Minnesota Administrative Rules

9500.1215 DOCUMENTING, VERIFYING, AND REVIEWING ELIGIBILITY.

Subpart 1.

Information that must be verified.

A county agency shall require an applicant or recipient to provide documentation only of information necessary to determine program eligibility and the amount of the assistance payment. Information previously verified and retained by the county agency must not be verified again unless the information no longer applies to current circumstances.

Subp. 2.

Sufficiency of documentation.

An applicant or recipient must provide documentation of the information required under subpart 4, or authorize a county agency to verify it by other means; however, the burden of providing documents for a county agency to use to verify eligibility is upon the applicant or recipient. A county agency shall help an applicant or recipient to obtain documents that the applicant or recipient does not possess and cannot obtain. When an applicant or recipient and the county agency are unable to obtain documents needed to verify information, the county agency may accept an affidavit from an applicant or recipient as sufficient documentation.

Subp. 3.

Contacting third parties.

A county agency must obtain an applicant's or recipient's written consent to request information about the applicant or recipient which is not of public record from a source other than county agencies, the department, or the United States Department of Health and Human Services. An applicant's signature on an application form shall constitute this consent for contact with the sources specified on that form. A county agency may use a single consent form to contact a group of similar sources, such as banks or insurance agencies, but the sources to be contacted must be identified by the county agency before requesting an applicant's consent. A county agency shall not provide third parties with access to information about a person's eligibility status or any other part of the case record without that person's prior written consent, except where access to specific case information is granted to agencies designated by the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 13. Information designated as confidential by the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act must only be made available to agencies granted access under that law and must not be provided to an applicant, recipient, or a third party.

Subp. 4.

Factors to be verified.

The county agency must verify the factors of program eligibility in items A to C at the time of application, when a factor of eligibility changes, and at each redetermination of eligibility.

A.

A county agency must verify:

(1)

the identity of each adult and child for whom assistance is requested;

(2)

age, if required to establish eligibility;

(3)

state residence; and

(4)

the relationship of a caretaker to the child for whom application is made.

B.

The county agency must verify the information in subitems (1) to (6) when that information is acknowledged by an applicant or recipient or obtained through a federally mandated verification system:

(1)

receipt and amount of earned income, including gross receipts from self-employment;

(2)

receipt and amount of unearned income;

(3)

termination from employment;

(4)

ownership and value of real property;

(5)

ownership and value of personal property; and

(6)

dependent care costs of an employed filing unit member at the time of application, redetermination, or a change in provider.

C.

A county agency may verify additional program eligibility and assistance payment factors when it determines that information on the application is inconsistent with statements made by the applicant, other information on the current application, information on previous applications, or other information received by the county agency. The county agency must document the reason for verifying the factor in the case record of an assistance unit. Additional factors that may be verified, subject to the conditions of this item, are:

(1)

the presence of a child in the home;

(2)

the death of a parent or spouse;

(3)

marital status;

(4)

residence address; and

(5)

income and property that an applicant or recipient has not acknowledged receiving or having.

Statutory Authority:

MS s 14.388; 256D.01; 256D.04; 256D.051; 256D.06; 256D.08; 256D.09; 256D.111

History:

15 SR 1842; 32 SR 1437

Published Electronically:

October 16, 2013