Home > Cross Programs > SSPS Payments > SSPS Benefits Procedures > Vendor Payments - Cash > Vendor Payments Introduction
Vendor payments, also referred to as protective payments, are payments that can be made by the Department directly to a third-party (vendor) on behalf of a client in receipt of cash assistance. Vendor payments are deducted from the client’s cash grant on the Vendor Payments page in the Case Maintenance workflow in the Assessed Person Income and Expenses workflow.
Vendor payments can be protective payments to help the client manage their household expenses. Payments can be made monthly for a client’s rent, mortgage, heat, electricity and gas. Other expense types on the Vendor Payments page relative to Young Parent Living Program (YPLP) fees are not currently being used.
Important |
There is a hard edit to prevent the creation of an SSPS invoice if the protective payment deduction is not effective for the first cyclical date of the month. Payment is made to the vendor through the Special Services Payment System (SSPS) invoice process. A single SSPS invoice is used to establish initial vendor payments and authorize ongoing payments. The SSPS invoice authorizes payment for the first month. Thereafter, payments must be released each month by a you or your supervisor. |
Payment is made to the vendor through the SSPS invoice process. After the monthly release, the Pending Invoices view will display all of the protective payments subject to release for the next month. You must check the Pending Invoices view daily, at a minimum the last two full weeks of the month through the Friday of release, which is on or before the first Wednesday of the next month. This event is known as the monthly payroll batch job.
On this view, you will select each invoice for any client subject to protective payments for a monthly release. You may release the protective payment as soon as it becomes visible on the Pending Invoices view. See Processing Vendor Payment.
Vendor Payments for Housing
When a vendor payment is made for rental housing, you must obtain written certification from the City, the Town Board of Health, or, if in Boston, the Inspectional Services Department, Housing Division, stating that the housing meets the minimum standards for health and safety established by that agency. If the housing does not meet the health and safety standards, vendor payments will not be made.
You should make a referral to the Department of Children and Families (DCF) for an investigation of the living situation, if applicable.
Voluntary vendor payments:
enter the requested vendor payment on the Vendor Payments page. Make sure you select the correct vendor payment amount and type.
wrap up the case
go to the Verification tab (See Verification Checklist).
you will see Vendor Payments on the list of verifications. The Value here is Payment type
click the Print Button. The Print Documents page will appear
select Local for the Print Destination
click the Generate button
click the Print button to print the Verifications Checklist and hand it to the client
Note |
If the vendor payment is for rent, the client must obtain a copy of a recent health and safety inspection report or a written statement from the local board of health that the apartment or home passes inspection |
When the client submits the agreement signed by the vendor, process the signed agreement following procedures described in Requesting a New SSPS Invoice.
Important |
A hard edit will ensure that vendor payments will not be authorized unless the same amount or greater is deducted from the client’s grant. To avoid the hard edit, enter or update the amount in the Vendor Payments page, then perform an Interview Wrapup, before creating the matching invoice. |
annotate the Narrative tab stating the type(s) and amounts of vendor payment(s) requested. For example, “Client requesting voluntary payments be made for rent, $130 per month to Winn Residential, and electricity, $75 per month to NStar. VC-1 sent.”
Upon approval, both the client and vendor will receive a notice.
A vendor payment for fuel or utilities must be made in the amount of the monthly cost of the fuel or utility averaged over a 12-month period, as determined by the client's arrangement with the fuel or utility company.
Important |
For all protective payments, selecting the correct dates of First Service and Last Service in the invoice is critical. You will be selecting multiple consecutive months to pay a vendor. For Last Service, you must select the last day of the final consecutive month of protective payments. This will ensure that clients have their payments authorized every month. You will also have to release each protective payment every month the payment is authorized. See (Processing Vendor Payments). |
Notification of vendor payment status
When you start, stop, increase or decrease vendor payments on the Vendor Payments Page , you must also start, stop, increase or decrease the corresponding SSPS invoice payment.
The client and vendor will receive a Vendor Payment Approval Letter if the client has been put on vendor payments for rent and/or utilities. If vendor payments are discontinued, the client and vendor will receive a Vendor Payment Removal Letter. One-month advance notice must be given to the vendor(s) before terminating a vendor payment(s), except if:
the client has verified, by the Board of Health or appropriate code enforcement authority, the existence of a health and/or safety code violation, or
the client’s cash assistance is terminated, or
the client’s monthly grant amount is less than the amount of a vendor payment(s), or
the client has verified that the last month’s rent was paid as part of a lease agreement, or
the client is participating in the Full Employment Program, or
the TAO director or designee has waived the one-month advance requirement
For the exceptions described above, the vendor(s) must receive the letter(s) no later than the date the vendor payment(s) is terminated.
If the amount of the payment changes, the client will receive a notice that their grant amount has changed, but the vendor will not receive a notice.
Terminations due to Batch Jobs
Vendor payroll batch jobs are run on the Friday before the first Wednesday of each month. On the next business day after that Friday, you must check the Failed Payroll Invoices View to see if any vendor payments for their clients failed to be processed. To go to this view:
go to the My Office tab
select Views
select Special Services Payment
select Failed Payroll Invoices
select the Invoice by clicking the appropriate check box
select the Invoice icon
On the Invoice, you will see the Payroll Exception Event. There will be text in the Comments field describing the reason for the failure. You must investigate the reason to determine your course of action.
If there is a correction to be made to the case record that is not an SSPS reason, then address that issue. If there are no such reasons, then you may update the Invoice to reduce the vendor payment, if appropriate. There will be no letter to notify the vendor of the change.
If, after your investigation, the client’s cash benefits were reduced correctly, (by a batch job) and there is not enough money for the vendor payment, you must terminate the Invoice. Use the Event-Terminate P.P. (Protective Payment) page, which is selected from the Invoice page of the Invoice of the failed payment. Terminating the Invoice will generate a Termination letter for the vendor.
Vendor Payments Policy and Procedures