Department of Health and Human Services
Departmental Appeals Board
AFDC QUALITY CONTROL REVIEW PANEL
SUBJECT: Missouri Department of
Social Services
Docket No. A-92-156
DATE:
DECISION
The Missouri Department of Social Services (State)
appealed the
determination of the Regional Administrator
of the Administration for
Children and Families (ACF or
Agency), dated May 4, 1992, that the case of
J.O. should
be dropped because the case file contained insufficient
verification that J.O.'s four children were living in her
household as
of the review date, August 1, 1991.*
With its appeal request, the State submitted additional
documentation
regarding the living arrangement of J.O.'s
children. By letter dated
July 21, 1992, the Agency
stated that, based on the addititonal
documentation
submitted by the State, the Agency did not contest the
State's position. Accordingly, we conclude that the
State
correctly determined that J.O.'s children were
living with her as of the
review date. Therefore, we
reverse the Agency's error
determination.
Relevant Authority
Section 406(a) of the Social Security Act defines the
term "dependent
child" as follows:
a needy child (1) who has been deprived of parental
support and
care . . . and who is living with his
father, mother, grandfather,
grandmother, [etc.]
. . ., in a place of residence
maintained by one
or more of such relatives as his or their own home,
and (2) who is . . . under the age of eighteen . . .
.
The AFDC Quality Control Manual (Manual), issued by the
Agency,
describes the process to be used in verifying the
living arrangements of
children in the assistance unit
(AU):
Determine whether the child is actually living with
the
specified relative. . . . If the child has left
the household of record,
even if he/she is living
with another specified relative in another
household, the child can no longer be considered
part of the original
AU. . . .
Manual at V-28.
The Manual specifies primary and secondary evidence
required to document
living arrangements. For school age
children, primary evidence of
living arrangement is a
current school record showing the same address for
the
child and the specified relative. For pre-school age
children,
and as an alternative for school age children
where school records are
unavailable, the Manual requires
visual observation of the child in the
home, plus at
least one piece of corroborating secondary evidence. If
the child is not observed in the home, at least two
pieces of secondary
evidence must be obtained. Among the
acceptable types of secondary
evidence, the Manual lists
signed statements from non-relatives.
Discussion
With its appeal request, the State submitted the signed
statements of two
collateral references who identified
themselves as friends of J.O.
Each signed statement
asserts that J.O.'s four children, identified by name,
were living with J.O. as of the review date. These
signed
statements constitute two pieces of corroborating
secondary evidence of the
children's living arrangement,
as required by the Manual. The Agency
apparently
recognized this fact, as it submitted a letter stating
that
it did not contest the State's position.
For this reason, we conclude that the evidence supports
the State's
position. Therefore, we reverse the Agency's
determination.
_____________________________
Thomas
D. Horvath
_____________________________
Jeffrey
A. Sacks
_____________________________
Leslie
A. Weyn
* * * Footnotes * * *
* We identify the recipient by her initials to
protect her privacy. The State quality control review
number for
this case is 49992.
(..continued)