Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1240-01-15-.06 - WAIVER OF OFFICE INTERVIEW

(1) Food Stamp. The office interview shall be waived upon request by any household which is unable to appoint an authorized representative and which has no household members able to come into the Food Stamp Office because they are 65 years of age or older, or are mentally or physically handicapped. The office interview shall also be waived if requested by any household which is unable to appoint an authorized representative and lives in a location which is not served by a certification office. The county shall waive the office interview on a case by case basis for any household which is unable to appoint an authorized representative and which has no household members able to come to the Food Stamp office because of transportation difficulties or similar hardships which the county determines warrants a waiver of the office interview. These hardship conditions include, but are not limited to: illness, car of a household member, prolonged severe weather, or work hours which preclude in-office interview. The county shall determine if the transportation difficulty or hardship reported by a household warrants a waiver of the office interview and shall document in the case filed why a request for a waiver was granted or denied.

(a) Telephone Interview and Home Visits. The county may offer households for whom the office interview is waived the alternatives of either a telephone interview or home visit. Home visits shall be used only if the time of the visit is scheduled in advance with the household.

(b) Verification of Out-of-Office Interviews. Waiver of the face-to-face interview does not exempt the household from the verification requirements, although special procedures may also be used to permit the household to provide verification and thus obtain its benefits in a timely manner, such as substituting a collateral contact in cases where documentary verification would normally be provided. Waiver of the face-to-face interview shall not affect the length of the household's certification period.

(2) AFDC. It is preferred that the required face-to-face interview with the AFDC client be conducted in the county Department of Human Services office or in the client's home.

(a) Telephone Contacts. Telephone contacts are acceptable means of obtaining/transmitting information between redeterminations of eligibility, but are not acceptable as the only personal contact with a client prior to action on an AFDC application or at the time of redetermination of eligibility.

(b) Home Visits. It may sometimes be advisable in AFDC to contact the client in the home during the application/redetermination process, but there is no requirement that a home visit must routinely be made prior to case action. Home visits are to be made when the worker/supervisor believes one is necessary and when hardship circumstances require a home visit in order to fulfill the face-to-face interview requirement.

Notes

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1240-01-15-.06

Original rule filed August 15, 1980; effective September 29, 1980.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 14-8-106 and 14-8-109.