligibility, CWW will test the group s assets against the W-2 asset limit of $ The system is programmed to know how to count assets; as long as the information is entered correctly on the asset pages in CWW, it will correctly apply the policy. Be sure to enter all relevant information regarding a vehicle so that CWW will count the vehicle s value correctly (CWW exempts the first $10,000 of vehicle equity). Remember that there is a specific way to enter joint assets in CWW so that the proper amounts are counted. If a W-2 participant requests to receive his/her W-2 payment via direct deposit, make sure that his or her checking, savings or prepaid debit card asset is selected on the Asset Gatepost page and entered on the Liquid Assets page. W-2 Income Eligibility (W-2 Manual, Chapter 3.2) If the W-2 group passes the asset test, CWW then will test their income against the W-2 income limit for a group of their size. CWW is programmed to count certain types of income for W-2 testing (such as earnings and U.C.) and to disregard other types of income (such as Child Support and earned income of a minor). As long as the income is entered correctly in the system, CWW knows whether or not to count it. If the W-2 group passes all three of these phases of testing, CWW will determine that they are eligible for W-2. You don t have to wait for the end of the eligibility process to see what CWW is thinking. You can follow along with the process. DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 6 06/27/2016

7 Seeing what CWW Is Thinking Run eligiblity on the Initate Eligiblity page to see how CWW is thinking with the information that has been entered. (See Running with Dates Desk Aid on how and when to Run Eligibility with Date) If a W-2 participant is in a CMF placement. A FEP is able to perform a specialized eligibility run that ignores income and assets. FEPs preforming CMF eligibility must check the Ignore W-2 income and assets tests to allow CMF Placement to begin field. FEPs will see on the W-2 Budget page that the income test failed and it was skipped. DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 7 06/27/2016

8 After eligibility is run, CWW will show the Eligibility Run Results page. There are three possible outcomes for each assistance group: PASS - FAIL - Based on the information entered, CWW has determined that the W-2 group passes the test (meets a guideline or is under the asset/income limit). Based on the information entered, CWW has determined that the W-2 group did not pass the test (failed to meet a guideline or is over the asset/income limit). PEND - CWW does not have all the information it needs to determine if a test was passed or failed (usually due to the entry of a? in a verification field or failure to complete a screen such as Up-Front Requirements). When you see the results of CWW s eligibility testing, it is a good idea to double-check some things: DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 8 06/27/2016

9 Is the W-2 Group correct? Clicking on NEXT will display the Assistance Group Composition Details page. You ll have to select the W-2 Assistance Group using the drop down box at the bottom of the page, and then click the GO button located after the date field. Are all the household members that you expected included in the group? Is the group size correct? DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 9 06/27/2016

10 Clicking on NEXT will bring you to the Eligibility Summary page. This summary shows you the results of CWW testing the W-2 Group non-financially, for assets and income. If you click the boxes next to each result and click NEXT, CWW will take you to pages that show the details of the testing results for each. DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 10 06/27/2016

11 Non-financial testing results The Non-Financial Summary screen displays the results of the non-financial test. You are able to view any non-financial eligibility reasons that are causing the case to fail. By clicking on the code the worker is able to view a detailed description of the failure reason. DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 11 06/27/2016

12 Is CWW counting the correct amount of assets? This summary lists the assets that we used for the asset eligibility test/determination. Check to see that the total amount of assets being counted, including vehicle value, is accurate. DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 12 06/27/2016

13 Is CWW counting the correct amount of income? Income/Asset Test Skipped This field displays with a YES when income and assets were disregarded in the eligibility determination process. If the case is passing eligibility and the FEP clicks the W-2 Ignore income and asset tests to allow CMF placement to begin on the Initiate Eligibility page, the override will not be applied. In this instance, the Income/Asset Test Skipped will be set to NO even if the FEP checked the W-2 Ignore income and asset tests to allow CMF placement to begin on the Initiate Eligibility page. DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 13 06/27/2016

14 What if the Case Is PENDing? The most common reason a case will PEND is that a? or a Q? has been entered in a verification field in CWW. This is a correct result if you are awaiting items of verification for a case. If you believe all the verification items have been entered and the case is still PENDING, you have a problem. If you re unsure what information is causing the PEND, check the CWW Verification Checklist. DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 14 06/27/2016

15 The checklist is displayed by CWW after you click NEXT from the Eligibility Summary page. You also can navigate back to it using the Navigation Menu on the left. If the verification item(s) shown really have been received, then CWW needs to be updated and eligibility rerun. Another common reason for a PEND is that the W-2 Up-Front Activity Requirements page hasn t been completed correctly. If CWW is testing W-2 eligibility for a case where the W-2 Request Date is 7/28/16, but the Begin Month on the W-2 Up-Front Activity Requirements page is 08/2016, CWW can t make an eligibility determination for July and will PEND for that month. To fix this problem, AE delete the W-2 Up-Front Activity Requirements page with the incorrect information, and enter a new page with the correct Begin Month. DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 15 06/27/2016

16 W-2 Eligibility Failure When CWW fails a group for W-2 eligibility, it always will show a reason or reasons why the failure happened. Failure codes may apply to the group as a whole (when eligibility is denied) or to individuals in the household (when they are excluded from the W-2 group). If you believe the failure is not correct, you ll need to follow the reason codes back to the data that caused them. CWW gives you a great place to start. Non-financial failures Because there are so many non-financial eligibility criteria for W-2, there are many reasons a case could fail non-financially. Individuals also may be excluded from the W-2 group for non-financial reasons. Note that the reason code is clickable. Clicking on it will open a detailed explanation of the failure code. DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 16 06/27/2016

17 Common non-financial failure codes you might see: Code 028 no person meets program requirements 093- refuses to give or get a Social Security Number Possible explanation CWW was not able to build a W-2 group based on the data entered for the individuals in the household. Shown as not cooperating with SSN requirements on Current Demographics page. 112 did not verify answers An NV, QV or SP code is entered in a verification field. 113 did not provide information An F is entered on a gatepost question. 141 does not meet program requirements 209 no one in the W-2 group is a custodial parent of a child <18 Fails non-financial eligibility for a program of assistance. Either relationships or dates of birth may be entered incorrectly on the Household Members/Household Relationships page. 211 failed to cooperate with Child Shown as not cooperating on Absent Support Parent page. 236 s/he does not reside in Wisconsin Coded as not residing in Wisconsin on Current Demographics page. 237 s/he does not intend to reside in Coded as not intending to reside in Wisconsin Wisconsin on Current Demographics 246 receives SSDI; cannot be in employment position 253 your up-front activity requirements have not been met 256 receives SSI; cannot be in employment position page. Coded as receiving SSDI on Benefits Received page. Coded as not completing up-front requirements on the W-2 Up-Front Activity Requirements page Coded as receiving SSI on Benefits Received page. DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 17 06/27/2016

18 Asset failures Assets test failures always apply to the W-2 group as a whole. Only three things about assets could cause a case to fail. Failing to verify them or being over the asset limit are the two most common. There also could be a failure to answer an asset gatepost question ( F is entered in the field instead of Y or N ). The failure code was shown earlier on the Eligibility Run Results page. DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 18 06/27/2016

19 Depending on the code, double-check either the asset gatepost or the asset detail pages. If the case is failing because assets are over the limit and all your asset entries are correct, the case is correctly being denied. A note on undercounted assets Even though undercounting assets will not result in eligibility failures, it is something to be careful about. It could result in a W-2 group being found incorrectly eligible and receiving benefits that they should not get, thus creating an overpayment. One data field to be cautious with is the Available? question on the asset pages. Coding this as N instead of Y will result in CWW not counting the asset you entered. Jointly owned assets are another issue. If they are not entered correctly, CWW may count only half the value. DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 19 06/27/2016

20 Income failures As with assets, income tests also are applied to the whole W-2 group. Three things can cause a case to fail for income. Failing to verify income or being over the income limit are the two most common. There also could be a failure to answer an income gatepost question. The failure code(s) was shown earlier on the Eligibility Run Results page. DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 20 06/27/2016

21 Depending on the code, double-check either the income gateposts or the unearned income detail page, the employment page, or (if applicable) the self-employment page. If the case is over the W-2 income limit, the group size is correct and all your income entries are accurate, the case is correctly being denied. DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 21 06/27/2016

22 Other potential income issues If income is being undercounted or over counted, check your entries for accuracy. A missed or mistaken keystroke can significantly change a number. A common problem happens with the Employment page. When entering the details, FEP s must specify the pay frequency as weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc. CWW will do the calculations to convert the income to a monthly figure. In this example, an individual working full-time is paid bi-weekly. However, the FEP mistakenly entered 40 hours per pay period on the page. 40 hours per week would be 80 hours per pay period if the participant is paid bi-weekly. The net result is that CWW counts only half of the correct income amount. DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 22 06/27/2016

23 Additional Notes A case will fail if a W-2 participant is in a CMF placement and the case pends or fails non-financial eligibility. Look for the unearned income and any employment income that should be included. Did CWW use the correct total? Not every unexpected result is incorrect. CWW gives the correct answer based on the data that is entered. Consider the possibility that the result you are seeing is the correct result. If you are not sure that the final determination is correct, DO NOT CONFIRM THE CASE ON THE CONFIRM ELIGIBILIITY PAGE. It is much easier to fix an incorrect eligibility result before confirmation, especially for new cases. Spend some time checking your expectations. If you re fairly sure the eligibility result isn t correct, then it s time to look for the data that s causing the issue. If you get stuck, be sure to ask for help, either from a more experienced CWW user or from the CARES coordinator in your office. You also can check with the PTS Training E- mailbox (PTSTrainingSupp@wisconsin.gov). If the staff is unable to help you, it might be a question for the W-2 Help Desk. DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 23 06/27/2016

24 Summary Be sure to review the W-2 Group that CWW builds by checking the Assistance Group Composition Details page. Look for non-financial, asset or income failures on the Eligibility Summary page, and use the check boxes to see the details. Watch for reason codes on the Eligibility Run Results page, and click on them to see details about what the code means. Track down the data causing eligibility issues based on the type of failure, reason codes and your knowledge of where W-2 eligibility policy lives in CWW. If you re not sure the eligibility results are correct, don t confirm them on the Confirm Eligibility page. Check your data first, and confirm only when you are sure the results are correct. If you get stuck, ask for help. DCF/DFES/BWF/Partner Training Section 24 06/27/2016