Policy Memo (61.58 KB)
| DATE: | July 12, 2016 |
| MEMO CODE: | Corrective Action Quality Control Policy Memo 16-03 |
| SUBJECT: | New Threshold for State Submittal of CAPER Corrective Action Plans |
| TO: | Regional Directors Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program All Regions |
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) quality control (QC) system measures the accuracy of State eligibility and benefit determinations. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, QC's measurement of errors in cases that were denied, terminated and suspended was renamed from the negative error rate to the case and procedural error rate (CAPER). The name change was accompanied by a new review process that takes into account customer service aspects of negative actions, such as timeliness and correctness of the notice, in addition to the accuracy of the determination.
SNAP regulations at 275.16(b)(2) require corrective action planning if a State's negative error rate is above one percent. Since implementation of CAPER, the error rate for negative actions has increased significantly. This increase was expected because CAPER encompasses many more areas of compliance than the previous review procedures. With all States required to take corrective action every year, this issue has become routine, and the one percent threshold is no longer a useful tool in directing corrective action to States most in need of targeted improvements in program performance.
This memo establishes a new error rate threshold for requiring a CAPER corrective action plan. Starting in FY 2017, CAPER corrective action plans will be required only for States with rates above the national average.
Ronald Ward
Director
Program Accountability and Administration Division
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program