COVID-19 business processes and rules

processing standards

when a young person who is isolating or in lockdown applies for ongoing assistance, verification is only needed if not already scanned in ART or one of MSD core systems (YSSU will let you know) for:

the client’s/partner’s/children’s legal name (including all aliases) and
their bank account

All other information can be verbally confirmed e.g. IR number, residency status, etc.

These standards are to support you to gather the information we need to confidently pay the right person their correct entitlement.

If you have any doubts or are unsure at any point, you are still able to:

Ask for additional information or evidence needed to make your recommendation
Check with your site expert, manager/team leader or escalate to YSSU

The below table outlines the processing standards, including one-off assistance applications. Please note numbers indicate order of preference.

Quick reference table

emergency and essential needs

Temporary options for young people who have emergency and/or essential needs. Find out more here.

family breakdown assessment

Barnardos are continuing to provide the Family Breakdown Assessment Service nationally for taiohi who are isolating or in lockdown. Barnardos will move from their usual face-to-face assessments to phone based.

appointment of agent

Young people can request to appoint an agent verbally over the phone or by completing the form on the Work and Income website and emailing to you (e.g. if they choose to do this instead).

When a young person requests to have an appointment of an agent, the youth service coach will:

Talk with the young person about the request and ensure they understand what is involved
Complete the appointment of agent form with the young person over the phone using the editable PDF version
Ensure the information recorded in the appointment of agent form is true and correct
Request an electronic copy (eg scanned copy, photo or screenshot) of information that needs to be verified:
- Young person’s legal name (“known to provider” statement can be used)
- Agent’s legal name or proof of organisation (eg business card)
- Young person’s and prospective agent’s agreement to agency (eg email) or
- POA/EPOA, Certificate of Non-Revocation and evidence of client’s incapacity (EPOA only).

Once completed, the youth coach will submit a Reviews > Appointment of Agent task on ART for Youth Service Support Unit to process the agency.

redirection of benefit payment

Young people can request a redirection of their benefit verbally over the phone or by completing the form on the Work and Income website and emailing to you (e.g. if they choose to do this instead).

For young people on money management, part of their benefit must be redirected to pay for:

the young person's accommodation and service costs, for example rent, board, power, phone
the young person's lawful debts or other liabilities, for example Child Support payments, Work and Income debts

When a young person’s requests to have their benefit redirected, the youth coach will:

Complete the redirection of benefit payment form with the young person over the phone using the editable PDF version
Ensure the information recorded in the redirection of benefit payment form is true and correct
Request an electronic copy (eg scanned copy, photo or screenshot) of information that needs to be verified:
- Young person’s legal name (“known to provider” statement can be used)
- Recipient’s legal name
- Recipient’s bank account
- Young person and recipient’s agreement to redirection (e.g. email)
- Payee registration form recipient will be required if part of payment is being redirected and not already registered
Once completed, the youth coach will submit a Reviews > Redirection on ART for Youth Service Support Unit to process.

collecting and recording information

We know many of you are working remotely and have asked for guidance on how to collect and record verification.

The best channel right now is through your work email. This is the most common way for people to upload images or scan their documents to share with us. It is quick and easy which is what we are aiming for.

This is a different way of working, to support you with the increase in your email traffic and to keep applications moving along, we’ve put a few tips together:

remember eligibility hasn’t changed – young people still need to qualify for assistance as per the existing guidelines
once you’ve sighted/verbally confirmed and recorded the information needed to progress the application, delete the young person's email. You do not need to hold onto this information for future reference.
how you reach the right decision depends on the level of detail collected during your engagement, keep the following factors in mind as these will steer you in the right direction:
- Identity: how we know who the person is
- Payment: how we know we’re making payments to the right place
- Entitlement: how we know why they’re entitled to the assistance.

If at any time you are unsure or need help, check in with your team leader or contact YSSU.

best practice tips for ART task notes

A ART task note should:

accurately document the conversation held with the young person, and
include details of the verbal verification taken during that engagement, and
should be easy for someone else to understand and detailed enough so that they can see how you reached your recommendation.

Adding a ART Note should be completed on the same day as meeting with the young person and where possible any supporting documents linked at the same time to the ART task.

proactive engagement with young people

Generally, if a young person is isolating or in lockdown this is a good and sufficient reason for not meeting their obligations. Ensure you consider all of the client’s circumstances before you make your decision.

Remember this is a tricky time for many of our young people, let’s approach with kindness.

The guiding principle in determining 'good and sufficient' reason is one of 'reasonableness'. Having considered the circumstances, was it reasonable for the young person not to have met their obligations?

recompliance activities for young people with an obligation failures

grade 1 or 2 sanction

To recomply with a grade 1 or 2 sanction during the lockdown, a young person must:

have a budgeting conversation with their youth coach; and/or (budgeting O/F)
confirm that they are contactable by phone - we must check we have the correct contact number for them (all other O/F)

grade 3 sanction and VU - 13 week non-entitlement period

To have a provisional benefit granted, a client must complete a 6-week recompliance activity because normal activities won't be available, a client must:

be contactable by phone
take reasonable steps to engage with their education programme based on their circumstances e.g. enroll in a course
set and document goals
participate in regular check-in with their youth coach to discuss their activities.

payment card

Young people who don't have a payment card, or have lost their payment card and are requesting for a hardship payment will be managed as follows:

Encourage the young person to find their card, if they can’t then
Direct credit to supplier, only when we have an arrangement in place to notify the supplier that we’ve made the payment, otherwise
As a last resort, direct credit to the young person's bank account.

When our sites are closed, young people should not be directed there to collect payment cards.

warrants to arrest

If a young person needs to seek clearance of their warrant, they should speak to Ministry of Justice on 0800 COURTS (0800 268 787).

funeral grant application

Young people can apply for a funeral grant verbally over the phone or by completing the form on the Work and Income website and emailing it to you.

contact made to apply

When the young person makes an application for funeral grant, discuss eligibility criteria as per business as usual.
Discuss their application and complete the Funeral Grant application form with the applicant over the phone using the editable PDF version
Identify what information is already held in ART and what the applicant needs to provide. The only information that requires verification required is:
Proof of who the applicant is
If funeral expenses have been paid and you are considering direct payment to the applicant/individual:
- Proof of death, if they have it - where they do not, advise them:
  - we can contact the funeral director directly for this information, if appropriate
  - we can request this information directly from the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) however it may take up to 10 working days
  - when the death has not been registered (eg the burial or cremation has not taken place yet), or as an alternative option, they could ask the funeral director to provide the medical certificate to us confirming the person’s death
- Proof of bank account (including the account holder’s name)
Request an electronic copy of documentation (eg scanned copy, photo or screenshot)
If the applicant does not have internet access, confirm the information verbally including any key identifiers (e.g. references) and advise them that we may require this proof at a later date
Obtain the client’s agreement to the privacy statement and that the information provided in the application is true and correct.
If an applicant refuses to or is unable to confirm they understand, or that the information they have provided is true and correct, you can still require the person to provide further information or verification before making a recommendation to YSSU.
Advise the applicant of the next steps and submit funeral grant task in ART.