PERMANENT RULES
SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES
(Economic Services Administration)
Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
Purpose: The purpose is to amend the rule to clarify the current process on how the department issues cash and Basic Food benefits, when the department cancels unused benefits, and when the department can replace cancelled benefits. The amended rule also removes a reference to an incorrect phone number.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 388-412-0025.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057, 74.04.500, 74.04.510, 74.04.515, 74.08.090, and 7 C.F.R. 274.12.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 07-01-071 on December 18, 2006.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: January 26, 2007.
Jim Schnellman, Chief
Office of Administrative Resources
3817.1 (a) Electronic benefit transfer (EBT) ((card)), which is
a direct deposit into a DSHS account that you access with a
debit card called the Washington EBT Quest card;
(b) Electronic funds transfer (EFT), which is a direct deposit into your own bank account;
(c) A warrant(check) to a payee who is not approved for direct deposit; or
(d) A warrant (check) to you if you get:
(i) Diversion cash assistance (DCA) that cannot be paid directly to a vendor;
(ii) Additional requirements for emergent needs (AREN) that cannot be paid directly to a vendor;
(iii) Ongoing additional requirements (OAR) that cannot be paid directly to a vendor;
(iv) Clothing and personal incidentals (CPI) payments; or
(v) State supplemental payment (SSP) and you do not receive your benefit through EFT.
(2) ((You use a Quest debit card to access your benefits
in your EBT account. You get a personal identification number
(PIN) that you must enter when using this card)) We send your
Basic Food benefits to you by EBT.
(3) ((Your Basic Food benefits are deposited into your
EBT account on the day of the month defined in WAC 388-412-0020)) We set up an EBT account for the Head of
Household of each AU that receives benefits by EBT.
(4) ((We establish an EBT account for each AU that
receives their benefits by EBT)) You use a Quest debit card to
access your benefits in your EBT account. You select a
personal identification number (PIN) that you must enter when
using this card.
(5) ((We cancel your cash and Basic Food benefits when
you do not use your EBT account for three hundred sixty-five
days.
(a) Basic Food benefits that were canceled because you did not use them for three hundred sixty-five days cannot be replaced.
(b) Cash benefits that were canceled because you did not use them for three hundred sixty-five days may be replaced. You have two years to contact the department of revenue in order to replace your cash benefits. You can contact department of revenue at 1-888-328-9271. After that time, you must contact the state treasurer to claim any canceled funds)) You must use your cash and Basic Food benefits from your EBT account. We do not convert cash or Basic Food benefits to checks.
(6) ((You must use your cash and Basic Food benefits from
your EBT account. We do not convert cash or Basic Food
benefits to checks)) We deposit your Basic Food benefits into
your EBT account by the tenth day of the month based on your
Basic Food assistance unit number as described in WAC 388-412-0020.
(7) Unused EBT benefits: If you do not use your EBT account for three hundred sixty-five days, we cancel the cash and Basic Food benefits on your account.
(a) Replacing Basic Food benefits:
(i) We can replace cancelled benefits we deposited less than three hundred sixty-five days from the date you ask for us to replace your benefits.
(ii) We cannot replace cancelled benefits deposited three hundred sixty-five or more days from the date you ask us to replace your benefits.
(b) Replacing cash benefits: We can replace cancelled cash benefits for you or another member of your assistance unit. Cash benefits are not transferable to someone outside of your assistance unit.
(8) Replacing cash warrants: If we issued you cash benefits as a warrant we can replace these benefits for you or a member of your assistance unit. Cash benefits are not transferable to someone outside of your assistance unit.
(a) If we issued the benefits as a warrant one hundred sixty or fewer days ago, your local office can replace the warrant.
(b) If we issued the benefits as a warrant more than one hundred sixty days ago, the Office of Accounting Services can replace the warrant.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057, 74.04.510, 74.08.090. 05-17-089, § 388-412-0025, filed 8/12/05, effective 9/12/05. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057, 74.04.510. 03-22-038, § 388-412-0025, filed 10/28/03, effective 12/1/03. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.04.510 and 74.08.090. 02-18-105, § 388-412-0025, filed 9/3/02, effective 10/4/02; 01-18-054, § 388-412-0025, filed 8/30/01, effective 9/30/01. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057 and 74.08.090. 98-16-044, § 388-412-0025, filed 7/31/98, effective 9/1/98.]