CDSS has issued instructions to counties regarding the change in federal law in the timeframe for referring debts to the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) from 180 days to 120 days. TOP allows federal debts to be submitted for offset from federal tax returns and other federal payments. A CalFresh overissuance is considered a federal debt that is submitted to TOP if the submission requirements are met.
TOP requires a pre-offset warning notice, which will now be sent 31 days after the notice of action that alleges the overissuance. This gives the debtor 60 days to pay the debt, enter into a repayment agreement or request an administrative review. The TOP process stops if the debtor requests an administrative review within 60 days of the pre-offset notice, requests a fair hearing within 90 days of the notice of action that alleged the overissuance, or files bankruptcy.
At 120 days after the notice of action, if the debtor has not paid the debt, entered into a repayment agreement, requested a fair hearing or filed bankruptcy, CDSS will send the debt to the Food and Nutrition Service for referral to TOP. ACL 16-108 (December 28, 2016).