Quality Corner: September 2011 - Invalid Denial: Interview and Notice of Missed Interview

Invalid Denial: Interview and Notice of Missed Interview

The second error is an invalid denial. The client was late submitting the semiannual recertification form. The certification period had ended on April 6, 2011. The client subsequently submitted a reapplication form on April 25, 2011. On April 26, a verification checklist requesting proof of residency was mailed to the client. A denial letter was sent on May 25, 2011. The QC reviewer found no evidence in the case record or in BEACON that an interview had taken place. There was also no Notice of Missed Interview (NOMI) which would have indicated that a scheduled interview had been missed.

What’s a Case Manager to Do?

In recent months, a number of the invalid denial of applications or negative errors have been caused by applications being denied without an interview and applications being denied for missing the first interview but without a NOMI being sent to the client.

Case managers are reminded that if the client can not be reached by phone Day I, an appointment letter for a telephone interview must be sent through BEACON by Day 2. If the client misses the first scheduled interview, a NOMI must be completed manually and sent to the client as soon as possible but no later than two days after the date of the missed interview. See Field Operations Memo 2007-16 for more information of the SNAP application appointment letters and the NOMI. Field Operations Memo 2007-39, and Field Operations Memo 2008-59 contains detailed information about negative errors. More recently, Operations Memo 2011-38 reiterated the importance of the application interview which is a requirement for SNAP.