MR#25.31 SNAP and Medical Applications: New Provider Portal Access for IDOC, SOPH, and IDJJ Facilities

09/15/25

This Manual Release supplements the following Manual Release and Policy Memos:

MR #23.16: SNAP Applications for Individuals Being Released from IDOC - Expansion to include remaining Correctional Facilities, dated 05/02/2023
MR #20.03: Medical Coverage for IDOC Inmates & Misc. Updates, dated 01/22/2020
Corrected Policy Memo, SNAP Applications for Individuals Being Released from IDJJ Facilities (Corrected Policy Memo), dated 02/02/2023
Policy Memo, SNAP Applications for Individuals Being Released from Mental Health Facilities is Expanded, dated 01/18/2023
Policy Memo, System Changes to Accommodate Applications Received Prior to an Individual's Release from Certain Department of Correction or State Mental Health Facilities - Phase 1, dated 10/20/2021

Summary:

This Manual Release introduces Phase 2 of the Pre-Release Program for certain institutions. Phase 2 provides Provider Portal access to Application for Benefits Eligibility (ABE) for approved facilities of the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC), Illinois Department of Human Services-Division of Behavioral Health & Recovery (IDHS-DBHR) State Operated Psychiatric Hospitals (SOPH), and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ).
Access to the ABE Provider Portal will allow approved facility representatives to submit and maintain applications for SNAP benefits. Access to the ABE Provider Portal will be granted in a phased approach. At the time of this release, only Logan Correctional Center and Lincoln Correctional Center will have access to the ABE Provider Portal.
Phase 2 includes design changes to ABE, the ABE Provider Portal and the Integrated Eligibility System (IES). These changes include: New mandatory fields, new functionality, new values, a new IES Data Collection page, and new EDM Inbox tasks for individuals in IDOC, SOPH and IDJJ facilities.
Enhancements have been made to consider the IDOC/State Mental Health Facility Name and Living Arrangement fields to determine eligibility in IES. Benefits will be denied or pended based on the IDOC, SOPH, or IDJJ facility's participation in the Pre-Release Program and the Actual Release Date. The Actual Release Date must be within 10 days from the date of application for SNAP benefits to be approved.
When Medical benefits are requested for an individual residing in one of the affected facilities, Presumptive Eligibility (PE) pages will be queued during application registration if there are children requesting benefits and 'IDOC', 'State Mental Health Facility' or 'County Jail' are selected as a Special Accommodation during application registration on the Register Application - Application page.
Medical eligibility for individuals in an IDOC or IDJJ facility and medical eligibility for individuals age 65 and older living in a SOPH has not changed.
Medical benefits for individuals age 19-64 who live in a SOPH will pend for an Actual Release Date if the Expected Release Date is less than or equal to 10 days from the application date. If the Actual Release Date from the institution is not entered within 10 days, medical benefits will be denied. If the expected release date is entered as more than 10 days from the application date, eligibility will be denied.
Medical Eligibility for SOPH's who also serve as an Illinois Department of Human Services-Division of Developmental Disabilities (IDHS-DDD) facility will not be required to pend for an Actual Release Date. Facilities fitting this criteria will require a Living Arrangement Type of "State Mental Health Facility" for IES to process a Medical request correctly. A list of these facilities can be found at: WAG 06-34-01-b.
Cash eligibility for individuals in an IDOC, SOPH or IDJJ facility has not changed.
A new monthly Business Object Report called "Applications in Advance of Release - Mental Health and Correctional Facilities Report" has been created to identify information for customers residing in IDOC, SOPH, or IDJJ facilities who have submitted applications for SNAP or Medical benefits in advance of their release date.

ABE Provider Portal Dashboard

As part of Phase 2 of the Pre-Release Program, approved provider facilities under the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC), Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS)-Division of Behavioral Health & Recovery (IDHS-DBHR) State Operated Psychiatric Hospitals (SOPH), and Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) are now allowed to request Application for Benefits Eligibility (ABE) provider accounts. A dashboard has been developed for these types of providers in the ABE Provider Portal. Facilities will receive access to request provider accounts in a phased approach.

At the time of this release, two facilities will have Provider Portal access, those facilities are:

Logan Correctional Center; and
Lincoln Correctional Center.

Future releases will be published when new facilities gain access to the Provider Portal.

Once a facility is approved, certain employees at those facilities will be able to:

Submit applications for benefits for individuals in their facility;
View applications that have already been approved or denied;
View applications started but not submitted;
View submitted applications and track their status;
View notices, upload documents and print link card issuance forms;
Reschedule interview appointments;
Update projected discharge dates; and
Continue ABE applications that a resident from their facility started.

ABE Changes

The Residence Information section in ABE has been updated with new mandatory fields, new functionality and new values for individuals in IDOC, SOPH, and IDJJ facilities.

New values: "Private Mental Health Facility and "State Mental Health Facility" have been added to the Where does this person live? question on the Household Members Details page.
New mandatory fields in ABE which will only be enabled when the Where does this person live? question is selected as: "State Mental Health Facility", "Illinois State Prison/State Juvenile Detention", or "County Jail /County Juvenile Detention":
- Correctional/Mental Health Facility Name - The available facility names in the drop down menu will be dynamically available based on the particular facility category selected.
- Projected Discharge Date - If the provided date is more than 10 days after the application date, a hard stop validation message will tell the customer that their SNAP request will be denied.
- For IDOC/IDJJ Only: Inmate Number - If a value is not entered, a hard stop validation message will prompt the user for a number.
The Household Address field in ABE will auto fill to the selected facility's address when a facility name is selected in the Correctional/Mental Health Facility Name drop down menu. The user will receive a message saying: "You have indicated that you live in a Correctional/ Mental Health facility. Your physical and/or mailing address will be updated to the address of the facility upon submission".

The Add Program flow in ABE will also incorporate the updates mentioned in this section.

Note: Applications from individuals applying through the Pre-Release Program who select a provider who has not yet been granted access to the Provider Portal should be processed using Phase 1 procedures. At the time of this release, only Logan and Lincoln Correctional Centers have access to the Provider Portal.

Changes to IES Application Registration for ABE/Provider Portal Applications

The Register Application - Application page has received updates:
- "Provider Portal" has been added as an application source in the Source dropdown field.
- "Private Mental Health Institution" has been renamed "Private Mental Health Facility" in the Special Accommodations field.
- "State Mental Health Institution" has been renamed "State Mental Health Facility" in the Special Accommodations field.
- The Facilities/Institutions field has been replaced with the Organization Number field.
- The Provider # field has been replaced with the Organization Name field.
- A status icon has been added next the Organization Name field when an individual from a Correctional/Mental Health Facility applies on their own behalf. The Special Accommodations field will update to IDOC, State Mental Health Facility or County Jail and will default to "Pending". The icon will be updated by a provider via the Provider Portal to "Confirmed" or "Rejected", however workers should continue to process applications regardless of the icon status.
- A new field titled Application Submitted By will display the name of the worker at the organization who is submitting the application when the application is received from the Provider Portal.

Applications received from providers and individuals being released from IDOC, SOPH, and IDJJ facilities will attempt to auto register in IES.

If auto registration is not successful, the application will need to be registered manually in IES. If during manual registration "IDOC" or "State Mental Health Facility" is selected as a Special Accommodation on the Register Application - Application page, the new Correctional/Mental Health Facility Name field will display a drop down with all statewide facilities for the selected facility type for a worker to select the correct facility.

Changes in IES Data Collection

The Living Arrangement values, "Private Mental Health Institution" and "State Mental Health Institution", have changed to "Private Mental Health Facility" and "State Mental Health Facility" on the Living Arrangement/Domicile Details page.

A new dropdown field titled, Correctional/Mental Health Facility Name, has been added to the Living Arrangement Details page. This new dropdown will determine eligibility based on the facility's participation in the Pre-Release Program.

The facility name will be auto populated with the name of the facility if the application was completed via the Provider Portal.

If Data Collection (DC) has been initiated on a case in Integrated Eligibility System (IES) the same day an IDOC facility updates the facility name for an individual in the Provider Portal, the facility will be prompted to create a comment and the comment will transfer over to IES for workers to view.

Individual Living in an IDOC, SOPH, or IDJJ facility Applies for Benefits

When an individual living in an IDOC, SOPH, or IDJJ facility applies on their own behalf:

A status icon next to the Organization Name field will be enabled when the Special Accommodations field on the Register Application - Application page is selected as IDOC, SOPH or County Jail.
The following statuses will be displayed next to the Correctional/Mental Health Facility Name field when an individual from an IDOC, SOPH, or IDJJ facility applies on their own behalf: Confirmed, pending or rejected.
The facility must confirm the individual's residency in their facility before the application can be approved. The status will remain as 'Pending' until the facility confirms or rejects that the individual is in their facility. If the provider confirms the individual is in the facility, this status will change to 'Confirmed' and a time stamp will appear next to the icon.

Note: IDOC facilities have the option to confirm that the individual resides in a different IDOC facility then what the individual originally entered when applying.

New IES Data Collection Page - Link Card Issuance

The Link Card Issuance page has been created in IES Data Collection under the Benefit Issuance logical unit of work to allow workers who are authorized to issue Link cards to enter the information required for the Illinois Link Card Issuance Form (IL444-3658) within IES.

The page functionality will only be accessible when the Link worker initiates a "Link Card Issuance - DOC/MH" task. If accessed via IES Left Navigation, the functionality of the page will be disabled. When the Link worker starts the task from the EDM Inbox page in IES Left Navigation, the worker will be redirected to the Link Card Issuance page.

Once the "Link Card Number" field is updated and [Submit] is clicked, the IL444-3658 will generate and save to the ECR. A link will be sent to the facility where the customer is living via the Provider Portal so that the facility worker can get the customer's signature and provide the customer with their Link card. The facility worker will then upload the signed version of the IL444-3658 to the ECR.

Note: Link cards for approved individuals living in a facility who have not yet been granted access to the Provider Portal should be processed using Phase 1 procedures. Currently only Logan and Lincoln Correctional Centers have access to the Provider Portal.

New EDM Inbox Task - Link Card Issuance - DOC/MH

A new task titled: "Link Card Issuance - DOC/MH" will be created upon approval of a SNAP EDG for an individual living in an approved IDOC, SOPH, or IDJJ facility.

A new queue titled "Link Queue" has been created on the Electronic Documents Inbox (EDM) page. The "Link Card Issuance - DOC/MH" task will be created in this new queue.

Link Card Issuance Process

Link worker will click the "Link Card Issuance - DOC/MH" task and will be redirected to the Link Card Issuance page.
The page will be prepopulated with the case information and the worker will be required to enter the Link Card number that is going to be issued.
The Card Issuance Method field will be disabled and defaulted to "Issue to Customer at facility - DOC/MH Early Release Program". The Proof of Identity and Secondary Proof of Identity fields will both be disabled for this type of link card issuance as well.
Upon clicking the "Submit" button, the IL444-3658 will generate, save to the ECR and generate a PDF link in IES.
The PDF link for the IL444-3658 will be systematically sent to the Provider Portal for the facility worker to print and get signed by the customer.
Once signed, the provider will hand the customer their Link Card and upload the signed form to the ECR.

Note: This procedure will currently only apply to Logan and Lincoln Correctional Centers. Future releases will be published when new facilities gain access to the Provider Portal.

Link Card Issuance Form (IL444-3658) Changes

The IL444-3658 has been reorganized and slightly updated to better accommodate Link Card issuances for individuals being released from IDOC, SOPH and IDJJ facilities and to provide added protection from identity theft.

New EDM Inbox Task - DOC/MH Release Date

The new "DOC/MH Release Date" task will be created when the provider submits a customer's Actual Release Date. The task will be routed to the Ready to Certify Queue with a special indicator of "Benefits in Advance."

A system batch process will attempt to update the Actual Release Date in IES; if not successful, the date will need to be updated manually by a worker at the time the task is processed.

New EDM Inbox Task - Report New Projected Discharge Date

The new, "Report New Projected Discharge Date" task is created when the IDOC, SOPH, or IDJJ facility updates the Projected Discharge Date in the Provider Portal. It will be created in the Changes/Misc. Queue with the special indicator of "Benefits in Advance."

If the new Projected Discharge Date is more than 10 days in the future:

A system batch process will attempt to update the Expected Release Date in IES and if successful, the task will be closed. If the batch process fails, the date will need to be updated manually by a worker.
The application task will remain open so that Medical benefits can be processed and the SNAP benefits will be denied due to the Expected Release Date being more than 10 days after the date of application.

If the new Projected Discharge Date is less than 10 days in the future:

A system batch process will attempt to update the Expected Release Date in IES and if successful, the task will be closed. If the batch process fails, the date will need to be updated manually by a worker.
The application task will remain open so that the case can be processed. Both Medical and SNAP programs will pend until the Actual Discharge Date is reported.

Tasks with the "Benefits in Advance" Special Indicator will not be routed to the Non-Expedited Cold Call (NECC) Queue and a hard stop in IES will prevent a worker from re-indexing those tasks to the NECC Queue.

IES Eligibility

Eligibility rules have been updated to consider the IDOC/State Mental Health Facility Name and Living Arrangement fields. Benefits will be denied or pended based on the IDOC, SOPH, or IDJJ facility's participation in the Pre-Release program and the Actual Release Date. The Actual Release Date must be within 10 days from the date of application for SNAP benefits to be approved.

SNAP applications with an IDOC, SOPH, or IDJJ facility as the living arrangement with an expected release date within 10 days from the date of application will pend for the Actual Release Date from Institution field to be populated. Applications with an expected release date more than 10 days from the date of application will be denied.

Persons applying from one of the facility types mentioned should only apply for themselves. Additional individuals should complete a separate application. Additional individuals requesting SNAP benefits on an application with a HoH living in an IDOC, SOPH or IDJJ facility will be denied SNAP and excluded from the SNAP EDG.

Note: County Jails/County Juvenile Justice facilities have been added to the IDOC/State Mental Health Facility Name dropdown menu to facilitate potential future expansion of the Provider Portal. These are not part of the waiver that allow individuals from IDOC, SOPH, or IDJJ facilities to apply for SNAP up to 10 days before their release.

Medical Eligibility

Presumptive Eligibility (PE) pages will be queued during application registration if there are children requesting benefits and IDOC, SOPH or County Jail are selected as a Special Accommodation during application registration on the Register Application - Application page.

Medical eligibility for individuals in an IDOC or IDJJ facility has not changed.

State Operated Psychiatric Hospitals

Medical benefits for individuals age 19-64 who live in a SOPH living arrangement will pend for an Actual Release Date from the facility if the Expected Release Date is less than or equal to 10 days from the application date. If the Actual Release Date from the institution is not entered within 10 days, medical benefits will be denied.

Individuals age 65 and older living in a SOPH are already eligible as long as they meet all eligibility requirements and remain so with the onset of Phase 2.

If the expected release date is entered as more than 10 days from the application date, eligibility will be denied for both the individual and the EDG that the resident of the SOPH is a part of.

SOPH also serving as an IDHS-DDD Facility

Some SOPH facilities may also serve as an Illinois Department of Human Services-Division of Developmental Disabilities (IDHS-DDD) facility. At the time of this Manual Release, only Clyde Choate Developmental Center serves as both types of facilities.

To process a medical request for a facility serving as both SOPH and IHDS-DDD facility:

Select "State Mental Health Facility" for the Living Arrangement Type dropdown on the Living Arrangement/Domicile - Details page.; and
Select the correct facility name on the Correctional/Mental Health Facility Name dropdown on the Living Arrangement/Domicile - Details page.

Individuals age 19-64 who live in one of these facilities will not be required to pend for an Actual Release Date from the facility. A list of these facilities can be found at: WAG 06-34-01-b.

Note: Applications for Medical benefits from individuals living in a "Private Mental Health Facility" will be denied.

Cash Eligibility

Individuals who live in an IDOC, SOPH, or IDJJ facility are not eligible for any Cash program. Cash requests from these individuals will be denied.

State Food

State Food eligibility and procedures will follow SNAP policy in regards to the Pre-Release Program.

New Business Objects Report

The new, "Applications in Advance of Release - Mental Health and Correctional Facilities Report" is a monthly report found in Business Objects. It will show information for customers residing in IDOC, SOPH, and IDJJ facilities who have submitted applications for SNAP or Medical benefits in advance of their release date.