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State SNAP Agency NDNH Matching Program Performance Report

Background and Instructions

BACKGROUND:

The federal Office of Management and Budget requires the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) to periodically report performance measures of the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS), which includes the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH). These performance measures demonstrate how the NDNH supports OCSE’s strategic mission, goals, and objectives, and cross-agency collaboration.

To assist OCSE in its compliance with federal reporting requirements, a state agency administering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) must report performance outputs and outcomes attributable to the state agency’s use of NDNH match results, as noted in the Computer Matching Agreement (CMA) between OCSE and state agencies administering SNAP. Please see section XIV, “Periodic Reporting of Performance Outcomes,” of the CMA for more information.

INSTRUCTIONS:

The information populated in the SNAP Agency NDNH Matching Program Performance Report should represent what happened to the applicant and recipient with verified employment and any cost avoided or saved by the state SNAP agency if the individual’s benefits were reduced or if the case was closed. State agencies will report data annually to OCSE by December 31, which is 90 days after the end of the federal fiscal year (October 1-September 30).

Each state agency participating in the NDNH matching program, including any state with Simplified Reporting cases, is required to report annually on the four items listed in the SNAP Agency NDNH Matching Program Performance Report for the NDNH new hire, quarterly wage, and unemployment insurance information received from OCSE. All match results should be reported in the month the match was conducted, not the month in which action is taken on the case or when costs are avoided.

EXAMPLE:

In the following example, the actions taken for the 350 adults in October (resulting in cost avoidance in November) would be reported on the July row of the reporting form.

Consider the following:

Date Action

End of July: June SNAP adults are matched to the NDNH (15,000 adults) for the July NDNH match

End of July/

Early August: July match results are returned to the state (4,000 total New Hire matches)

September: Match results verified and sent to local offices for action or match results sent to local offices for verification and action (400 adults verified to have employment that was previously unknown to the agency)

October: Based on verified employment information, state agency takes action on 350 adult cases

October 31: States report and submit outcomes on the SNAP Agency NDNH Matching Program Performance Report

November: 350 adult cases receive adjusted benefit/no benefit as a result of state action

FURTHER EXPLANATION OF REPORTING ITEMS:

Item 1. Unduplicated Individuals Verified as Employed: The number of unduplicated individuals with previously unknown employment that had an NDNH match and were verified as being employed while receiving SNAP benefits in your state.

“Unduplicated individuals” means counting the same person no more than once per federal fiscal year (October 1-September 30). If the individual was found in more than one of the three NDNH datasets (new hire, quarterly wage, or unemployment insurance), the individual should be reported under the data match that triggered the verification, which resulted in case action. Consider the following example:

A match reveals verified income that is insufficient to trigger benefit reduction or case closure, but in a later match the individual is again identified as employed but this time has income significant enough to result in benefit reduction or case closure.

The first verified match (revealing income but not enough for a benefit change) should be reported under item 1 as previously unknown employment but would not be reported under items 2, 3, or 4 on the report. The reporting on the second match resulting in case action depends on whether the employment is different than the employment discovered in the first match and when in the federal fiscal year the match occurs. If the later match identifies the same employment as the first match (although the person may be working a different number of hours or may be paid more or less than before), this would not meet the definition of “previously unknown employment” and should not be reported. If the second match is for a different employer but within the same federal fiscal year as the first match, it should not be reported a second time. However, if the second match is for a different employer and in a new federal fiscal year, it should be reported in the new federal fiscal year under item 1 as previously unknown employment and also under items 2, 3, and 4 if applicable.

Note: Matches that are not acted upon should still be reported under item 1 as previously unknown employment, even though there would be nothing to report under items 2, 3, and 4.

Item 2. Unduplicated SNAP Cases Closed Due to Earnings: The number of unduplicated individuals reported in item 1 whose SNAP benefits were terminated as a result of employment verified from an NDNH match.

As the explanation to items 2 and 3 specifies, these items should represent the “number of unduplicated individuals reported in item 1 (“adults with previously unknown employment that were verified as employed . . . whose SNAP benefits were terminated or reduced”). Therefore, information reported in items 2 and 3 should represent the number of individuals with previously unknown employment that had their benefits terminated or reduced, not the number of individuals in the case that were affected by these actions.

Item 3. Unduplicated SNAP Cases with Benefits Reduced: The number of unduplicated individuals reported in item 1 whose SNAP benefits were reduced as a result of employment verified from an NDNH match.

As the explanation to items 2 and 3 specifies, these items should represent the “number of unduplicated individuals reported in item 1 (“adults with previously unknown employment that were verified as employed . . . whose SNAP benefits were terminated or reduced”). Therefore, information reported in items 2 and 3 should represent the number of individuals with previously unknown employment that had their benefits terminated or reduced, not the number of individuals in the case that were affected by these actions.

Item 4. Unduplicated First-Month Avoided SNAP Costs: The total first-month SNAP costs avoided from items 2 and 3.

First-month avoided costs equal the difference between 1) the monthly benefit the SNAP case would have been given in the absence of verified employment information resulting from an NDNH match, and 2) the monthly benefit the SNAP case actually received after the verified employment information was used to modify benefits. For example, suppose an NDNH match is verified and reveals previously unknown employment. The state verifies the income and recalculates the SNAP benefit for the case, resulting in the case receiving monthly SNAP benefits that are $100 less than what they would have received in absence of the employment information found through the NDNH. As a result of the NDNH match, the state has avoided $100 in costs in the month when benefits were reduced. The state should report a $100 first-month avoided cost in item 4 of the report. There is no need to report costs avoided in subsequent months.

Overlap Between NDNH and the State Directory of New Hires - States should report on all NDNH verified matches that reveal previously unknown employment, not just those that are out-of-state or federal agency matches that would not be available from the State Directory of New Hires. If information is received as a result of an NDNH match, the individual is verified as employed, and the employment was previously unknown to the agency, it should be reported on item 1 of the form regardless of whether the match would also be found in the State Directory of New Hires.

SUBMISSION DATES:

Report data by December 31, which is 90 days after the end of the federal fiscal year (October 1-September 30).

SUBMITTAL PROCEDURE:

Submit reports electronically to:

[Name of Deputy Director or Director of OCSE Division of Federal Systems]

Deputy Director, Division of Federal Systems, OCSE

[Email address for submission]

ATTACHMENTS:

State SNAP Agency NDNH Matching Program Performance Report

QUESTIONS:

Please direct questions to:

[Data Access Team SNAP Liaison], OCSE

[email ]

[phone]

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub.L. 104-13)

The purpose of this statutorily required (42 U.S.C. 653(j)(10), 5 U.S.C. 552a, and Pub.L 111-352) information collection is for state SNAP agencies to provide performance outcomes attributable to National Directory of New Hires information. Public reporting estimated burden for this collection of information is .83 hours per respondent, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and reviewing the collection of information. No confidential information is collected. A federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and no individual or entity is required to respond to, nor shall an individual or entity be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. If you have any comments on this collection of information, please contact [email protected]

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