(iv) Claim information from the agency administering Unemployment Insurance Benefits (UIB) and any information in additon to information about wages and UIB available from the agency which is useful for verifying eligibility and benefits, subject to the provisions and limitations of section 303(d) of the Social Security Act.

(2) State agencies shall exchange with State agencies administering certain other programs in the IEVS information about stamp households' circumstances which may be of use in establishing or verifying eligibility or benefit amounts under the Food Stamp Program and those programs. State agencies may exchange such information with these agencies in other States when they determine that the same objectives are likely to be met. These programs are:

(i) The Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC);

(ii) Medicaid;

(iii) Unemployment Compensation (UC);

(iv) Food Stamps; and

(v) Any State program administered under a plan approved under Title I, X, or XIV (the adult categories), or Title XVI of the Social Security Act.

(3) State agencies shall provide information to people administering the Child Support Program (Title IV-D of the Social Security Act) and Titles II (Federal Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Benefits) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled) of the Social Security Act.

(4) Agreements. (i) Prior to requesting or exchanging information with other agencies, State agencies shall execute data exchange agreements with those agencies. The agreements shall specify the information to be exchanged and the procedures which will be used in the exchange of information. These agreements shall be part of the State agency's Plan of Operation, as required by paragraph (i) of this section. These agreements shall cover at least the following areas:

(A) Identification of positions of all agency officials with authority to request wage information;

(B) Methods and timing of the requests for any types of information, including the formats to be used;

(C) The safeguards limiting release or redisclosure as required by Federal or State law or regulation as discussed in § 272.1(c) and as may be required by other guidelines published by the Secretary; and

(D) Reimbursement agreements, as appropriate, including new developmental costs associated with the furnishing of data.

(ii) Agreements with SWICA's and agencies providing UIB data shall specify State agency access no less frequently than twice a month for applicants.

(5) Uses of data. The State agency shall use information obtained by means of the IEVS for the purposes of:

(i) Verifying a household's eligibility;

(ii) Verifying the proper amount of benefits;

(iii) Investigating to determine whether participating households received benefits to which they were not entitled; and

(iv) Obtaining information which will be used in conducting criminal or civil prosecutions based on receipt of food stamp benefits to which participating households were not entitled.

(b) State wage information. The wage information maintained by a SWICA which is not a UC agency or which is a UC agency but does not use wage data for determining UIB shall:

(1) Contain the Social Security Number (SSN), the last name, wages earned for the period of the report for each employee, and an identifier of the employer such as name and address;

(2) Include all employers covered by the State's UC law;

(3) Be accumulated by employers for no longer periods than calendar quarters and be reported by employers to the SWICA within 30 days of the end of each quarter;

(4) Be machine readable; and

(5) Be accessible to agencies in other States which have executed agreements as required in paragraph (a)(4) of this section and to the Social Security Administration as specified in

paragraph (a)(3) of this section for verifying eligibility and benefits under Tities II and XVI of the Social Security Act.

(c) Alternate data sources. The Secretary may, upon a State agency's application which is included in the attachment to the Plan of Operation specified in paragraph (i) of this section, permit a State agency to request and use income information from an alternate source or sources in order to meet any requirement of paragraph (a) of this section. The application shall document that the alternate source or sources provides accurate and timely information that is as useful for verifying eligibility and benefit amounts. State agencies shall comply with the requirements specified in paragraph (a) of this section unless this application for an alternate source has been approved. The Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and with the Secretary of the Department of Labor prior to approval of any alternate data

source.

(d) Form of data requests and exchanges. Requests for wage and benefit information and exchanges of eligibility and benefit information with the programs specified in paragraph (a) of this section shall be in the standardized formats established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (in consultation with the Secretary) and required by the Secretary for SWICA, UC and other States, and in the formats prescribed by the Commissioners of SSA and IRS for SSA and IRS requests.

(e) Requesting and using information for applicants. State agencies shall request and use information about members of all applicant households as specified below.

(1) Information shall be requested at the next available opportunity after the date of application even if the applicant household has been determined eligible by that time. Information about members of applicant households who cannot provide SSNs at application shall be requested at the next available opportunity after the State agency is notified of their SSN's. Information received within

the 30-day application period shall be used to determine household eligibility and benefits, if the information is received timely enough that it can be used for that determination. However, State agencies shall make eligibility and benefit determinations without waiting for receipt of IEVS data so as to comply with the promptness standard of § 273.2(g). Information received from a source after an eligibility determination has been made shall be used as specified in paragraphs (f) and (g) of this section.

(2) Information from the SWICA, from SSA and IRS, and claim information from the agency administering UIB shall be requested and used as specified in paragraph (e)(1) of this section. Requests to SWICAS shall access the most recent SWICA data available. Requests to SSA and IRS shall be submitted according to procedures specified by the respective Commissioners of those organizations.

(3) Any information other than wage and UIB which UC agencies may have and which State agencies determine would be useful in verifying eligibility or benefits of applicant households shall be requested by methods and at intervals to which State agencies and UC agencies agree and shall be used as specified in paragraph (e)(1) of this section; and

(4) Exchanges of information about applicant households with other programs specified in paragraph (a) of this section shall be made as the State agency and other programs may agree.

(f) Requesting and using information for recipients. With respect to all members of recipient households, State agencies shall:

(1) Request information from the SWICA quarterly, such requests including all households which participated in any month of the quarter;

(2) Request information about household members from SSA data bases no later than the second month of the certification period, when requests at application did not establish automatic reporting to the State agency of changes in SSA data. Requests shall be submitted according to procedures specified by the Commissioner of SSA;

(3) Request information from IRS annually for all current recipients. Requests shall be submitted to IRS according to procedures specified by the Commissioner of IRS;

(4) Exchange information with other programs specified in paragraph (a) of this section as the State agency and these other programs may agree;

(5) Request information about Unemployment Insurance Benefits (UIB) from the agency administering that program as follows:

(i) For all household members about whom requests at application indicate no receipt of UIB, information shall be requested for the three months subsequent to the month of application or until the receipt of UIB is reported, whichever is earlier;

(ii) For all household members who report a loss of employment, information shall be requested for the three months subsequent to the month the loss is reported or until the receipt of UIB is reported, whichever is earlier; and

(iii) For all household members receiving UIB, information shall be requested monthly until UIB are exhausted; and

(6) Request from UC agencies any information other than UIB information which State agencies determine would be useful in verifying eligibility or benefits of recipient households. Requests shall be made by methods and at intervals to which the State agencies and the UC agencies agree.

(g) Actions on recipient households. (1) Except as specified in paragraph (g)(2) of this section, State agencies shall initiate and pursue action on information about recipient households which is received from the sources specified in paragraph (f) of this section so that case action is complete within 30 days of receipt of that information. Case action shall include:

(i) Review of the information and comparison of it to case record information;

(ii) For all new or previously unverified information received, contact with the households and/or collateral contacts to resolve discrepancies as specified in §§ 273.2(f)(4)(iv) and 273.2(f)(9) (iii) and (iv); and

(iii) If discrepancies warrant reducing benefits or termination eligibility, notices of adverse action. Such adverse action would be effective according to § 273.12(c)(2) or the retrospective budgeting provisions at § 273.21.

(2) State agencies may complete the actions specified in paragraph (g)(1) of this section after the 30-day period specified therein on no more than 20 percent of the information items received from the data sources specified in paragraph (f) of this section if:

(i) The only reason that the actions cannot be completed is the nonreceipt of requested verification from collateral contacts; and

(ii) The actions are completed as specified in § 273.12 when verification from a collateral contact is received or in conjunction with the next case action when such verification is not received, whichever is earlier.

(3) When the actions specified in paragraphs (g) (1) or (2) of this section substantiate an overissuance, State agencies shall establish and take actions on claims as specified in § 273.18.

(4) State agencies shall use appropriate procedures to monitor the timeliness requirements in paragraphs (g) (1) and (2) of this section.

(h) IEVS information and quality control. The requirements of this section do not relieve the State agency of its responsibility for determining erroneous payments and/or its liability for such payments as specified in Part 275 of this title (which pertains to quality control) and in guidelines on quality control established under that part.

(i) Plan of operations. The requirements for the IEVS specified in this section shall be included in an attachment to the State agency's Plan of Operations as required in § 272.2(d). This document shall include a description of procedures used, and agreements with the other agencies and programs specified in paragraph (a) of this section, including steps taken to meet requirements of limiting disclosure and safeguarding of information obtained from food stamp households and third parties as specified in § 272.1. This document shall also include any of the material concerning alternate data sources as specified in paragraph (c) of this section.

wise specified in paragraph (c) of this section):

(i) An individual living alone;

(ii) An individual living with others, but customarily purchasing food and preparing meals for home consumption separate and apart from others;

(iii) A group of individuals who live together and customarily purchase food and prepare meals together for home consumption.

(2) Special definition: (i) The following individuals living with others or groups of individuals living together shall be considered as customarily purchasing food and preparing meals together, even if they do not do so:

(A) A spouse as defined in § 271.2 of a member of the household;

(B) Children under 18 years of age under the parental control of an adult household member;

(C) Parent(s) living with their natural, adopted or stepchild(ren) and such child(ren) living with such parent(s), unless at least one parent is elderly or disabled as defined in § 271.2. If at least one parent is elderly or disabled, separate household status may be granted to the otherwise eligible parent(s) or child(ren) based on the provisions of paragraphs (a)(1) and subject to the provisions of paragraphs (a)(2)(i)(A) and (a)(2)(i)(B) of this section.

(D) Siblings (natural, adopted, half or stepbrothers and sisters) living together, unless at least one sibiling is elderly or disabled as defined in § 271.2. If at least one sibling is elderly or disabled, separate household status may be granted to the otherwise eligible elderly or disabled sibling based on the provisions of paragraph (a)(1) of this section and subject to the provisions of paragraphs (a)(2)(i)(A) and (a)(2)(i)(B) of this section.

(ii) Although a group of individuals living together and purchasing and preparing meals together constitutes a single household under the provisions of paragraph (a)(1)(iii) of this section, an otherwise eligible member of such a household who is 60 years of age or older and who is unable to purchase and prepare meals because he/ fers from a disability consi manent under the Social S or suffers from a nondise

severe, permanent disability may be a separate household from the others based on the provisions of paragraphs (a)(2)(i)(A) and (a)(2)(i)(B) of this section provided that the income (all income under § 273.9(b)) of the others with whom the individual resides (excluding the income of the spouse of the elderly and disabled individual) does not exceed 165% of the poverty line.

(b) Nonhousehold members. (1) For the purposes of defining a household under the provisions of paragraph (a)(1) of this section, the following individuals shall not be included as a member of the household, unless specifically included as a household member under the provisions of paragraph (a)(2) of this section. If not included as a member of the household under the provisions of paragraph (a)(2) of this section, such individuals shall not be included as a member of the household for the purpose of determining household size, eligibility, or benefit level. The income and resources of such individuals shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of § 273.11(d). The following individuals (if otherwise eligible) may participate as separate households:

(i) Roomers. Individuals to whom a household furnishes lodging, but not meals, for compensation.

Individuals

(ii) Live-in-attendants. who reside with a household to provide medical, housekeeping, child care or similar personal services.

(iii) Others. Other individuals who share living quarters with the household but who do not customarily purchase food and prepare meals with the household. For example, if the applicant household shares living quarters with another family to save on rent, but does not purchase and prepare food together with that family, the members of the other family are not members of the applicant household.

(2) Some household members are ineligible to receive Program benefits under the provisions of the Food Stamp Act (such as SSI recipiem in cash-out States, certain aliens, certain students). Others may be ineligible for such reaso qualified for committi al Program violation

comply with a regulatory requirement. These individuals shall be included as a member of the household for the purpose of defining a household under the provisions of paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) of this section. However, such individuals shall not be included as eligible members of the household when determining the household's size for the purpose of comparing the household's monthly income with the income eligibility standard or assigning a benefit level by household size. The income and resources of such inIdividuals shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of § 273.11 (c) or (d), as appropriate. These individuals are not eligible to participate as separate households. Ineligible individuals include the following:

(i) Ineligible students. Individuals who do not meet the eligible student requirements of § 273.5.

(ii) Ineligible aliens. Individuals who do not meet the citizenship or eligible alien status requirements of § 273.4(a) or the eligible sponsored alien requirements of § 273.11(h).

(iii) SSI recipients in "cash-out" States. Recipients of SSI benefits who reside in a State designated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to have specifically included the value of the coupon allotments in its State supplemental payments.

(iv) Intentional Program violation. Individuals disqualified for intentional Program violation, as set forth in § 273.16.

(v) SSN disqualified. Individuals disqualified for failure to provide an SSN, as set forth in § 273.6.

(vi) Workfare sanctioned. Individuals against whom a sanction was imposed while they were participating in a household disqualified for failure to comply with workfare requirements set forth in § 273.22.

(vii) Persons disqualified for noncompliance with the work requirements of § 273.7.

(c) Boarders. (1) Boarders are defined as individuals or groups of individuals residing with others and paying reasonable compensation to the others for lodging and meals (ex

residents of a commercial house). Boarders are ineligiipate in the Program inde