[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 7, Volume 4]

[Revised as of January 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 7CFR272.10]



[Page 617-620]

 

                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE

 

    CHAPTER II--FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

 

PART 272_REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATING STATE AGENCIES--Table of Contents

 

Sec. 272.10  ADP/CIS Model Plan.



    (a) General purpose and content--(1) Purpose. All State agencies are 

required to sufficiently automate their



[[Page 618]]



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. 

In 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 Sec. 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 Sec. 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 Sec. 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 Sec. 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 Sec. 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 Sec. 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 Sec. 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



[[Page 619]]



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 notices of change in 

households' circumstances;

    (ii) Identify other elements that affect the eligibility of 

household members such as alien status, presence of an elderly person in 

the household, status of periodic work registration, disqualification 

actions, categorical eligibility, and employment and training status;

    (iii) Provide for an automatic cutoff of participation for 

households which have not been recertified at the end of their 

certification period;

    (iv) Notify the certification unit (or generate notices to 

households) of cases requiring Notices of:

    (A) Case Disposition,

    (B) Adverse Action and Mass Change, and

    (C) Expiration;

    (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 Sec. 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);

    (viii) Identify cases where action is pending or follow-up must be 

pursued, for example, households and verification pending or households 

containing disqualified individuals or a striker;

    (ix) Calculate or validate benefits based on restored benefits or 

claims collection, and maintain a record of the changes made;

    (x) Store information concerning characteristics of all household 

members;

    (xi) Provide for appropriate Social Security enumeration for all 

required household members; and

    (xii) Provide for monthly reporting and retrospective budgeting as 

required.

    (2) Issuance, reconciliation and reporting. (i) Generate 

authorizations for benefits in issuance systems employing 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;



[[Page 620]]



    (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:

    (A) Issuance:

    (1) FNS-259--Summary of mail issuance and replacement;

    (2) FNS-250--Reconciliation of redeemed ATPs with reported 

authorized coupon issuance.

    (B) Reconciliation: FNS-46--ATP Reconciliation Report.

    (vii) Generate data necessary to meet other reporting requirements 

and provide for the eventual capability of directly transmitting data to 

FNS, including:

    (A) FNS-101--Program participation by race;

    (B) FNS-209--Status of claims against households; and

    (C) FNS-388--Coupon issuance and participation estimates.

    (viii) Allow for sample selection for quality control reviews of 

casefiles, and for management evaluation reviews;

    (ix) Provide for program-wide reduction or suspension of benefits 

and restoration of benefits if funds later become available and store 

information 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]