County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSA CalFresh Program Guide Number Page SemiAnnual Reporting SAR 63271 1of 4 Revision Date 06012021 Background SemiAnnual Reporting SAR is the simplified reporting option under federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program SNAP reporting requirements that California elects to use Recipients are required to submit one Eligibility Status Report Form SAR 7 in the 6 12 18 or 24 month interval Purpose This section includes policies on Household HH reporting requirements responsibilities midperiod reporting and treatment of the information provided This section is being reformatted after sunset review Policy HHs must be informed at the application interview of SAR requirements HHs must receive the SAR 7 prior to the end of the data month The information provided for the SAR data month will be used to determine ongoing eligibility and calculate benefit amounts for the next SAR payment period Staff must assist the HH in completing the SAR 7 and obtaining all required verifications Documentation must be entered detailing the type of assistance offered for example in person by phone or in writing For additional information on reasonably anticipated income refer to 63282 1 Households Reporting Responsibilities HHs are required to report the following information and or changes on the SAR 7 HH composition Address and shelter costs Medical costs child support paid and dependent or childcare costs Resources Changes exceeding 100 to ongoing unearned income received in the data month Changes or anticipated changes since the last report application or recertification Earned income Expenses for the data month 2 Voluntary MidPeriod Information at SAR Changes reported at SAR 7 that did not occur or were not known to the HH in the data month will be treated as a voluntary midperiod report The HH may be entitled to a supplement for the SAR submit month due to the decrease in income Refer to 64274 for additional information on increases in benefits Below are some examples for reported changes that may be considered voluntary midperiod reports Example Reported income increase after submitting SAR 7 Scenario A HH provides a SAR 7 on the 8th of the submit month The report includes information from the data month On the 15th of the submit month the HH calls to report that her income has increased She anticipates that this income will continue at this amount for the rest of the semiannual period Outcome The SAR 7 was received timely and the income is not over the Income Reporting Threshold IRT The report of increased income will be considered a voluntary midperiod report because the information was unknown to the HH in the data month The information will not be acted on unless it results in an increase to her benefits County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSA CalFresh Program Guide SemiAnnual Reporting SAR Number Page 63271 2 of 4 Scenario A HH provides a SAR 7 on the 8th of the submit month The report includes information from the data month On the 15th of the submit month the HH calls to report that her income in the data month was higher than she originally reported She anticipates that this income will continue at this amount for the rest of the semiannual period Outcome The SAR 7 was received timely Information reported should have been provided on her SAR 7 this is considered a correction to her previous report The income will be considered in determining eligibility and benefit amounts for the certification period Example Income decrease reported on SAR 7 submit month Scenario A HH provides a SAR 7 on the 5th of submit month and reports that their income decreased in the data month Outcome The SAR 7 was received timely This information should be treated as a voluntary midperiod report and will be used to calculate the HHs benefit amount for the next certification period A supplement may be provided for the submit month if the income decreases and all other factors on the SAR 7 cause a benefit increase 3 Verification Responsibilities HHs must provide verification of the information reported on the SAR 7 if applicable when changes have occurred or if questionable Contact must be made to confirm the income changes and to identify if the income can be reasonably anticipated Refer to 63282 for additional information on prospective budgeting and reasonably anticipated income Staff must assist the HH in obtaining all required verifications and use available data matches such as The Work Number WN Income Eligibility and Verification System IEVS or MediCal Eligibility Data System MEDS to verify the information detailed below Gross nonexcluded earned income includes selfemployment Newly reported nonexcluded unearned income or when a change exceeding 100 has occurred to previously reported unearned income Nonexcluded income of any sponsor SAR 72 if applicable refer to 63246 for treatment of sponsors income Dependent care costs Medical expenses refer to 632538 on processing reported medical expenses SelfEmployment expenses only if the HH is claiming actual expenses and not the 40 standard deduction Child support payments or legal obligation to pay child support to a person not in the CalFresh CF HH 6322415 Social Security Number SSN only when a member is being added to a CF HH 63161 The source of excluded income when it is first reported and when there is a change 4 Complete SAR 7 Criteria HHs are required to submit a complete SAR 7 with verifications needed to determine ongoing eligibility and benefit allotment HHs are not required to report on the SAR 7 voluntary midperiod information that has been reported and verified The HH is only required to provide verification with the SAR 7 if voluntarily reported information was not verified during the midperiod such as income under Income Reporting Threshold IRT and information not considered Verified Upon Receipt VUR The SAR 7 will be considered complete if All questions and items are answered and complete or otherwise clarified with the HH County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSA CalFresh Program Guide SemiAnnual Reporting SAR Number Page 63271 3 of 4 Necessary verifications have been provided The documentation provided is sufficient to make an eligibility and benefit level determination The form is signed and dated NOTE There is no requirement that a SAR 7 must be signed and dated on or after the first day of the submit month Please refer to examples provided below Example SAR 7 submitted with data month verifications Scenario A HH completes signs and date a manual SAR 7 on January 12th and submits on April 23rd The verifications provided are for March data month and the remaining criteria for a complete SAR 7 was met Outcome This will be considered complete The HH submitted all required documents and verifications for the SAR 7 Example SAR 7 submitted with nondata month verifications Scenario A HH completes signs and dates a manual SAR 7 on January 12th and submits on April 23rd The verifications provided are for February Outcome This will be considered incomplete The HH does not meet the criteria for a complete SAR 7 because data month verifications were not provided 5 Action on Reported Changes Staff must act on the following information which may result in a change of benefits during the SAR payment period Information that is required to be reported on the SAR 7 and was not included Information considered VUR even if the change results in a midperiod decrease refer to 63284 for additional guidance A change in either HH composition or a decrease in income that is verified and results in a midperiod increase Mandatory midperiod reports that result in a decreasediscontinuance of benefits County initiated actions that result in a decreasediscontinuance of benefits HH request to discontinue benefits An overissuance can be calculated if a Public Assistance CalFresh PACF HH fails to report income over the CalWORKs IRT No overissuance will be calculated if the unreported income is under IRT for CF because it is not mandatory for CF References All County Letters ACL 2124 1818 and 1818E 1590 1542 1357 1326 1317 1308 1259 1225 1225E ACIN I5812 MPP 63509 MPP 63504 Sunset Date This policy will be reviewed for continuance by 06302024 Approval for Release County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSA CalFresh Program Guide SemiAnnual Reporting SAR Number Page 63271 4 of 4 Rick Wanne Director Self Sufficiency Services