WSR 26-13-075
PERMANENT RULES
DEPARTMENT OF
SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES
(Economic Services Administration)
[Filed June 15, 2026, 10:12 a.m., effective July 16, 2026]
Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
Purpose: The department of social and health services is adopting amendments to WAC 388-472-0040 What are the department's responsibilities in giving NSA services to me? These amendments clarify how existing eligibility rules apply to state and federal cash and food programs when an application for recertification is received after a program's certification period ends. They improve clarity and better align rule language with federal supplemental nutrition assistance program regulations.
Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 388-472-0040.
Other Authority: 7 C.F.R. § 273.14 (e)(3).
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 26-10-032 on April 29, 2026.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.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: June 15, 2026.
Katherine I. Vasquez
Rules Coordinator
SHS-5136.2
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 13-18-004, filed 8/22/13, effective 10/1/13)
WAC 388-472-0040What are the department's responsibilities in giving NSA services to me?
(1) All of our staff are continually responsible to identify you as possibly NSA eligible and assist you with NSA services.
(2) We provide a grace period to continue your ((financial or food))aged, blind, or disabled (ABD) or housing and essential needs (HEN) referral assistance when:
(a) We stop a benefit because we are unable to tell if you continue to qualify; and
(b) You provide proof you still qualify for the benefit within the ((twenty))20 days right after the benefit stops. We restore lost benefits, recalculate your cash ((and food)) assistance, and issue you the correct amount without taking away any benefits as long as you were eligible to receive them.
(3) We provide a grace period to continue your food, temporary assistance to needy families (TANF), state family assistance (SFA), or refugee cash assistance (RCA) when:
(a) We stop a benefit during a certification period because we are unable to tell if you continue to qualify; and
(b) You provide proof you still qualify for the benefit within the 20 days right after the benefit stops. We restore lost benefits, recalculate your cash and food assistance, and issue you the correct amount without taking away any benefits as long as you were eligible to receive them.
(4) When your benefits close at the end of a certification period for food, TANF, SFA, or RCA, you must reapply according to WAC 388-434-0010 and 388-434-0005. If you don't reapply for assistance before the certification period ends, benefits will be prorated when assistance is reopened according to program rules. See: WAC 388-406-0012 and 388-406-0055.