(a) Definition of sub-units. Sub-units are the physical locations of organizational entities within project areas responsible for operating various aspects of the Food Stamp Program, exclusive of Post Offices which may issue coupons. Sub-units shall be classified based upon functional responsibility as one or more of the following.
(1) Certification office. Any sub-unit which has the responsibility for accepting applications, conducting interviews, determining eligibility, maintaining (or having easy access to) casefiles, and transmitting information to the data management unit shall be designated as a certification office.
(2) Issuance office. Any sub-unit which has the responsibility for issuing coupons to participating households and storing coupons shall be designated as an issuance office.
(3) Data management unit (DMU). Any sub-unit which has the responsibility for maintaining the household issuance record (HIR) masterfile shall be designated as a DMU.
(4) Bulk storage point. Any sub-unit which has the responsibility for accepting and storing supplies of coupons prior to shipment to issuance sites shall be designated as a bulk storage point.
(5) Reporting point. Any sub-unit which has the responsibility for preparation and submittal of Form FNS-250 for more than one issuance unit shall be designated as a reporting point, regardless of whether or not the unit actually issues coupons.
(b) Reviewing Issuance Offices and Bulk Storage Points. The issuance office and bulk storage point review required by Sec. 274.1(c)(2) of this chapter may be satisfied through the ME review system.
(c) Combined responsibilities. (1) When a sub-unit has more than one of the areas of functional responsibility specified in paragraph (a) of this section, it shall be included in each applicable classification and if selected for review, all functions performed shall be examined. For example, if a sub-unit has an organizational entity which certifies households and also has an entity which regularly issues coupons, the sub-unit shall be designated as both a certification and an issuance office. Thus, in an HIR issuance system, sub-units designated as issuance offices would usually also be designated as DMU's since the HIR masterfile is usually maintained at the issuance site in this system.
(1) When a sub-unit has more than one of the areas of functional responsibility specified in paragraph (a) of this section, it shall be included in each applicable classification and if selected for review, all functions performed shall be examined. For example, if a sub-unit has an organizational entity which certifies households and also has an entity which regularly issues coupons, the sub-unit shall be designated as both a certification and an issuance office. Thus, in an HIR issuance system, sub-units designated as issuance offices would usually also be designated as DMU's since the HIR masterfile is usually maintained at the issuance site in this system.
(2) Certain sub-units shall not be designated as having combined responsibilities, even though they may perform certain functions related to more than one of the areas. For example, coupon issuers must maintain a level of coupon inventory to ensure that participants' needs are met on a daily basis but do not supply other issuance sites with bulk supplies of coupons. Such a sub-unit would not be classified as a bulk storage point. Certification offices may issue coupons in emergency situations or to meet the requirements of expedited service but do not routinely issue coupons to households under standard certifications. In these and similar situations, the sub-unit would be classified based upon its primary function exclusively. However, when any sub-unit is selected, all program requirements specified in Sec. 275.8 which the sub-unit has responsibility for, shall be reviewed.
(d) Itinerant issuance and certification points. Units which certify households and/or issue coupons as satellites of a central sub-unit shall not be classified as independent sub-units. Units may be identified as itinerant when they do not operate on a regular basis, retain certification records, store coupons, transmit information directly to the DMU and/or develop FNS-250 reports independently. Examples of such units include mobile units, short term or seasonal operations, and units which may operate on a regular basis but do not meet the criteria for a sub-unit described in paragraph (a) of this section. However, when a sub-unit is selected for review which acts as a parent unit for itinerant service points, at least one itinerant point per sub-unit shall be reviewed if operational at the time of the review.
(e) Selection of Sub-units for Review. State agencies shall select a representative number of sub-units of each category for on-site review in order to determine a project area's compliance with program standards. [Amdt. 160, 45 FR 15900, Mar. 11, 1980; 45 FR 23638, Apr. 8, 1980; 45 FR 46784, July 11, 1980, as amended by Amdt. 266, 52 FR 3408, Feb. 4, 1987]