NA Approval Periods
Information on this page refers to the Nutrition Assistance program
This section identifies NA Approval Periods.
Policy
NA Approval Periods are automatically assigned based on the budgetary unit’s circumstances taking all of the following criteria into consideration:
A 5-month approval period is assigned when the CA case is closed for excessive income, and the budgetary unit(g) has been determined eligible for Transitional Benefit Assistance (TBA). (See NA Transitional Benefit Assistance (TBA) for additional information.)
A 24-month approval period is assigned when all of the following apply:
No budgetary unit participant receives earned income or self-employment income
All budgetary unit participants meet any of the following:
Age 60 or older
Have a disability that meets the NA program disability criteria. (See Elderly or Have a Disability – NA Special Considerations for additional information)
The budgetary unit is not eligible for the Elderly Simplified Application Project (ESAP) or Arizona Simplified Nutrition Assistance program (AZSNAP). (See Elderly Simplified Application Project (ESAP) and Arizona Simplified Nutrition Assistance program (AZSNAP) for additional information)
A 36-month approval period is assigned to budgetary units approved in any of the following programs:
ESAP
AZSNAP
All other budgetary units are assigned a 12-month approval period
The first month of the approval period begins with the month the participant is eligible.
When an approval period ends, a new application is needed for the next approval period.
A budgetary unit may be ineligible for the first approval month but eligible for the following months. In this situation, only one application is used for the denial of the first month and the approval of the second month.
For more information, see Time Frames.
Legal Authorities
last revised 01/06/2025