Semi-Annual Report (SAR 7)

[Audio] Hello welcome to the Semi- Annual reporting training..

[Audio] In this slide you will learn about important SAR Terminology..

Semi- Annual reporting periods. Semi-Annual Reports are reports that are submitted once a year in the sixth month of the SAR period. SAR periods are determined by the client’s BDOA. EX: Client applies in July, SAR due in December. (SAR handbook pg. 9).

SARA Certification period. SEMI ANNUAL REPORTING ANNUALLY (SARA) If the household is without earned income, it will be assigned a SARA reporting type and required to report at the 12th month of the certification period via the SAR 7. CalSAWS will mail a SAR 7 to the household in the 11th month of the certification period..

SARA Elderly/Disabled Households - 24 Month Certification Period Without Earned Income:.

SEMI-Annual reporting requirements. SAR 7s have 13 YES/NO questions. All questions are mandatory for CW program. Question # 4 and #13 are not mandatory for CF . * #8 only mandatory if HH is not MCE eligible Form must be signed and dated with full date. -If HH is two parent HH, signature of both parents mandatory for CW. All mandatory verifications must be submitted..

Date requirements. The SAR 7 must be dated and signed to be considered complete. A SAR 7 MAY be dated prior to the first day of the submit month to be accepted and processed, if otherwise complete. If the customer failed to date the SAR 7, the HST must contact the household/AU and capture the date via an electronic signature. If an electronic signature cannot be captured then a verbal attestation may be used ONLY if the HST documents in a journal entry the capturing of the date via attestation. For CalWORKs two parent AUs, the HST must capture verbal attestation for each adult member of the AU, and must notate the information in the case file. Verbal attestation for capturing a missing date is ONLY allowed if an electronic signature could not be captured (due to customer disability or inaccessibility). Example: The December SAR 7 received in January (submit month) is dated 12/29/2021 (prior to the submit month). All questions have been answered, it is signed, and verifications submitted. The SAR 7 is accepted as complete and processed. Example: The December SAR 7 received January 2, 2021. All Questions have been answered, and verifications provided, however, the report is not signed or dated. The SAR 7 is considered incomplete since the requirement to sign and date the report has not been met. Example: The previously determined incomplete SAR7 is resubmitted on January 7th. It is signed by required household member(s) and is dated 12/30/2021 (prior to the submit month). The report is accepted and processed since there is no requirement for the SAR 7 to be dated in the submit month..

Example of dates on SAR 7. Incorrect Date. Correct date.

Date clarification from policy. Question to Policy: We have an SAR 7 that is considered incomplete because the clients failed to date. PIM 20-18 states that if we receive an incomplete SAR 7 that the client should be contacted to try to complete the SAR 7 and then obtain a signature. Because there is no specific reference to what should be done when the only issue is the SAR 7 isn’t dated I just want to make sure my guidance is correct. Should the client still be contacted and then have them sign the SAR 7 which would in turn establish a date making the SAR 7 complete? Policy Answer: The imaging date or the departments “date stamp” on the SAR 7 would not be acceptable for CalWORKs/CalFRESH, the client must provide the date they are attesting to the reported information. The worker should attempt to contact the client to complete the SAR 7 and obtain the signature/date electronically. The information from the “incomplete” SAR 7 should be transferred over to the electronic SAR 7 so all reported information will align with the clients signature/date, and a journal entered. If unable to reach the client or the client does not wish to complete the SAR 7 electronically, then it would be marked as IC and returned for corrections. Reference: PIM 21-48 and SAR Handbook section 6.5.

Signature requirements. In CW, for a SAR 7 to be complete in a 2 parent Assistance Unit (AU) both parents in the home must sign the SAR 7. In CF, for a SAR 7 to be complete it must be signed by the head of household (HH) or Authorized Representative (AR)..

E-signatures on Sar 7. E-Signatures will be used for CalWORKs and/or CalFresh SAR 7s for both initial submission and for correction of incomplete SAR 7s. When SAR 7 has been sent but not received, and client is completing by phone, the SAR must be marked as “N/A” on the Customer Reporting page and a new SAR 7 generated which is the process that will be utilized for HHs who have not submitted an initial SAR In scenarios, in which the HH submits an initial SAR 7 that is incomplete only due to failure to sign the SAR 7, the HH will e-Sign the original SAR 7..

Completion for sar 7 over the phone.

Guidance to add sticky note on an imaged sar 7. ONLY when a HH has a SAR 7 that is received, complete and imaged, but does not have a signature, should the originally submitted SAR 7 be e-Signed through Distributed Documents page. In this scenario, the HST will need to create a Sticky Note on the SAR 7 image to indicate that the HH has completed the e-Signature process (a new SAR 7 should not be generated). To create a Sticky Note on the imaged SAR 7, complete the following steps:.

Guidance to add sticky note on an imaged sar 7 (con’t).

Calworks and calfresh sar 7 completeness guide. Only — Q.

Sar 7 processing checklist. Status Reports - SAR7 Prcxessing Checklist Et•sc C4v U "go-tin' p..

Incompleting Semi-annual reports.

Notice of action requirements. Currently, when a client does not submit his/her SAR 7 by the 11th of the month, or the SAR 7 has been received but is not complete, a Notice of Action (NA 960X or NA 960Y) is sent to the client as appropriate. These NOA’s inform clients that benefits will be discontinued effective the end of the month unless a completed SAR 7 is received by the first working day of the following month. If, after receiving the NA 960 X or NA 960 Y NOA, the client submits a new SAR 7 that is incomplete, or continues to be incomplete, staff are not required to issue another NOA. However, absent another NOA, the client is likely to think they complied with the original NOA and that the discontinuance action will be rescinded..

Notice of action requirements (con’t). A recipient must receive a notice of action informing them of when a SAR 7 has not been received or has been received but is not complete. These notices of actions are required as follows: NA 960 X-A Notice of Action informing recipients that our department has not received their Semi-Annual Report (SAR 7) and benefits will discontinue if a complete SAR 7 is not submitted by the 1st working day of the next month. NA 960Y-Notice of Action informing recipients that the SAR 7 they submitted is incomplete and that a completed SAR 7 must be returned no later than the first working day of the next month or benefits will discontinue..

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NA 960y. Is issued when a SAR 7 was submitted timely but is incomplete. Is issued by the HST when the customer reporting detail page is updated to reflect an Incomplete SAR 7. Must provide clear and concise information explaining why the SAR 7 is considered incomplete and what information is required for the report to be complete. The NA 960 Y notice should not be issued if a recipient submits an incomplete SAR 7 after the NA 960 X has already been issued..

Example of NA 960y. Notice Of Action Lut day ot mth Mark hat 'SAR To CÜ—h a SAR A SAR 7 try ttm make the SAR STOP AO COUNTY OF KERN SAR 7 SAR win NOT aM to Fu if.

Reminder letter (sar 90). A new reminder letter (SAR 90) has been developed to inform clients, after already being issued the (NA 960 X or NA 960 Y) discontinuance NOA that their report is incomplete. This letter will provide clients another opportunity to submit a completed report to avoid discontinuance of their cash aid and /or CalFresh benefits. Issuing a SAR 90 to recipients when a SAR 7 continues to be incomplete will aid further in informing the client that they are not fully meeting the requirements for continued eligibility and may prevent discontinuance of aid..

Issuing the Reminder letter (sar 90). To allow time for the AU/HH to receive the SAR 90 and submit a completed SAR 7 to our department by the 1st working day of the following month: The SAR 90 should not be issued after the 5th working day prior to the end of the month. The Customer reporting detail page must be updated to show an incomplete status Note: When updating the customer reporting detail page, the Document Parameters box will appear to generate a NA 960 Y notice. Staff must cancel out of the parameter box unless the client has not received a NA 960 X notice..

Example of sar 90. Put "t My to SAR 7 COUNTY OF KERN SAR a SAR 7 it SAR YCNJ HAVE NOT FIXED PROBLEW day SAR It SAR rd My TCF "t to c•nt TOO 1-ew9S2-g349. mm SAR tt.t i It trot day the not.

SAR 90 qrg.

Case Discontinued for late sar 7. When the client returns the completed SAR 7 after the first workday of the SAR Payment Period (Extended Filing Date), the HST must review for good cause in order to rescind the discontinuance and process the SAR 7. If Good Cause does not exist, then the client can have their CalWORKs and CalFresh benefits restored if a complete SAR 7 is provided within 30 days of discontinuance. When the client contacts the HST after the first workday of the SAR Payment Period, but before the 30 days from the discontinuance date, the HST must make a determination of good cause. If good cause exists, the HST must rescind the discontinuance and process the SAR 7. The good cause determination and the decision must be documented on the case journal..

[Audio] Example: A client contacts the HST on July 7th. The HST discovers that the case was discontinued June 30th for not returning their SAR 7 in the submit month of June. When the HST asks the client why the SAR 7 was not returned, the client explains that she was in the hospital from June 18th until July 3rd and provides the HST the SAR 7 with verification. The SAR 7 indicates that the client had earnings in May (the data month). The HST determines that the client had good cause for not getting the SAR 7 in by the extended filing date as she was in the hospital on that day. The discontinuance is rescinded..

Actions to take when good cause determining made.

JOURNAL Templates. Journal templates can be found in SAR 7 Training folder.

Questions?.

References. SAR 7 Handbook PIM 14-41 PIM 12-33 PIM 16-25 PIM 20-18 PIM 21-48 PIM 22-33 SAR 90 QRG.