Holding/Releasing and Voiding of EBT Benefits

Holding/Releasing EBT Benefits

The following is general information about Holding/Releasing EBT benefits in CalSAWS.

EBT benefits with an [ISSUANCE STATUS] of “Pending” can be held.
Once the Fiscal Month End Process is run and the Benefit Issuance Status shows as “ISSUED”, holds/emergency holds CANNOT be placed on EBT benefits.
EBT benefits generated from the Daily Run and CME processes CANNOT be held, because they are transmitted immediately to the EBT account at FIS.

System-Generated Hold on EBT Benefits

CalSAWS automatically places a hold on future EBT benefits when the periodic report is not received by the 11th of the month or is incomplete.

System-Generated Release of a Hold on EBT Benefits

Once the periodic report is recorded as received and complete, the hold on the EBT benefits is released automatically.

Manual Hold on EBT Benefits

The EW can manually place a hold on EBT benefits in the Search for Issuance window in the Benefit Issuance Subsystem. Refer to “To Hold Benefits for Recurring Benefits in Pending Status, before FME Batch Process” in Help for the procedure.

Manual Release of a Hold on EBT Benefits

The EW can manually release a hold on EBT benefits on the [Search for Issuance] in the Benefit Issuance Subsystem. Refer to “To Release Hold on Benefits (Not issued)” in Help for the procedure.

Voiding of EBT Benefits

For regular recurring benefits, the EBT issuance can be voided in CalSAWS AFTER the benefits have been transmitted to the EBT account at FIS up until the client’s stagger day (availability date) when benefits are actually made available to the client.

Benefits that are issued “Transfer Online” CANNOT be voided. Transfer on line is a real-time transaction and the benefits are immediately available to the client. Also supplemental benefits issued during the nightly batch process CANNOT be voided since they are also immediately available to the client.

Note: Only benefits which show as NOT yet available on the Inquire in EBT Benefit Data window can be voided. Refer to “Inquire on EBT Benefit Data” in Help for instructions on how to read the data in this window.

Reminder: Guidelines for timely Notices of Action MUST be observed when voiding EBT benefits.

Procedure for Voiding EBT Benefits

The following procedure must be followed when an EW is voiding EBT benefits AFTER the benefits have been transmitted to the EBT account at FIS, but PRIOR to the client’s availability date.

The EW:
1. Reviews the “Benefit Grant Inquiry” screen via the Administrative Terminal to ensure benefits were transmitted.
2. Makes a screen print of the Issuance Detail window showing the issuance which is to be voided.
3. Completes and faxes the “Fax Coversheet for Benefit Issuance Action” (SC 274) and the issuance detail screen print to Benefit Issuance at (408) 975-4511.
4. Has the SC 274 and screen print scanned into Imaging.
The BI at Julian:
1. Receives the SC 274.
2. Voids EBT benefits via the [Change Status] tab in the Maintain Issuance Detail window if it conforms to the County fiscal policy and procedure.
3. Enters details (reason, date, amount, status change, effective month, etc.) for this change request in the Journal Detail page after the action has been completed.
4. Notifies EW by phone, fax or email when benefits have been voided.

Re-issuance of Voided EBT Benefits

After the benefits have been voided, if the benefits need to be reissued the EW must:

Make any budget or other data entries necessary to have the system correctly calculate the benefit amount,
Run EDBC online to reissue the benefits. In the EDBC List page, enter “Y” in the “Evaluate Benefit Discrepancy for Cash [Y/N] and/or CalFresh [Y/N]” boxes for the reissuance month. This will cause the system to recalculate the budget for that month and issue the underpayment/underissuance as a supplement, and
Authorize the benefits.

Note: The actual issuance of the replacement benefit will occur through the nightly batch or office issuance process depending on the Issuance Method and Issuance Type selected.

Reminder: Do NOT use the Replace Benefit Issuance function for EBT. ALWAYS rerun EDBC to reissue EBT benefits.