When you identify an agency in Indiana (IN), Michigan (MI), Minnesota (MN), or Ohio
(OH) that provides needs-based assistance as described in the four bullets in SI CHI00830.605A, check to see whether a precedent exists within your office or on the SSI Policy
Team’s web page under HEA/SMA . If not, determine whether the HEA/SMA exclusion criteria are met. If you are familiar
with the agency (e.g., well-known churches, charitable organizations, utility companies,
food banks, etc.) and know that the assistance is based on need, you may certify that
the HEA/SMA meets the criteria to be excluded. If the agency is not well known, or
there is a question about whether the assistance is based on need, contact the agency,
determine whether the HEA/SMA criteria are met, and place a copy of the determination
in the claims file and the office's precedent file. Also email a copy of the new precedent
to the Regional HEA/SMA Coordinator at ||CHI ARC MOS CRSI
SSI. The determination will be added to the Region’s precedent site accessed through
the link from the SSI Policy Team’s Web page under HEA/SMA .
Always annotate the claims file with the following statement, “I certify, based on the authority granted by the State of _____________ that the
HEA (or SMA, as appropriate) was provided based on need by a qualified organization.” Since the States of Indiana (IN), Michigan (MI), Minnesota (MN), and Ohio (OH) have authorized SSA to make the written certification on their behalf, putting this
statement in file meets the regulatory requirement for a written certification.