In February, 2013, FNS published final regulations revising the definition of trafficking. It subsequently came to our attention that some states were not clear that upon its effective date, federal law takes precedence and states were expected to implement the new federal trafficking definition.
FNS is issuing a final rule to amend Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program regulations to allow state agencies to deny a request for a replacement card until contact is made by the household with the state agency, if the requests for replacement cards are determined to be excessive.
The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is proposing to amend Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program regulations at 7 CFR 274.6 to allow state agencies to deny a request for a replacement card until contact is made with the state agency, if the requests for replacement cards are determined to be excessive.
This memorandum is to reiterate and clarify current policy governing intentional program violations as set forth in the Food Stamp Program regulations.
After a further review of this matter, and upon advice of our legal counsel, we have reconsidered our position on the use of the Request for Contact (RFC) to facilitate household cooperation with fraud investigations. We have decided that the RFC may only be issued by state eligibility workers and only when the state agency learns of a change in the household’s circumstances that calls into question the household’s continued eligibility for the program or its current level of benefits.