1355 Application for Other Benefits | TANF

Georgia Division of Family and Children Services
TANF Policy Manual

Policy Title:

Application for Other Benefits

Effective Date:

May 2020

Chapter:

1300

Policy Number:

1355

Previous Policy Number(s):

MT 50

Updated or Reviewed in MT:

MT-56

Requirements

An applicant and a recipient must apply for and accept all other monetary benefits, payments or allotments to which a member of the assistance unit (AU) may be entitled.

Basic Considerations

Benefits to which a member of the AU may be entitled include but are not limited to the following:

Retirement, Survivors, Disability Insurance (RSDI)
Unemployment Compensation benefits (UCB)
Veteran’s benefits
Worker’s Compensation benefits
income tax refund
military allotment
pension/retirement benefits.

Exceptions

AU members are only required to apply for UCB if Clearinghouse information indicates potential eligibility.

A pregnant woman in the second trimester of pregnancy is not required to apply for UCB.

An AU member who is potentially eligible for SSI cannot be required to apply for it. An individual who is eligible for both TANF and SSI must choose to receive one or the other and cannot receive both.

Penalty

Failure or refusal to apply for and accept all other monetary benefits, payments or allotments to which an AU member may be entitled will result in ineligibility of the AU. If the potential benefits are those of an individual who is not a member of the standard filing unit (SFU), the individual is not penalized but is excluded from the AU.

Procedures

Discuss at application and review the potential eligibility for any monetary benefits. Review all available information to determine potential eligibility for any monetary benefits.

Refer the A/R to the appropriate agency to apply for any benefits for which any member of the AU may be eligible.

Provide the A/R with a verification checklist with a deadline to provide verification that an application for other benefits has been made.

Deny the application or terminate the cash assistance if the A/R fails to provide proof of application for other benefits or refuses to make application for other benefits for a SFU member.

Exclude a non-SFU member from the AU if the A/R fails to provide proof of an application for other benefits or refuses to make an application for other benefits for the non-SFU individual.

Verification

The A/R must provide verification that an application for other benefits has been made by one of the following:

approval letter
denial letter
document showing proof of application
contact with the agency with whom the application was filed.

If the application for other benefits cannot be verified through an interface or a third-party source, client statement maybe accepted as a last resort. Document the case record to indicate that an AU member must apply for other benefits, the deadline by which this must be done, the verification used and the effect on the eligibility of the AU.