Review of Emergency Assistance Eligibility Determinations

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

This final report points out that four of the six States included in our review were not verifying all eligibility information for individuals applying for emergency assistance (EA). Three States did not require either gathering and/or verifying eligibility information. In the fourth State policies and procedures for verification were acceptable, but were not followed for 56 percent of the cases tested. Further, some EA case folders were missing at two States in our review. As a result, there was no assurance that (1) all recipients were eligible for EA, and (2) EA claims and resulting expenditures were appropriate. We recommended that the Administration for Children and Families notify the States involved to ensure eligibility determinations are made in accordance with Federal regulations.

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