Rules and Regulations
This subject includes how to find the rules and regulations FAA uses to determine and issue NA and CA benefits.
Also, this subject includes how staff are informed of changes to the rules and how staff are to communicate with the FAA Policy Support Team for clarification of the rules or to send suggestions of changes.
Policy
FAA is required to make the rules and regulations that identify how FAA determines NA and CA eligibility and benefit amounts available to the public during work hours. To assist with public review, FAA provides constant access to the rules and regulations on the Internet through the Cash and Nutrition Assistance Policy (CNAP) Manual at the following link:
When unable to find the policy they are looking for in the CNAP Manual, the public or staff should call FAA Policy Support using the FAA Policy Support Navigational Help Desk telephone number at (602) 774-5523. This help desk is available from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding state holidays.
NOTE For convenience, the help desk number is listed at the bottom of every web page in the CNAP Manual.
The Legal Authorities section at the bottom of the CNAP Manual webpage identifies the law supporting the rule or regulation. The following acronyms are used in the Legal Authorities section:
●AAC which stands for Arizona Administrative Code and can be found at the following website: https://apps.azsos.gov/public_services/CodeTOC.htm
●ARS which stands for Arizona Revised Statutes and can be found at the following website: https://www.azleg.gov/arstitle/
●CFR which stands for Code of Federal Regulations and can be found at the following website: https://www.ecfr.gov/
Procedures
Quick Access Menu:
●Elevating Eligibility Questions (Policy Clarification or Field Inquiry)
Public Review of the Rules
When a person comes into the office requesting to review FAA rules and regulations, complete all of the following:
●Inform them that the information is available online in the CNAP Manual and provide the web address of the public facing CNAP Manual listed above in the policy.
●Ask them whether they have a specific policy that you can help them find. When they have a specific policy, complete all of the following:
Open the public facing CNAP Manual and navigate to the correct reference.
Explain the answer to their question from the CNAP Manual and how they can find the CNAP Manual reference in the future.
●When the person requesting review wants to research the CNAP Manual themself in the office, complete one of the following:
When the office has public computer access, follow office procedures to allow the participant access to a computer while maintaining office and system security and confidentiality.
When the office does not have this ability, explain that the office does not have computers available to the public and suggest their local library.
●When asked for a printed copy of the CNAP Manual, explain that the rules and regulations change so the CNAP Manual is not available in hard copy. Pages of interest can be printed one at a time. When requested, print reference pages of the public facing CNAP Manual (maximum three references per visit) and give the printed copy to the requester.
Policy Dissemination
Staff are notified of changes to policy and procedures in the CNAP Manual via the What’s Changed page. The What’s Changed page is updated weekly on the first workday(g) of the week. The FAA Policy Support Post is sent via email on the first workday of each week to remind staff to review the What’s Changed page, when needed.
When a change must be communicated to staff outside of this schedule, an Urgent Bulletin (UB) email is sent. The information in the UB is displayed on the What’s Changed page on a later date for archiving and dissemination purposes.
NOTE What’s Changed pages are referenced by the date published. For prior published What’s Changed pages, see What’s Changed History.
The information displayed on the What’s Changed page and the UB are time sensitive. Changes included on the What’s Changed page are effective on the date the page is published, unless otherwise indicated. To ensure accuracy, staff are responsible to review the What’s Changed page of the CNAP Manual on the first workday of each week.
Policy dissemination of the What’s Changed page must occur weekly in any office which determines eligibility, reviews eligibility, or answers questions regarding eligibility. Staff who determine eligibility or answer participants’ questions must be in attendance.
To complete the policy dissemination process, Office Managers or Supervisors are responsible to complete all of the following by the close of business on the third workday of every week:
●Ensure all contents of the current What’s Changed page are reviewed and discussed with all required staff.
●Answer questions the staff may have about what was discussed during the policy dissemination. When necessary, elevate questions to the FAA Policy Support Team (PST). (See Elevating Eligibility Questions for instructions on how to elevate the Field Inquiry.)
●Obtain the signature of all staff attending the policy dissemination on the Policy Dissemination Review/Training Confirmation (FAA‑1215A) form.
NOTE When a worker attends the dissemination virtually, the person conducting the review or a supervisor signs the FAA-1215A form for the virtual worker and places (VO) after the worker’s name. Signing the FAA-1215A form, both in person and virtually, acknowledges review and understanding of the What’s Changed information.
●Retain the completed FAA-1215A form for 12 months from the date the policy and procedures are reviewed.
●Upload the completed FAA-1215A to the site code’s FAA_PDR folder on the T drive on or before the third workday of each week. The file name must include the dissemination date, the site code, and the form number. (Example: 01-05-2021 142C FAA-1215A)
●When a required staff member is unable to attend the dissemination, review the What’s Changed page with the staff member and complete a separate FAA-1215A as soon as possible. Retain the FAA-1215A forms for individual reviews but do not upload them to the T drive.
NOTE The third workday of the week is normally a Wednesday. When there is a holiday at the beginning of the week, the third workday is a Thursday.
PST monitors the policy dissemination process by randomly selecting five offices and completing all of the following:
●Confirms the FAA-1215A is uploaded into the site code’s folder within the FAA_PDR folder on the T drive for each selected office.
●Reviews the FAA-1215A to determine it is accurately completed.
●Sends an email with the result of the review to the Office Manager and copies the Region Program Manager.
●When the FAA-1215A is not uploaded or accurately completed, the email requests the Office Manager upload the completed FAA-1215A within two workdays.
NOTE The Program Administrator is copied on the email when the form is not uploaded.
Elevating Eligibility Questions (Policy Clarification or Field Inquiry)
Elevate questions for clarification of policy or procedure for NA, CA, and Medical Assistance (MA) to the FAA Policy Support Team (PST) through office management as one of the following:
●Policy clarification (PC) requests
PC requests are case specific policy questions on cases that are pending a benefit determination.
●Field Inquiry (FI) requests
FI requests are not case specific questions or are case specific for a case that is not pending a benefit determination.
NOTE Suggestions to change forms, notices, pamphlets, posters, and CNAP Manual verbiage or links are sent directly via email to PST. (See Sending Suggestions to PST for sending instructions and Example 1 to help clarify the difference between a suggestion, PC, and FI.)
Complete the Request for Policy Clarification/Field Inquiry (FAA-1512A) form found in the DES Document Center during the elevation process.
Each contact within the elevation process must review the request to determine whether the answer is in the CNAP Manual for NA and CA, the Eligibility Policy Manual (EPM) for MA, or previous PST communications.
Before contacting PST for a PC or FI request, all of the following must be reviewed by the FAA Office Management and designated Region Office Management:
●Case information, when applicable.
NOTE When the request is not case specific or the case is not pending a benefit determination, elevate the request as an FI.
●Current policy and procedures in the CNAP Manual for NA and CA, the EPM for MA, and Standard Work.
●The ‘Clarification from PST’ section of the Communications Library to see whether PST has already clarified the question. (See the Communications Library for previous PC and FI responses.)
NOTE Use all of the following guidelines when reviewing prior clarifications from PST:
●Click the FAA-1512A link to review the scenario from the attached FAA-1512A.
●Review the policy references identified in the PC or FI response in the CNAP Manual and EPM, when applicable.
●Do not make eligibility determinations based on PC or FI responses alone. The answer must be in the CNAP Manual for NA and CA, EPM for MA, or other supporting PST or AHCCCS Communication.
When the question cannot be resolved by a contact in the elevation process, only the following staff are authorized to elevate PC and FI requests to PST:
●Executive leadership
●Region program manager
●Regional management analyst
●Benefit Support supervisors and managers
●FAA Systems Helpdesk analyst
●Quality Management Administration policy liaison
●Contracted third-party non-merit staff
Once confirmed that the request must be elevated, an authorized staff member sends the FAA-1512A form via email to [email protected]. Include the phrase “PC or FI Request” in the email subject line.
All of the following sections of the FAA-1512A must be completed before elevation:
●Select Policy Clarification or Field Inquiry
●Requestor’s information
●Case information (when applicable)
●Identify the program or programs in question
●Policy references researched (See CNAP Manual Format and Referencing for the reference format)
●Who discussed the case scenario and policy, and what was the result of that discussion
NOTE Identify any similar prior PC or FI responses in the Communications Library.
●Requestor’s proposed answer
●Case scenario
●Requestor’s question
NOTE PST does not resolve disputes between workers, case readers and management. All steps in the case read protest process must be completed before elevating a PC or FI request. The protest process is found in the DBME SharePoint Standard Work Library.
Upon receipt of the FAA-1512A, PST sends an email to the requestor acknowledging receipt of the form. The email contains the assignment number and the name of the assigned PST specialist. The PST specialist may contact the requestor when more information is needed to complete the response.
The PST specialist provides the requestor one of the following within ten workdays from the date the requestor receives an acknowledgment email from PST:
●A PC or FI response.
●An email notifying the requestor that additional clarification has been requested from one or more of the following:
The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)
The Office of the Attorney General
The PST response to the PC or FI is returned to the requestor and any additional designated staff. A copy of the PST response is added to the ‘Clarification from PST’ section of the Communications Library.
NOTE Elevate questions regarding system performance first to the FAA Office Management. Contact one of the following when the issue cannot be resolved at the FAA office level:
●FAA Systems Help Desk when the issue is with an AZTECS function.
●FAA Policy Support Navigational Help Desk when the issue is navigating the CNAP Manual.
Sending Suggestions to PST
Staff may directly contact the Policy Support Team (PST) via email to [email protected] for issues or suggestions to any of the following:
●Notices
●Forms, posters, or pamphlets
●CNAP Manual verbiage or links
Include one of the following phrases in the email subject line, as appropriate:
●Notice Issue or Suggestion
●Form Issue or Suggestion
NOTE Use this subject line for form, poster, and pamphlet issues and suggestions
●CNAP Manual Issue or Suggestion
Suggestions for notices, forms, and CNAP Manual verbiage do not need to be elevated by a supervisor. However, any questions about policy or procedures must be elevated by a supervisor through a Policy Clarification (PC) or Field Inquiry (FI). (See Example 1 to help clarify the difference between a suggestion, PC, and FI. See Elevating Eligibility Questions for instructions on how to elevate a PC or FI.)
Examples
1) Suggestion: Can the ABCD website be added to the list of verification sources in the CNAP Manual?
Field Inquiry: Can the ABCD website be used to verify income?
Policy Clarification: Can the ABCD website be used to verify income for case 12345678?
Legal Authorities
7 CFR 272.1 (d)
7 CFR 273.2 (a)
AAC R6-12-104
last revised 12/27/2022