Library: Policy

340:50-5-10.1. Excluded household members

Revised 9-15-21

(a) Excluded household members. Excluded household members may not participate as a separate food benefit household. When excluded members live with the food benefit household, they are excluded from the household's size when determining benefits and comparing the household's monthly income with the income eligibility standards. Depending on the reason they are excluded, all or a portion of their income is included as countable income for the food benefit household and deductible expenses may be prorated, per Section 273.11(c) of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations (7 C.F.R. § 273.11(c)). Refer to Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:50-7-29(d), to determine how the income and expenses of excluded household members is counted.

(b) Disqualified household members. A household member may be disqualified for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food benefits, per 7 C.F.R. § 273.1(b)(7) for:

(1) committing an intentional program violation or fraud, per OAC 340:50-15-25;

(2) failing to meet work registration requirements, per OAC 340:50-5-85 through OAC 340:50-5-89;

(3) being a fleeing felon. Per 7 C.F.R. § 273.11(n)(1), for a person to be considered a fleeing felon, the worker must verify: • 1

(A) there is an outstanding arrest warrant for the person issued for his or her arrest by a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency or court and, the underlying cause for the warrant is for committing or attempting to commit a crime that is a felony under the law of the place from which the person is fleeing, or a high misdemeanor under the law of New Jersey;

(B) the person is aware of, or should have reasonably expected that a felony warrant was, or would have been, issued;

(D) a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency is actively seeking the person. "Actively seeking" is when a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency:

(i) informs Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS) that it intends to enforce an outstanding felony warrant, as described in (b)(3)(A) of this Section, within 20-calendar days of submitting a request for information about the person to OKDHS;

(ii) presents a felony arrest warrant to OKDHS that conforms to one of the National Crime Information Center uniform offense classification codes, to obtain information on the location of and other information about the person named in the warrant. National Crime Information Center uniform offense classification codes are:

(I) escape, code 4901;

(II) flight to avoid prosecution, confinement, and such, code 4902; or

(III) flight-escape, code 4999; or

(iii) states it intends to enforce an outstanding felony warrant within 30-calendar days of the date of the request from OKDHS about a specific outstanding felony warrant; or

(4) being a probation or parole violator meeting criteria of this paragraph. • 2 Per 7 C.F.R. § 273.11(n)(2), to be considered a probation or parole violator, the Adult and Family Services director's designee must determine that:

(A) the person violated a condition of his or her probation or parole imposed under federal or state law; and

(B) federal, state, or local law enforcement authorities are actively seeking the person to enforce the conditions of the person's probation or parole. "Actively seeking" is when a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency:

(i) informs OKDHS that it intends to arrest a person for a probation or parole violation within 20-calendar days of submitting an information request about the person to OKDHS; or

(ii) states that it intends to arrest the person for a probation or parole violation within 30-calendar days of the request date from OKDHS about a specific outstanding felony warrant or parole violation.

(c) Ineligible household members. Ineligible household members are persons living in the household that do not meet a program requirement, such as:

(1) failure to obtain, or refusal to provide a Social Security number, per OAC 340:50-5-68;

(2) being an ineligible alien, per OAC 340:50-5-67;

(3) being an able-bodied adult without dependents and not meeting work requirements, per OAC 340:50-5-100; or

(4) failure to cooperate with providing requested verification when information is unclear, per OAC 340:50-9-5(i)(4).

INSTRUCTIONS TO STAFF 340:50-5-10.1

Revised 1-13-23

1. (a) It is important to remember that in order to consider a person a fleeing felon, the person must meet all four requirements, per (b)(3)(A) through (D) of this Section.

(1) Adult and Family Services (AFS) field staff does not initiate contact with law enforcement.

(2) When law enforcement contacts field staff requesting information about a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipient and states the household member is a fleeing felon, field staff requests a copy of the felony arrest warrant and asks the law enforcement official if the official intends to arrest the person within the next 20-calendar days.

(A) Per Oklahoma Administrative Code 340:65-1-2, field staff may disclose the SNAP recipient's address to federal, state, and local law enforcement officers, who:

(i) furnish the recipient's name and Social Security number; and

(ii) notify staff that the recipient is a fleeing felon or probation or parole violator and that the location or apprehension of the SNAP recipient is within their official law enforcement duties.

(B) The worker consults a supervisor, and the supervisor emails the SNAP mailbox at AFS.SNAP@okdhs.org for guidance regarding the recipient's fleeing felon status and attaches a copy of any documentation provided by the law enforcement official.

(C) An AFS SNAP program field representative (PFR) reviews the information the worker provides and contacts the household and law enforcement as needed to determine if the recipient meets all four fleeing felon status requirements. When the recipient meets the requirements, the SNAP PFR removes the person from the SNAP benefit and documents the circumstances in Family Assistance/Client Services (FACS) case notes.

(b) When the household discloses during an interview that a household member is a fleeing felon, the worker asks questions to determine if the member meets the fleeing felon status requirements, per (b)(3)(A) through (D) of this Section.

(1) The worker consults a supervisor, and the supervisor emails the SNAP mailbox at AFS.SNAP@okdhs.org for guidance, includes the information provided by the household, and documents the information in FACS case notes.

(2) The worker does not delay processing the household's SNAP application or certification renewal until the person's fleeing felon status is resolved and includes the person in the SNAP benefits.

(3) When the SNAP PFR determines the person meets fleeing felon status, the SNAP PFR removes the person from the SNAP benefit and documents the circumstances in FACS case notes.

(4) The ineligibility of a fleeing felon does not affect the eligibility of other household members.

(c) When an AFS SNAP PFR receives information from the Office of the Inspector General that a SNAP recipient may meet fleeing felon status, the SNAP PFR contacts the household and/or law enforcement as needed to determine if the person meets all four fleeing felon status requirements. When the person meets the requirements, the SNAP PFR removes the person from the SNAP benefit and documents the circumstances in FACS case notes.

2. (a) The household's statement that no one in the household is in violation of probation or parole is sufficient, unless there is information indicating otherwise. When the worker has information indicating a household member is a probation or parole violator, it is the household member's responsibility to provide verification that the violation was resolved. Field staff does not initiate contact with the parole officer.

(b) The same procedures apply to probation or parole violators as apply to fleeing felons, per Instruction to Staff # 1 of this Section, except for the requirements specified in (b)(4)(A) and (B) of this Section.