Body
Revision 26-2; Effective April 1, 2026
All Programs
Staff must authenticate a caller during any phone contact with the household.
Staff must ask identifying questions to confirm the identity of the caller.
Staff should explain that the authentication questions help ensure the caller's identity and protect their confidentiality and information. Do this at the start of the call.
A-2020.1 Authentication Questions and Verification Sources
Revision 26-2; Effective April 1, 2026
All Programs
Staff must authenticate a caller during any phone contact with the household.
Ask client-related questions to authenticate a caller's identity. These are questions that the person, authorized representative (AR), or personal representative (PR) will usually know the answers to but are not easily known to others.
Use available verification sources to select the questions and verify the responses. These sources include but are not limited to:
- Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System (TIERS);
- Data Broker; and
- Birth Verification System (BVS).
Not all the questions are applicable to every household. Staff should use prudent person principle to determine if enough questions apply to the household's situation and if the person provides accurate responses.
The person must respond accurately to two questions from the lists below. Ask as many head of household-related questions as needed to allow the person to provide two accurate responses.
Initially, questions with available verifications should be chosen from a source other than the application, such as:
- What is your Texas driver license or Texas state identification number?
- What was a previous address for any place you lived?
- Who are your neighbors?
- What is the date of your wedding anniversary?
- When was your divorce final?
If the person cannot provide two correct answers to the above questions, ask as many of these other questions as needed to receive a total of two accurate responses:
- What is the date of birth for a child on your case?
- What type of vehicle do you or another household member own?
- Who are the members of your household?
- What types of income do you or a member of your household receive?
- From whom do you receive child support?
- What is your alien registration number?
- What is your or your spouse's maiden name?
- What is the name of a bank or financial institution where you have an account?
- What is the name of a previous or last employer for you or another household member?
- What is the name of your mortgage company or landlord?
- To whom do you pay child support?
If necessary, request a credit report on the head of household:
- for applicants new to Texas;
- when none of the above questions apply to the household's situation; or
- when you cannot gather verification of the responses from the sources listed above.
Information from the head of household's credit report may be used to develop questions to authenticate the caller. Examples of credit report questions to authenticate the caller include:
- What is the name of a gas station or department store where you have a credit card?
- What is the name of a major credit card you have, such as a Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover?
- What is the name of the bank or financial institution which holds your student loan?
- What is the name of the bank or financial institution which holds your car loan?
Related Policy
Prudent Person Principle, A-137
Actions on Inaccurate Responses to the Questions, A-2020.3
Documentation Requirements, A-2050
Establishing Identity for Contact Outside the Interview Process, B-1213
Telephone Contact, B-1213.1
A-2020.2 Actions When Unable to Authenticate the Caller
Revision 26-2; Effective April 1, 2026
All Programs
Staff should submit a policy clearance request to field policy staff if:
- none of the questions apply to a particular case situation; or
- responses cannot be verified.
A-2020.3 Actions on Inaccurate Responses to the Questions
Revision 26-2; Effective April 1, 2026
All Programs
If enough questions are applicable to the case but the caller cannot provide correct responses to any two questions to authenticate their identity advise them that:
- the interview will be completed to gather required information; and
- the person must come to the local office and provide verification of their identity in person.
Staff must document if the person did not correctly respond to the authentication questions in the case record.
Send the household Form H1020, Request for Information or Action, requesting that the caller provide proof of identity at an HHSC local office.
Do not deny an active Eligibility Determination Group (EDG) when adding a program if the caller fails to come to an HHSC local office to authenticate their identity.
Related Policy
Pending Information, A-135
Expedited Service, A-140
Pending Verification on Applications, B-115
Processing Redeterminations, B-122
A-2020.4 Claiming Hardship for Coming to the Office
Revision 26-2; Effective April 1, 2026
All Programs
If the caller states they cannot come to an HHSC local office, allow the caller to claim hardship for any of the following reasons:
- residence is more than 30 miles from an HHSC local office, even if an itinerant office is less than 30 miles from the caller’s' home;
- work or training schedule;
- transportation difficulties;
- prolonged severe weather;
- illness;
- care of a household member, who does not have to be part of the certified household; or
- victims of family violence.
The person must provide authentication of their identity by:
- mail;
- uploading information to their Your Texas Benefits account; or
- fax.
A-2020.5 Actions When Verification Is Provided at the Local Office
Revision 26-2; Effective April 1, 2026
All Programs
Staff documents if the caller was authenticated in the case record and what information was provided if the caller comes to an HHSC local office and provides appropriate authentication.
A-2020.6 Denial for Failure to Authenticate Identity
Revision 26-2; Effective April 1, 2026
All Programs
The eligibility determination system creates a task to deny only the EDG that authentication questions were asked for if the caller does not come to the local office to provide acceptable verification of identity by the final due date on Form H1020, Request for Information or Action. This is done by using the denial reason: failure to provide required information within specified time frame.
Related Policy
Pending Information, A-135
Pending Verification on Applications, B-115
Processing Redeterminations, B-122