9 CCR 2503-5-3.581 - PAYMENTS

A. A client shall be placed on an issuance schedule so that he or she receives grant payments on or about the same date each month once a certification period is established. Due to the effective date of eligibility, the date on which a client receives his or her initial payment need not be the date that the client must receive any subsequent payments.

B. When the county department determines that a client was ineligible for all or a part of a grant payment that the client has already received, the county department shall, subject to timely notice and recovery rules, establish a claim, and if valid, initiate a recovery.

C. If a client dies, payments to the client shall be treated as follows:

1. A client's eligibility shall end on the date of his or her death.

2. If a client of any category of assistance dies before 12:00 a.m. on the first day of a month, no eligibility for a grant payment for the following month exists.

3. If a client of any category of assistance dies on or after 12:00 a.m. on the first day of a month, any payment to which the person was eligible shall be maintained for release to the client's personal representative as defined in Section 15-10-201(39), C.R.S., for a maximum of three (3) months. The following rules apply when a personal representative requests to receive a deceased client's last grant payment:

a. The individual claiming to be the personal representative of the deceased client must provide the court-issued letters described in Section 15-12-103, C.R.S. to the county department in order to receive the deceased client's last grant payment; or

b. If the personal representative presents a court order ordering the county department to pay the deceased client's last grant payment to a specific person or entity, the county department shall make the last grant payment payable to the person named in the order.

D. To calculate partial month payments:

1. Determine the client's monthly grant payment amount for the program according to program rules at 3.520.78, 3.533, 3.544, and 3.549;

2. Determine the number of days for which the client is eligible for assistance and, based on the table in subsection 4 below, find the decimal figure corresponding to the number of days of eligibility;

3. Multiply the client's monthly grant payment amount from subsection 1 by the decimal figure in the table in subsection 4 to determine the grant payment amount for the partial month;

4. To calculate the partial month payments, the following table shall be used:

Days	Standard	Days	Standard	Days	Standard
1	.03288	11	.36164	21	.69041
2	.06575	12	.39452	22	.72329
3	.09863	13	.42739	23	.75617
4	.13151	14	.46027	24	.78904
5	.16439	15	.49315	25	.82192
6	.19726	16	.52603	26	.85480
7	.23014	17	.55890	27	.88768
8	.26302	18	.59178	28	.92054
9	.29590	19	.62466	29	.95342
10	.32876	20	.65754	30	.98630

E. All payments, including partial payments, shall have any cents dropped to the nearest dollar, except in cases where SSI income reduces the grant.

F. County departments shall not hold or delay the client's grant payment beyond the regular issuance date except when:

1. A final agency decision has been made authorizing the action;

2. In cases where a corrected payment is to be issued, the corrected payment shall be issued by the effective date of the original warrant and the incorrect payment shall be cancelled;

3. When the county department receives reliable information that the client no longer resides at the last known address and attempts to locate the person through the post office, relatives, friends, etc., have been unsuccessful, the case shall be discontinued following the policies outlined in Section 3.554 . If the client contacts the county department before grant payments are discontinued and provides the current address and all other eligibility criterion have been met, the client shall receive the grant payments they are eligible for; OR

4. Any grant payments issued to an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card and not accessed within TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY-FOUR (274) days of issuance, shall be expunged. The county shall reissue grant payments within NINETY (90) days of the expungement if requested by the client verbally, electronically, in person, or in writing. The county may reissue up to NINE (9) months of expunged grant payments.

G. The county department shall take prompt action to correct underpayments to clients of Adult Financial grant payments. There are two types of underpayments:

1) grant payment(s) received by or for a client that is less than the amount which the client should have received, but not a denial or termination, or

2) the failure of the county department to issue a grant payment to a client when such payment should have been issued (i.e., denials or termination of Adult Financial grant payments).

1. When the county department becomes aware of a potential underpayment, the county department shall:

a. Determine if an underpayment occurred; and,

b. Record the facts and basis of its determination in the case record.

2. A county shall correct any underpayments by the month following the discovery of such underpayments.

3. Underpayments shall be used to pay any validated claims against the client unless the county department has determined this action will cause an undue hardship to the client as determined on a case-by-case basis. Underpayments will be applied to claims using the following hierarchy:

a. Fraud or IPV claims first (undue hardship cannot be granted);

b. Client error claims second; and c. Administrative error claims last. Instances that may result in an administrative error claim include, but are not limited to, the following:

1) The county failed to take timely action on a change reported by the client.

2) The county incorrectly computed the client's income, resources, or other information, or otherwise gave an incorrect grant payment.

3) Any other situation not caused by willful withholding of information on the part of the client and/or their authorized representative.

4. If an underpayment is discovered by the county department, the county department shall notify the client in writing, of its determination of the underpayment.

5. Prompt action shall be taken to correct underpayments that occurred within the past twelve (12) months from the discovery date by issuing a retroactive payment. Retroactive payments shall not be made unless the amount is one dollar ($1.00) or more.

H. The county department shall reissue a lost or stolen payment if the loss or theft is not questionable and the county determines that such loss was beyond the client's control.

A loss will be considered within the client's control when:

1. The client has shared the EBT pin number or written the pin number on the EBT card itself, or

2. The client has given his or her card to another person for that person's use.

I. A client is prohibited from using or allowing the use of his or her EBT card at automated teller machines (ATMs) and point of sale (POS) devices located in prohibited establishments as described in Section 3.520.4.C.4.f.

A client's EBT transactions shall be monitored quarterly. Clients who use prohibited ATMs or POS devices shall be contacted by the county department. Inappropriate usage shall result in:

1. A written warning that the use of the EBT card in prohibited establishments will result in the card being disabled. The county department shall provide education about appropriate use, access, and alternatives;

2. If continued misuse occurs (identified on the quarterly usage report after a warning has occurred), the cash grant payment portion of his or her EBT card shall be disabled for one month, requiring the county to notify the client of additional options for receipt of payment (direct deposit or county warrant) as well as notification of due process in accordance with State rules pursuant to Sections 3.520.1.H-I and 3.554.

3. If misuse continues, the county department shall deny or discontinue the grant payments and impose a one month ineligibility period. The county shall require the client to complete a new application after the one month ineligibility period if he or she wants to receive Adult Financial assistance. The county department shall not accept a new application from the client until the one month ineligibility period expires. The county department shall follow the due process procedures pursuant to Sections 3.520.1.H-I and 3.554; and,

4. After the one month ineligibility period for continued misuse, if/when the client reapplies, any future EBT card usage at prohibited establishments shall be considered continued misuse. Such subsequent violations will result in the one month ineligibility period and reapplication process referred to in subsection 3, above.

Notes

9 CCR 2503-5-3.581

37 CR 13, July 10, 2014, effective 8/1/2014 37 CR 17, September 10, 2014, effective 10/1/2014 38 CR 04, February 25, 2015, effective 3/20/2015 38 CR 04, February 25, 2015, effective 4/1/2015 38 CR 09, May 10, 2015, effective 6/1/2015 38 CR 15, August 10, 2015, effective 9/1/2015 38 CR 23, December 10, 2015, effective 1/1/2016 39 CR 17, September 10, 2016, effective 10/1/2016 40 CR 03, February 10, 2017, effective 2/14/2017 41 CR 05, March 10, 2018, effective 4/1/2018 41 CR 15, August 10, 2018, effective 9/1/2018 41 CR 19, October 10, 2018, effective 11/1/2018 42 CR 01, January 10, 2019, effective 2/1/2019 43 CR 01, January 10, 2020, effective 1/1/2020 43 CR 03, February 10, 2020, effective 3/1/2020 43 CR 11, June 10, 2020, effective 7/1/2020 43 CR 23, December 10, 2020, effective 1/1/2021 44 CR 03, February 10, 2021, effective 3/2/2021 44 CR 13, July 10, 2021, effective 8/1/2021 45 CR 03, February 10, 2022, effective 3/2/2022 45 CR 05, March 10, 2022, effective 4/1/2022 45 CR 13, July 10, 2022, effective 7/1/2022 45 CR 15, August 10, 2022, effective 8/10/2022 45 CR 15, August 10, 2022, effective 8/30/2022 46 CR 01, January 10, 2023, effective 12/10/2022 46 CR 01, January 10, 2023, effective 1/1/2023 46 CR 03, February 10, 2022, effective 3/2/2023