County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSACalFresh Program Guide Management of Claims Number Page 63455 1 of 3 Revision Date 06012020 BackgroundCalFresh claims are established by eligibility staff and referred to fiscal to process the collection Revisions have been made to reflect the change of policy that increases the claims establishment threshold for closed CalFresh cases PurposeThis section includes policies for managing CalFresh claims Policy634551 InterState InterCounty Claims InterState Claims In cases where a household moves from out of state the county can initiate or continue collection for any overissuance OI that occurred while the case was under the other states jurisdiction The state has the option to continue OI collection procedures or transfer the OI claim to the state in which the customer is now residing Prior to initiating action to collect claims against households which have moved into the state the county will contact the state that overissued benefits to determine that the state does not intend to pursue collection Once the county accepts responsibility claim collection will be retained by the county that is collecting the OI InterCounty ClaimsWhen a household moves to another county and continues to receive CalFresh The sending county will send all OI information to the receiving county The sending county will no longer be responsible for collection of the OI and will remove the claim from the record The receiving county will be responsible for collection of the OI When a household moves to another county and is not receiving CalFresh the last county responsible for the initiation and collection of the OI will continue to collect 634552 Criteria for Establishment of Claims for Closed Cases Effective June 1 2019 the CalFresh claims establishment threshold will be 40000 for closed cases with an OI caused by an Administrative Error AE or Inadvertent Household Error IHE Previously the claims establishment threshold on closed cases was 12500 or less for an AE and 3500 or less for an IHE The new threshold does not apply to OIs arising from Intentional Program Violation IPV or Quality Control QC reviews There is no change to the method of collection for closed cases Any claim established before June 1 2019 on a closed case with an OI caused by an AE or IHE will not be affected by this policy change The county will not refer collection of AE and IHE claims from nonparticipating households households not currently receiving CalFresh benefits when the county has documentation that the liable individual cannot be located The county will not refer collections of all IPV claims when The household has already repaid the OI or The county has documentation showing the household and its sponsor cannot be located or County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSACalFresh Program Guide Management of Claims Number Page 63455 2 of 3 The county determines that collection action will prejudice the case against a household member referred for legal prosecution 634553 Suspending Collection of ClaimsSuspending Collection of AE and IHE claimsIf collection action has been initiated and at least one demand letter has been sent the county may suspend further collection action of an AE or IHE claim against a nonparticipating household when The household cannot be located or The cost of further collection action is likely to exceed the amount that can be recovered Suspending Collection of IPV ClaimsIf collection action has been initiated and demand letters have been sent the county may suspend further collection action on any IPV claim against a nonparticipating household or its sponsor when The household or its sponsor cannot be located or The cost of further collection action is likely to exceed the amount that can be recovered Demand letters will be sent as follows At least one demand letter for claims of less than 100 At least two demand letters for claims between 100 and 400 At least three demand letters for claims of more than 400 634554 Action Against Individuals Failing to Respond to Collection LettersFor nonparticipating households the county will pursue other collection actions as appropriate to obtain the amount owed on a claim for any household or sponsor who fails to respond to written demand letters for repayment of any AE IHE or IPV claim unless the county can determine that such actions are generally not cost effective Other collection actions may include but are not limited to Referrals to collection andor similar private and public sector agencies State tax refund intercept Lottery offsets Wage garnishments Property liens Small claims court Unemployment Compensation Benefits intercept arrangements may be made to intercept the liable individuals unemployment compensation benefits to collect any claim This collection may be included as part of a repayment agreement Public Service if authorized by a court the value of a claim may be paid by the household performing public service Tax Intercept Program Under the Tax Intercept Program any individual who has an outstanding CalFresh OI may have hisher State andor Federal tax return intercepted by the California Department of Social Services CDSS through the State Franchise Tax Board FTB andor the Internal Revenue Service IRS The individuals tax refund diverted to the county will be applied as payment against the claim The county will not intercept taxes simultaneously while an OI is being recouped either by allotment reduction or regular payments Customers contacting staff with questions regarding the Intercept Program are to be referred to the Appeals department for an Administrative Review If the individual has requested a County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSACalFresh Program Guide Management of Claims Number Page 63455 3 of 3 State hearing or is awaiting a decision from a State hearing the county shall notify CDSS to remove the individual from the tax intercept program MPP 2040324 634555 Delinquent ClaimsA CalFresh OI claim is considered delinquent if The claim has not been paid by the due date and a satisfactory payment arrangement has not been made The date of delinquency for the claim is the due date on the initial written notificationdemand letter The claim will remain delinquent until payment is received in full a satisfactory payment agreement is negotiated or allotment reduction begun A payment arrangement has been established and a scheduled payment has not been made by the due date The date of delinquency for the claim is the due date of the missed installment payment The claim will remain delinquent until payment is received in full allotment reduction begun or the county determines to either resume or renegotiate the repayment schedule A claim will not be considered delinquent if Another claim for the same household is currently being paid either through an installment agreement or allotment reduction and the county expects to begin collection on the claim once the prior claims is settled The county is unable to determine delinquency status because collection is coordinated through the court system Once a CalFresh claim has been delinquent for three consecutive years the only allowable collection method is through the Treasury Offset Program TOP The county must stop all other collection methods and all demandrepayment notices being sent Program ImpactsNone References ACL 2024 ACL 16108 ACL 1950 ACL 1899 ACL 1595 ACL 1379 ACL 1379E ACIN 13314 MPP 63801 MPP 204001 Sunset Date This policy will be reviewed for continuance by 05312023 Approval for Release RICK WANNE Director Eligibility Operations