792-1          CALCULATING THE CORRECT PAYMENT

When a family has received an incorrect amount of benefits, the caseworker must determine the cause of the incorrect benefit and the amount of benefits that should have been issued. In making these determinations, correct only those items that were incorrect when the payment was initially calculated.  Apply the effective date of change policy (the 10-10-10 rule) at manual section 790-2 to determine the months an incorrect benefit was issued.

792-1 A.     CORRECTING INCOME ERRORS:

• Use actual income for any month for which all income has been received. If all the income for a month has not been received, use the estimating income policy at manual section 756-1 D.

• Use estimated income amounts if attempts to obtain verification of actual income have been pursued and documented, but are unsuccessful.

• Count the income from sources that would have been anticipated.  For example, if an incorrect benefit results from the household’s failure to report a new source of income, the correct benefit would be calculated using the actual income from that source, and the actual income from other sources that would have been anticipated at the time the original determination was made.  
  
  Do not count income from sources that could not have been reasonably anticipated to provide income to the household during the month in question.

Note:

When correcting income errors,do not allow earned income disregards against earned income the family did not report timely.

Example:

A family’s benefits for December are issued based on the unemployment benefits the family is expected to receive. In January the case worker learns that a member of the family began work in October. Following the 10-10-10 rule, the case worker determines that incorrect benefits were issued for December because of the unreported change.  A corrective payment determination is done for December, counting the actual unemployment benefits and earned income the family received. No earned income disregards are allowed against the earned income.

Each of the children in the family received $50 in December as a Christmas present from their grandparents; this income is not included in the corrective payment determination, since the income could not be anticipated when December benefits were originally determined.

792-1 B.     CORRECTING HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION ERRORS

When correcting household composition errors, include individuals who would have been part of the assistance unit based on the effective date of change policy at manual section 790-2.  If an individual joins a family and has income, use the policy above for correcting income errors.

792-1 C.     CORRECTING ERRORS CAUSED BY INCORRECT DEDUCTIONS

When an incorrect payment results from allowing incorrect deductions, correct the error by using the deduction amount that should have been allowed.

Example:  

An incorrect payment resulted from an unreported change in a household’s residence and shelter costs.  Correct the payment by using the actual rent and utility standards that should have been used.  Do not change the amount of income that was previously anticipated.