PARIS is a federal and state partnership, administered by the Department of Health and Human Service’s Administration for Children and Families (ACF), which provides all fifty states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico with data to help them maintain program integrity and detect or deter improper payments.

The PARIS interstate match provides information regarding possible duplicate participation in public assistance programs in more than one state at one time. PARIS interstate matches may occur because of recipient error, agency error, or fraud. Recipient error occurs when an individual receiving benefits in one state moves to another state and fails to report the move to program authorities. Agency error occurs when an eligibility worker is informed that a recipient is moving out of state and fails to update the program record.

When Matches Occur

A match may occur only for people that meet the following criteria:

1. They have a verified Social Security Number.
2. They are active on one or more of the following programs the day the PARIS file is sent to determine if there is a match:
3. MFIP
4. GA
5. MSA
6. HSP
7. SNAP

Note: A match may also be received for those active on health care programs and/or Child Care Assistance (CCAP). This match may occur at the same time as a match for the Cash programs or SNAP listed above. When this occurs, follow the Health Care guidance and/or CCAP guidance to resolve these matches. The guidance in this section is for resolving matches for the Cash programs and SNAP listed above.

Matches will not occur for people that:

• Do not have a verified Social Security Number.
• Are currently open on a program listed above but that program is set to close at the end of the month.
• Are open on a privileged case.
• Only have received Emergency Assistance or Emergency General Assistance.
• Are children active on IV-E.

For more information on PARIS matches, see TE02.08.180 (PARIS Match Timeline and Data Selection).

Match information is displayed in MAXIS and will show each person that has a match, the state where they are receiving benefits and what programs they are open on. PARIS matches must be resolved within 45 days of receiving them. See TE02.08.181 (PARIS DAILS and Alerts) and TE02.08.182 (Accessing and Resolving PARIS Matches) for guidance on resolving these matches.

Note: The client may be open on several different programs at once and may therefore have more than one eligibility worker. In these situations, be sure to work together and discuss case information before acting on the match.

MFIP, GA, MSA, HSP:

Follow general provisions.

SNAP:

In addition to the general provisions above, there may be matches for those receiving the Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP) in Puerto Rico. This is not the same as SNAP and recipients of the NAP program are only able to access NAP benefits in Puerto Rico. Do not close a case or issue overpayments for duplicate assistance for those receiving NAP and SNAP.