County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSA CalFresh Program Guide Expedited Services Number Page 63105 1 of 3 Revision 08012020 BackgroundExpedited Services ES allows eligible customers to receive CalFresh benefits while their case is being processed When found eligible to ES benefits must be issued to the customer within the 3day ES timeframe There are no changes due to State legislation this section is being reformatted after sunset review PurposeThis section describes the policies for evaluating ES Policy ES must be screened and evaluated even when the ES section of the application is not completed Applications that do not contain enough information to determine ES eligibility will be processed under regular CalFresh timeframes The screening and evaluation must be completed during the intake interview and anytime the households situation changes prior to granting the case This includes customers being certified or reapplying after less than a onemonth break in aid Customers must be offered application assistance and informed of their right to ES Evaluations must be completed and benefits issued within the 3day ES timeframe Refer to CalFresh Expedited ServicesProcessing Timeframes Desk Aid 1 ES Criteria When determining ES actual monthly income and liquid resources reported for the application month must be used to determine ES eligibility To be eligible to ES a customer must meet one of the following criteria Customers with less than 15000 in monthly gross income and 10000 or less in liquid resources liquid resources are counted during the ES evaluation or Customers whose combined gross monthly income and liquid resources are less than the monthly rent or mortgage and utilities or Migrant or seasonal farm workers who are destitute and have liquid resources that are not more than 10000 After ES eligibility criteria is determined to be met the eligibility determination must be completed as follows Budget the income that can be reasonably anticipated over the certification period to determine the benefit amount Evaluate for eligibility to the State Utility Assistance Subsidy SUAS Exempt resources if the customer is determined Modified Categorical Eligible MCE 2 ES Ineligibility Customers who are ineligible to ES will not be issued a denial Notice of Action NOA Customers disputing the ES ineligibility may request an agency conference Refer to Processing Guide 10501 for steps on conducting an agency conference County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSA CalFresh Program Guide Expedited Services Number Page 63105 2 of 3 3 Verifications Required for ES The only verification required to issue ES is identity of the customer If the household applies through an Authorized Representative AR both the AR and customer must provide identity verification Refer to Desk Aid Verification Requirement Chart in Eligibility Essentials for a detailed listing of acceptable forms of identity verifications When processing ES attempt to obtain all required verifications to approve ES and CalFresh at the same time Do not delay the issuance of ES while waiting for the mandatory verifications to be provided 4 Processing Standards ES evaluations must be completed and benefits issued no later than the third calendar day following the date the application was received A weekend Saturday and Sunday will be considered one calendar day When the third calendar day is a nonworking day and benefits cannot be issued the benefits must be made available the last working day prior to the third calendar day Recertification or reapplications after less than a onemonth break in aid must have ES benefits issued no later than the third calendar day following the date the application is filed or by the households normal issuance cycle in the new certification period whichever is later ES regulations do not apply if the recertification is completed before the end of the certification period The ES time frame for customers evaluated and determined eligible to ES during the initial interview will start from the date the county became aware of the households ES eligibility Customers applying for both CalWORKs and CalFresh PACF are eligible to apply for both ES and Immediate Need IN benefits Only one application and one interview are required for both programs The only exception for conducting a separate CalFresh interview is to prevent a delay in the issuance of ES Evaluate ES and IN independently of each other ES evaluation will not be delayed while waiting for the CalWORKs IN request to be processed 5 Customers with Postponed Verifications Customers approved for ES who do not provide the postponed verifications within 30days from the date the application was filed will be discontinued Customers may have their ES eligibility reevaluated if the postponed verifications are received during the second 30day period Refer to 631096 for policy on processing customer caused delays Customers who reapply are not entitled to ES again unless the postponed verifications have been provided The Notice of Approval for CalFresh Benefits must be sent informing customers that no further benefits will be issued until the postponed verifications are provided and eligibility will discontinue if they fail to provide the postponed verifications When the postponed verifications are provided a reevaluation must be completed for future and ongoing benefits Postponed verifications must be processed within five working days from the date the verifications are received or the first day of the second calendar month whichever is later There is no limit to the number of times a customer may apply for ES Customers with postponed verifications will have benefits prorated and issued as follows If the application is submitted Then issue prorated ES benefits for the on or before the 15th of the month month of application and the following months benefits will be pending until any postponed verifications are provided after the 15th of the month application month and issue the following months allotment at the same time County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSA CalFresh Program Guide Expedited Services Number Page 63105 3 of 3 Migrant farm worker households may postpone out of state verifications once each farm season The out of state verification must be provided within 60days following the date the application was filed Migrant households eligible to ES will receive the prorated benefits for the application month and the following month if the only missing verification is from an out of state source When the out of state verification is not received within 60 days benefits will be discontinued Procedure CalFresh Processing Guide 10501 References MPP 633015 All County Letter 1614 Sunset Date This policy will be reviewed for continuance by 08312023 Approval for Release RICK WANNE Director Eligibility Operations