Reimbursements
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This section includes information about income received as a reimbursement.
Policy
CA Jobs participant training related expense (TRE) reimbursements are considered earned income and are not countable.
All other reimbursements are considered unearned income. Reimbursements paid by an employer for job related expenses are not countable unless the reimbursement exceeds the actual incurred expense. The amount exceeding the actual incurred expense is considered countable as unearned income.
Countable income is used to determine an income budget. (See Income Budgeting to see how FAA determines the income budget.) FAA needs to know about income that is both countable and not countable to determine whether a budgetary unit’s expenses are exceeding their income. (See Income Eligibility for more information about how FAA uses countable and not countable income.)
Reimbursements include, and are not limited to, any of the following:
●Adoption subsidy reimbursements
●Dependent care payments made by the Child Care Administration (CCA) to the provider. This includes any of the following:
At-Risk Child Care (Public Law 101-508)
Child Care
Child Day Care Subsidy
Development Block Grant Payment (Public Law 102-586)
Jobs Basic
TPEP
Transitional Child Care (TCC)
Tribal NEW Child Care
●CA Jobs participant TRE incentives, allowances, or reimbursements including the Tribal Work Experience Program (TWEP) and Jobs. These include, and are not limited to, any of the following issued to CA Jobs participants:
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) supplements
Unpaid Work Experience (UWE) supplements
●SNAP CAN reimbursements.
●Out of pocket expenses of volunteers incurred in the course of their volunteer activities.
●Medical expenses paid by an insurance company or government program.
●Payment for job or training related travel expenses.
●Payment for meals away from home.
●Payment for uniforms and equipment required for work and their maintenance cost.
●Title XX of the Social Security Act – payment received by the budgetary unit to pay for services provided.
●Trade Adjustment Assistance payments made by the Unemployment Division for traveling away from home to attend training and accept or seek employment.
●Payment for deductions used to keep track of job expense.
NOTE A job expense reimbursement may be identified when a paystub includes a pay amount and a deduction for the same amount.
●Stipends received from the Foster Grandparent Program for past and future expenses related to Foster Grandparent Program activities. (See Kinship Foster Caregiver Stipend for additional information.)
Procedures
When the participant is present, have them sign the Authority to Release (FAA‑1765A) form to contact any companies or businesses involved. The FAA-1765A can be faxed or emailed to the participant's employer when it is not possible to use the Application for Benefits (FAA-0001A) or the HEAplus Authority to Release signed statement.
Discuss with the participant whether the reimbursement amount exceeds the actual incurred expense, and when it does, by how much. Consider there is no excess when there is a standard reimbursement amount that does not require receipts for reimbursement.
Reimbursements are budgeted and keyed separately from other types of income. When the reimbursement is listed within the gross income amount of another type of income, complete all of the following:
●Manually subtract the reimbursement amount from the gross income amount.
●Discuss with the participant whether the reimbursement is received with a set pay frequency. (e.g., weekly, quarterly, yearly, etc.)
●Clarify with the employer when the participant is unsure whether the reimbursement is ongoing.
●Determine the reimbursement budget. When appropriate, enter the budget in AZTECS through the current system month using the reimbursement Income Type Code identified in AZTECS Keying Procedures.
See Income Budgeting for budgeting procedures.
Finding TRE Reimbursement Verification
Reimbursements for training related expenses (TRE) are paid to participants on their EBT card. Verification of the TRE reimbursement payment displays on the EBT Transaction History (EBTH) in the BEN TYPE field. EBTH displays any of the following codes for TRE reimbursements:
●CATE - JOBS TRE TANF
●CATX - TRE TANF Exempt
●CAAR -TRE at Risk Exempt
●CATF - TRE Food Stamps
●CAFL - TRE FLSA
Verification
System interface and the case file(g) must be reviewed before verification is requested. No additional verification is needed when AZTECS interface or HEAplus hubs have verified the information.
The participant has the primary responsibility for providing verification. (See Participant Responsibilities – Providing Verification for additional policy.)
For NA, all of the following income is required to be verified before eligibility is determined:
●Reported on a new application, during the interview of a new application, or changes reported before the eligibility determination of a new application.
●Changes after an eligibility determination of a new application (e.g., a renewal application, mid approval contact, etc.) and any of the following apply:
The source of the income has changed.
The income is questionable(g) or unclear(g).
The reported income amount has changed by $51 or more.
The previous verification in the case file is more than 59 calendar days old.
For CA, all income is required to be verified before determining eligibility.
Unless the participant’s statement is questionable(g), participant statement verification can be used as the primary source of verification for the amount that the reimbursement exceeds the actual incurred expense when no other verification is available at the time of the interview or change.
Examples of verification that can be used for reimbursements include, and are not limited to, any of the following:
●System interface(g) when the participant agrees that the information is accurate.
●A copy of a paycheck stub.
●Copy of checks when the reimbursements are listed.
●A printout from a third-party payroll verification source provided by the participant.
●Third-party payroll verification sources when the employer uses the verification source as its legal agent to provide payroll services or respond to inquiries about employee records. (See Third-Party Payroll Verification Sources(g) for FAA approved sources, additional information, and instructions for requesting additional sources.)
●A New Employment Verification (C005) notice that is completed, dated, and signed by the employer or their payroll authority. To be considered complete, the statement has to include all of the following:
Name, address, and telephone number of the employer
Gross pay for the periods needed
Frequency of pay (e.g., weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.)
Day of the week or day of the month pay is received (e.g., Fridays, 5th and 20th of the month, first of the month, etc.)
Any expected change in pay
●For new or current employment verification, a completed Verification of New/Current Employment (FAA‑0053A) form that includes a date and the signature of the employer or their payroll authority.
●For terminated employment verification, any of the following completed items that include a date and the signature of the employer or their payroll authority:
Verification of Terminated Employment (FAA-1701A) form
Verification of Terminated Employment (C019) notice
●Letter from the agency providing government-sponsored training.
●EBT Transaction History for Jobs participant training related expenses.
●Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) from the military.
●A collateral contact with the employer or their payroll authority.
NOTE Collateral contact is not used when contacting the employer would jeopardize the participant's employment or when the employer does not accept telephone verification.
●Participant statement verification when one of the following occur:
Obtaining documented or collateral contact verification may cause harm or undue hardship(g) for the participant.
When all of the following occur:
●Other attempts to obtain the verification have failed. This includes documented and collateral contact verification.
●The participant has requested assistance from FAA.
●The worker has evaluated the request for assistance and cannot obtain the verification from another acceptable source.
●The participant statement is not questionable(g).
NOTE Many companies do not allow verification over the telephone. When an FAA-0053A or FAA-1701A must be completed by any of the following, see the company’s contact information to determine where FAA staff must send the form:
AZTECS Keying Procedures
For CA Jobs participant training related expense (TRE) reimbursements, key the reimbursement amount on EAIC using the TR Earned Income Code.
For reimbursements other than TRE Reimbursements, key one or more of the following:
●The reimbursement amount that does not exceed the actual expense on UNIE or UNIC using the OX Unearned Income Type Code.
●The reimbursement amount that exceeds the actual expense on UNIE or UNIC using the OT Unearned Income Type Code.
Document the case file(g) thoroughly to support keyed codes, amounts, and frequencies. See the AZTECS Data Entry Guide for instructions on keying the AZTECS income screens.
NOTE Documentation must support determinations of eligibility and benefit level. Document in sufficient detail to ensure that any reviewer can assess whether the determination is reasonable and accurate. Include specific information regarding the reason the income is determined to be normal. (See Budgeting Income Documentation Requirements for additional information.)
Legal Authorities
7 CFR 273.9
last revised 10/02/2023