In cases involving an agency's proposed or intended action to discontinue, terminate, suspend or reduce assistance described in these rules, or to change the manner or form of payment, no action may be taken unless the following conditions are met:

1) Written notice must be provided to the client that is "adequate." Adequate means a written notice that includes a statement of what action the agency intends to take, the reasons for the intended agency action, the specific regulations supporting such action, explanation of the individual's right to request a fair hearing, and the circumstances under which assistance may be continued if a hearing is requested.

2) The written notice must be "timely." It must be mailed no later than ten (10) days before the date of action; that is, at least ten (10) days before the intended change would be effective. However, in the TANF program, when the Division of Social Services learns of facts indicating that assistance should be discontinued, suspended, terminated, or reduced because of the probable fraud of the recipient, and, where possible, such facts have been verified through secondary sources, notice of a grant adjustment is timely if mailed at least five (5) days before the action would become effective.

3) Each recipient shall be advised of his/her liability for repayment of benefits received while awaiting a fair hearing if the agency's decision is upheld. Monthly reporting households receiving benefits while awaiting a hearing will continue to report monthly until the end of the certification period or the resolution of the fair hearing, whichever is first. However, if DSS did not receive a monthly report form from the household by the extended filing date and the household admits that it did not submit such a monthly report, benefits will not be continued. If the fair hearing concerns termination for non- receipt of the monthly report by DSS, then a new complete monthly report for the month in question must be submitted by the household before benefits are continued. If the hearing request form is unclear whether the recipient wants continued benefits, they should be given.

If a recipient receives notice of termination due to his or her failure to submit a completed monthly report but subsequently submits one within the timely notice period, benefits will be provided based upon the information indicated on the report. If the information submitted on the monthly report results in a change in benefit amount or eligibility, another notice indicating the change and meeting the definition of an adequate notice must be provided. If a fair hearing is requested based upon this second notice, benefits must be continued at the level issued just prior to the notice of change.

The agency will provide continued benefits not later than five (5) working days from the day it received the household's request.

During the fair hearing period, the agency will adjust allotments to take into account reported changes except for the factor(s) on which the hearing is based.

4) Notices, including computer generated notices, must contain information needed for the claimant to determine from the notice alone the accuracy of the Division's action or intended action. At a minimum all notices will:

a) Indicate the action or proposed action to be taken (i.e., denial, reduction, or termination of assistance);

b) Provide citation(s) to the regulation(s) supporting the action being taken;

c) Provide a detailed individualized explanation of the reasons(s) for the action being taken which includes, in terms comprehensible to the claimant, an explanation of why the action is being taken and, if the action is being taken because of the claimant's failure to perform an act required by a regulation, an explanation of what the claimant was required by the regulation to do and why his or her actions fail to meet this standard; and

d) If calculations of income or resources are involved, set forth the calculations used by the agency, including any disregards or deductions used in the calculations, explanations of what income and/or resources the agency considers available to the claimant and the source or identity of these funds, and the relevant eligibility limits and maximum benefit payment levels for a family or assistance unit of the claimant's size.