What’s Changed on 03/18/2024
What’s Changed on 03/18/2024
 
This page notifies staff and the public of changes to the Cash and Nutrition Assistance Policy (CNAP) Manual regarding policy, procedures, and forms. Reminders and general information may also be displayed on this page. Prior What’s Changed pages are listed in What's Changed History of the CNAP Manual.
 
The above list summarizes the information on this page. Each item listed above links to the corresponding section below.
 
Change: Arizona Rental Assistance Program
EFFECTIVE DATE: The CNAP Manual was updated as of 03/18/2024
 
The federally funded Emergency Rental Assistance Program ended on 10/13/2023 and has been replaced by the state funded Arizona Rental Assistance Program (ARAP).
 
ARAP alleviates housing instability for eligible low-income seniors and families with children. An applicant must be a tenant obligated to pay rent by a written lease agreement and reside in Arizona.
 
For more information about the Arizona Rental Assistance Program (ARAP) see FAA4.H01B.06 titled Assistance Payments.
 
Policy reference(s) revised due to this change:
 
Removed Emergency Rental Assistance Payments and replaced it with Arizona Rental Assistance Program. Removed the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program. (Updated as of 03/18/2024)
Change: Cuban and Haitian Entrant Good Cause Exemption
EFFECTIVE DATE: For determinations completed on or after 03/19/2024
 
Cuban and Haitian Entrants without employment authorization have a good cause exemption for the ABAWD and NA work requirements.
 
As of 03/19/2024, the Cuban and Haitian Entrant (HC) NA Work Requirement temporary good cause exemption can be used for any of the following situations:
 
FAA verifies the participant is not employment-authorized through one of the following:
The Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE)/Verify Legal Presence (VLP) interface in HEAplus.
An external SAVE from the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Verification Information System (VIS) website. The SAVE must be uploaded to the case file.
FAA verifies the participant is temporarily employment-authorized for only three calendar months through one of the following:
The SAVE/VLP interface in HEAplus.
An external SAVE from the VIS website. The SAVE must be uploaded to the case file.
Hard copy verification of the participant’s United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Form I-766 Employment Authorization Document.
 
When a Cuban and Haitian entrant without employment authorization does not meet any of the NA Work Requirement exemptions, grant the participant good cause.
 
When the participant is granted the good cause exemption for NA Work Requirements, the participant is also exempt from the ABAWD work requirements.
 
Eligibility for the HC temporary good cause exemption must be reviewed when any of the following occurs:
 
During the Renewal process
Re-application after benefits have been stopped or denied
The budgetary unit reports a change, using any of the following methods:
Change Report (FAA-0412A) form received in person, by mail, or by fax
Mid-Approval Contact (MAC) form
MAC Unity form
NOTE Completion of a Unity form is done with the assistance of FAA staff. To complete and sign a Unity form, contact FAA by telephone or in person at any FAA office.
 
When the participant states they are not employment authorized, complete all of the following:
 
Determine whether the participant meets any other NA Work Requirement exemption.
Review the SAVE/VLP interface in HEAplus.
Review the external VIS SAVE, when applicable.
Review the immigration documents submitted by the participant.
Document the case file including how the eligibility for good cause was verified.
 
When eligibility for the HC NA Work Requirement good cause exemption is verified, FAA staff must complete all of the following:
 
Key the Cuban Haitian (CU) immigration status code in the STAT field on NOCS
Key HC in the PAR/EXEM FS field on WORW
NOTE When the participant is also applying for CA, the participant is also deferred from Jobs program compliance, key HC in the PAR/EXEM AF field on WORW.
 
Key HC in the PAR/EXEM FS field on WERE
NOTE When NOCS is not keyed properly, the following message displays on WERE and WORW: *ERROR* HC NOT VALID FOR CLIENT. STATUS MUST BE CU ON NOCS.
 
See FAA6.B01 titled NA Work Requirements for more information.
 
Policy reference(s) revised due to this change:
 
Added policy and procedures for the Cuban and Haitian (HC) NA Work Requirement good cause exemption code. Added clarification for the Unfit for Work (UF) and Refugee (RF) NA work requirement exemption codes. (Effective for all determinations completed on or after 03/19/2024)
Clarification: LIBL and STBL Update for Refugees
 
Cuban and Haitian entrants without employment authorization are deferred from compliance with the Jobs Program and are potentially eligible for a Time Limit Extension of the Lifetime Benefit Limit (LIBL) and State Benefit Limit (STBL).
 
Until 07/2021, FAA issued Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) to single adults, childless couples, and Two Parent Employee Program (TPEP) budgetary units who already received six months of CA benefits. The additional months received by the TPEP budgetary unit through RCA are not countable toward STBL.
Clarification: Keying Income for Disqualified Participants
 
When a case includes a disqualified participant, income must be keyed next to the participant who receives the income for AZTECS to calculate the income correctly.
 
See FAA5.I01C titled Disqualified NA Participants Effect on the NA Benefit Amount for more information.
Reformat Update
The CNAP Manual is going through a reformatting project to complete all of the following:
 
Change the look and feel by moving the Table of Contents out of an AZTECS roadmap flow.
Reduce the number of references to make it easier to find what is needed.
 
Two Parent Employment Program (TPEP) policy and procedures from FAA3.A06 has been reformatted and moved to FAA1.D02E under CA Programs. (See TPEP)
 
A temporary link to FAA1.D03E has been added to the old reference in FAA3 to help staff who use the table of contents for navigation. This link will be removed after four weeks on 04/15/2024.
 
NOTE The reference title for TPEP has changed. Any links or bookmarks to TPEP must be changed.
General Information: Forms Update
Changes to Forms – 03/09/2024 through 03/15/2024
 
As a reminder, it is important not to save documents on your desktop or a folder. It is better to use the form you need directly from the Document Center. Forms are frequently updated and sometimes the current form must be used for programming purposes.
 
Newly created forms:
 
No forms were created during the specified period
 
Revised forms:
 
Application for Benefits (FAA-0001A) form (English)
Application for Benefits (FAA-0001A-S) form (Spanish)
 
New Marketing Materials (Posters, Pamphlets, Flyers):
 
No new marketing materials were created during the specified period
 
Revised Marketing Materials (Posters, Pamphlets, Flyers):
 
No revisions to marketing materials were made during the specified period
 
Forms Archived from the Document Center
 
No forms were archived from the Document Center