School Clothing Allowance
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This subject includes information about benefits paid to participants receiving a School Clothing Allowance.
Policy
School clothing allowance payments are received from the Department of Child Safety (DCS)(g) to assist foster parents in providing new clothes for school-aged foster care youth.
For NA, the payments made for a school clothing allowance are countable unless one of the following applies:
●Paid annually or less frequently
●Paid in the form of a voucher
For CA, the payments made for school clothing allowance are countable.
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 income is exceeding their expenses. (See Income Eligibility for more information about how FAA uses countable and not countable income.)
Procedures
Review the case file(g) to determine when additional verification needs to be provided by the participant.
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.
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.
Examples of verification that can be used for a school clothing allowance include, and are not limited to, any of the following:
●Assistance payments records
●Bank records
●Agency or payer providing the income
●Current check reflecting gross income (Do not copy federal government checks)
●Signed statement from the agency or payer providing the income
●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).
AZTECS Keying Procedures
Key any of the following in the INC TYPE field on UNIC:
●OT Unearned Income Code when the payments are countable for both NA and CA
●OA Unearned Income Code when the payments are not countable for NA and are countable for CA
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 253.6(d)(2)(ii)(B)
7 CFR 273.9(b)(2)(ii)
45 CFR 233.20(a)(3)(ii)
last revised 10/02/2023