(5) Except for the claims actions specified in paragraph (c)(3) of this section, State agencies may exclude from the actions required in paragraph (c) of this section information items pertaining to household members who are participating in one of the other programs listed in paragraph (a)(2) of this section.

(d) IEVS information and quality control. The requirements of this section do not relieve the State agency of its responsibility for determining erroneous payments and/or its liability for such payments as specified in part 275 of this chapter (which pertains to quality control) and in guidelines on quality control established under that part. (e) Documentation. The State agency must document, as required by § 273.2(f)(6) of this chapter, information obtained through the IEVS both when an adverse action is and is not instituted.

[65 FR 70192, Nov. 21, 2000]

§ 272.9 Approval of homeless meal providers.

The State food stamp agency, or another appropriate State or local governmental agency identified by the State food stamp agency, shall approve establishments serving the homeless upon sufficient evidence, as determined by the agency, that the establishment does in fact serve meals to homeless persons. Where the State food stamp agency identifies another appropriate State or local agency for the purpose of approving establishments serving the homeless, the State food stamp agency will remain responsible for insuring that the provisions of the preceding sentence are effectively carried out. The State food stamp agency, or another appropriate State or local governmental agency identified by the State food stamp agency or private nonprofit organization under contract with the State food stamp agency shall execute contracts with restaurants wishing to sell meals in exchange for food stamp benefits to homeless food stamp households. Such contracts shall specify that such meals are to be sold at "concessional" (low or reduced) prices and shall also specify the approximate prices which will

be

charged, or the amount and type of price reduction.

[56 FR 54777, Oct. 23, 1991; 61 FR 53600, Oct. 15. 1996]

§ 272.10 ADP/CIS Model Plan.

(a) General purpose and content (1) Purpose. All State agencies are required to sufficiently automate their food stamp program operations and computerize their systems for obtaining, maintaining, utilizing and transmitting information concerning the food stamp program. Sufficient automation levels are those which result in effective programs or in cost effective reductions in errors and improvements in management efficiency, such as decreases in program administrative costs. Thus, for those State agencies which operate exceptionally efficient and effective programs, a lesser degree of automation may be considered sufficient than in other State agencies. Ir order to determine a sufficient level of automation in each State, each State agency shall develop an ADP/CIS plan FNS may withhold State agency funds under §276.4(a) for failure to submit an ADP/CIS plan in accordance with the deadlines for submission, for failure to make appropriate changes in their ADP/CIS plan within 60 days of their receipt of FNS comments, or for failure to implement the approved ADP/CIS plan in accordance with the dates specified therein, unless extensions of time or deviations from the plan or schedules have been approved by FNS.

(2) Content. In developing their ADP CIS plans, State agencies shall use one of the following three formats:

(i) State agencies which are sufficiently automated in each area specified in § 272.10(b) may provide a single certification statement that they are sufficiently automated in each area.

(ii) State agencies which are sufficiently automated in some, but not all. areas specified in §272.10(b) shall submit an ADP/CIS plan which consists of two parts. The first part would be the State agency's certification as to the areas in which they are sufficiently automated. The second part would describe the areas of § 272.10(b) which the State agency has not automated or, in its opinion, has not automated sufficiently and include the State agency's

plans for sufficiently automating these areas. State agencies shall include a description of how they intend to automate each area and a timetable for each planned activity, including a consideration of transfers as discussed in paragraph (a)(3) of this section. State agencies which are not planning to automate each of the areas specified § 272.10(b) or which are not already automated in these areas shall provide justification. Any such justification shall include a cost-effectiveness analysis.

(iii) State agencies which are not sufficiently automated in any of the areas specified in §272.10(b) shall submit an ADP/CIS plan which describes their plans for sufficiently automating each area, including a timetable for each planned activity, and including a consideration of transfers as discussed in paragraph (a)(3) of this section. State agencies which are not planning to automate each of the areas specified in §272.10(b) or which are not, in their opinion, sufficiently automated in these areas shall provide justification. Any such justification shall include a cost-effectiveness analysis.

(3) Transfers. (i) State agencies planning additional automation shall consult with other State agencies and with the appropriate Regional Office to determine whether a transfer or modification of an existing system from another jurisdiction would be more efficient and cost effective than the development of a new system. In assessing the practicability of a transfer, State agencies should consult with other State agencies that have similar characteristics such as whether they are urban or rural, whether they are county or State administered, the geographic size of the States and the size of the caseload.

(ii) State agencies that plan to automate operations using any method other than transfers will need to be able to justify why they are not using transfers. The justification will need to include the results of the consultations with other State agencies, the relative costs of transfer and the system the State agency plans to develop, and the reasons for not using a transfer. Common reasons for not using transfers include: The State agency is required to

use a central data processing facility and the (otherwise) transferable system is incompatible with it; the State agency's data base management software is incompatible with the transferable system; the State agency's ADP experts are not familiar with the software/hardware used by the transferable system and acquiring new expertise would be expensive; the transferable system is interactive or uses "generic" caseworkers, the receiving State agency does not and it would be expensive to modify the existing system and/or procedures; and transfer would provoke disputes with the State agency's personnel union. State agencies that cite any of these reasons shall not automatically receive approval to develop non-transferred systems. State agencies shall show what efforts were considered to overcome the problems and that those efforts are cost ineffective. This justification will need to be included as part of the Advance Planning Document that the State agency must submit for approval of its proposed system.

(iii) FNS will assist State agencies that request assistance in determining what other States have systems that should be considered as possible transfers.

(b) Model Plan. In order to meet the requirements of the Act and ensure the efficient and effective administration of the program, a food stamp system, at a minimum, shall be automated in each of the following program areas in paragraphs (b)(1), Certification, and (b)(2), Issuance Reconciliation and Reporting of this section. The food stamp system must further meet all the requirements in paragraph (b)(3), General, of this section.

(1) Certification. (i) Determine eligibility and calculate benefits or validate the eligibility worker's calculations by processing and storing all casefile information necessary for the eligibility determination and benefit computation (including but not limited to all household members' names, addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers, individual household members' earned and unearned income by source, deductions, resources and household size). Redetermine or revalidate eligibility and benefits based on

(v) Prior to certification, crosscheck for duplicate cases for all household members by means of a comparison with food stamp records within the relevant jurisdiction;

(vi) Meet the requirements of the IEVS system of §272.8. Generate information, as appropriate, to other programs.

(vii) Provide the capability to effect mass changes: Those initiated at the State level, as well as those resulting from changes at the Federal level (eligibility standards, allotments, deductions, utility standards, SSI, TANF, SAA benefits);

ATP's, direct mail, or online issuance and store all Household Issuance Record (HIR) information including: name and address of household, household size, period of certification. amount of allotment, case type (PA or NA), name and address of authorized representative, and racial/ethnic data;

(ii) Prevent a duplicate HIR from being established for presently participating or disqualified households;

(iii) Allow for authorized under- or over-issuance due to claims collection or restored benefits;

(iv) Provide for reconciliation of all transacted authorization documents to the HIR masterfile. This process must incorporate any manually-issued authorization documents, account for any replacement or supplemental authorization documents issued to a household, and identify cases of unauthorized and duplicate participation:

(v) Provide a mechanism allowing for a household's redemption of more than one valid authorization document in a given month;

(vi) Generate data necessary to meet Federal issuance and reconciliation reporting requirements, and provide for the eventual capability of directly transmitting data to FNS including:

concerning the benefit amounts actually issued;

(x) Provide for expedited issuance of benefits within prescribed timeframes;

(xi) Produce and store a participation history covering three (3) year(s) for each household receiving benefits.

(xii) Provide for cutoff of benefits for households which have not been recertified timely; and

(xiii) Provide for the tracking, aging, and collection of recipient claims and preparation of the FNS-209, Status of Claims Against Households report.

(3) General. The following functions shall be part of an overall State agency system but need not necessarily be automated:

(i) All activities necessary to meet the various timeliness and data quality requirements established by FNS;

(ii) All activities necessary to coordinate with other appropriate Federal and State programs, such as TANF or SSI;

(iii) All activities necessary to maintain the appropriate level of confidentiality of information obtained from applicant and recipient households;

(iv) All activities necessary to maintain the security of automated systems to operate the Food Stamp Program;

(v) Implement regulatory and other changes including a testing phase to meet implementation deadlines, generally within 90 days;

(vi) Generate whatever data is necessary to provide management information for the State agency's own use, such as caseload, participation and actions data;

(vii) Provide support as necessary for the State agency's management of Federal funds relative to Food Stamp Program administration, generate information necessary to meet Federal financial reporting requirements;

(viii) Routine purging of case files and file maintenance, and

(ix) Provide for the eventual direct transmission of data necessary to meet Federal financial reporting requirements.

[Amdt. 284. 52 FR 35226, Sept. 18, 1987, as amended by Amdt. 356, 59 FR 29713, June 9, 1994]

§ 272.11 Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program.

(a) General. A State agency may participate in the SAVE Program established by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), in order to verify the validity of documents provided by aliens applying for food stamp benefits with the central data files maintained by INS.

(b) Agreements. (1) Prior to implementing the SAVE Program, the State agency shall execute an agreement with INS. The agreement shall specify the information to be exchanged and the procedures which will be used in the exchange of information.

(2) The agreement shall cover at least the following areas:

(i) Identification of positions of all agency officials with authority to request immigration status information; (ii) Identification and location of all SAVE access points covered by the agreement;

For

(iii) automated SAVE verification through access to the Alien Status Verification Index (ASVI), a description of the access method and procedures;

(iv) For secondary verification as described in paragraph (d) of this section, the locations of INS District Offices to which verification requests will be directed;

(v) The safeguards limiting release or redisclosure as required by State or Federal law or regulation as discussed in §272.1(c) and as may be required by other guidelines published by the Secretary; and

(vi) Reimbursement or billing agreements for ongoing SAVE operational costs, as well as any developmental costs associated with establishing access to the ASVI database.

(c) Use of data. The State agency shall use information obtained through the SAVE Program only for the purposes of:

(1) Verifying the validity of documentation of alien status presented by an applicant;

(2) Verifying an individual's eligibility for benefits;

(3) Investigating whether participating households received benefits to

which they were not entitled, if an individual was previously certified to receive benefits on the basis of eligible alien status; and

(4) Assisting in or conducting administrative disqualification hearings, or criminal or civil prosecutions based on receipt of food stamp benefits to which participating households were not enti

tled.

(d) Method of verification. The State agency may verify the documentation presented by an alien applicant by completing INS Form G-845 and submitting photocopies of such documentation to the INS for verification as described in § 273.2(f)(10) of this chapter. In States that participate in SAVE, the State agency must use this secondary verification procedure whenever the applicant-individual's documented alien status has not been verified through automated access to the ASVI or significant discrepancies exist between the data on the ASVI and the information provided by the alien applicant.

(e) Plan of operation. The requirements for participation in the SAVE Program shall be included in an attachment to the State agency's Plan of Operation as required in §272.2(d). This document shall include a description of procedures used, method of access and the agreement specified in paragraph (b) of this section, including steps taken to meet requirements of limiting disclosure and safeguarding of information obtained from food stamp households as specified in §272.1.

[53 FR 39440, Oct. 7, 1988, as amended at 65 FR 33439, May 24, 2000; Amdt. 388, 65 FR 70193, Nov. 21, 2000]

273.21 Monthly Reporting and Retrospective Budgeting (MRRB).

273.23 Simplified application and standardized benefit projects.

273.24 Time limit for able-bodied adults. 273.25 Simplified Food Stamp Program.

AUTHORITY: 7 U.S.C. 2011-2036.

EDITORIAL NOTE: OMB control numbers relating to this part 273 are contained in § 271.8. $273.1 Household concept.

(a) General household definition. A household is composed of one of the following individuals or groups of individuals, unless otherwise specified in paragraph (b) of this section:

(1) An individual living alone;

(2) An individual living with others. but customarily purchasing food and preparing meals for home consumption separate and apart from others; or

(3) A group of individuals who live together and customarily purchase food and prepare meals together for home consumption.

(ii) A person under 22 years of age who is living with his or her natural or adoptive parent(s) or step-parent(s); and

(iii) A child (other than a foster child) under 18 years of age who lives with and is under the parental control of a household member other than his or her parent. A child must be considered to be under parental control for purposes of this provision if he or she is financially or otherwise dependent on a member of the household, unless State law defines such a person as an adult.