Workforce Services, Employment Development

Rule R986-200

Family Employment Program

Notice of Proposed Rule

(Amendment)

DAR File No.: 35402
Filed: 11/01/2011 04:27:42 PM

RULE ANALYSIS

Purpose of the rule or reason for the change:

The purpose of this amendment is to clarify current practice regarding household eligibility.

Summary of the rule or change:

If a parent receives TANF-funded financial assistance in another state or a tribe, the household is not eligible in Utah. If a child is on a TANF-funded case, the child cannot be considered a dependent in another household.

State statutory or constitutional authorization for this rule:

• Section 35A-1-104
• Subsection 35A-3-302(5)(b)
• Subsection 35A-1-104(4)

Anticipated cost or savings to:

the state budget:

This applies to federally-funded programs so there are no costs or savings to the state budget.

local governments:

This is a federally-funded program so there are no costs or savings to the local government.

small businesses:

There will be no costs to small businesses to comply with these changes because this is a federally-funded program.

persons other than small businesses, businesses, or local governmental entities:

There will be no costs to any persons to comply with these changes because there are no costs or fees associated with these proposed changes.

Compliance costs for affected persons:

There will be no costs to for any affected persons because there are no costs or fees associated with these proposed changes.

Comments by the department head on the fiscal impact the rule may have on businesses:

There are no compliance costs associated with these changes for any persons because this is a federally-funded program and there are no fees or costs associated with these proposed changes. There are no compliance costs associated with this change. There are no fees associated with this change. There will be no cost to anyone to comply with these changes. There will be no fiscal impact on any business.

Kristen Cox, Executive Director

The full text of this rule may be inspected, during regular business hours, at the Division of Administrative Rules, or at:

Workforce Services
Employment Development
140 E 300 S
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84111-2333

Direct questions regarding this rule to:

• Suzan Pixton at the above address, by phone at 801-526-9645, by FAX at 801-526-9211, or by Internet E-mail at spixton@utah.gov

Interested persons may present their views on this rule by submitting written comments to the address above no later than 5:00 p.m. on:

12/15/2011

This rule may become effective on:

12/22/2011

Authorized by:

Kristen Cox, Executive Director

R986. Workforce Services, Employment Development.

R986-200. Family Employment Program.

R986-200-204. Eligibility Requirements.

(1) To be eligible for financial assistance under the FEP or FEPTP a household assistance unit must include:

(a) a pregnant woman when it has been medically verified that she is in the third calendar month prior to the expected month of delivery, or later, and who, if the child were born and living with her in the month of payment, would be eligible. The unborn child is not included in the financial assistance payment; or

(b) at least one minor dependent child who is a citizen or meets the alienage criteria. All minor children age 6 to 16 must attend school, or be exempt under 53A-11-102, to be included in the household assistance unit for a financial assistance payment for that child.

(i) A minor child is defined as being under the age of 18 years and not emancipated by marriage or by court order; or

(ii) an unemancipated child, at least 18 years old but under 19 years old, with no high school diploma or its equivalent, who is a full-time student in a secondary school, or in the equivalent level of vocational or technical training, and the school has verified a reasonable expectation the 18 year old will complete the program before reaching age 19.

(2) Households must meet other eligibility requirements of income, assets, and participation in addition to the eligibility requirements found in R986-100.

(3) Persons who are fleeing to avoid prosecution of a felony are ineligible for financial assistance.

(4) All clients who are required to complete a negotiated employment plan as provided in R986-200-206 must attend a FEP orientation meeting, sign a FEP Agreement, and negotiate and sign an employment plan within 30 days of submitting his or her application for assistance. Attendance at the orientation meeting can only be excused for reasonable cause as defined in R986-200-212(8). The application for assistance will not be complete until the client has attended the meeting.

(5) If a parent in the financial assistance household received TANF funded financial assistance benefits from another state or from a tribe, the entire household is ineligible to receive TANF funded financial assistance in Utah the same month. This is true even if household composition has changed. If a child in the household has received TANF funded financial assistance in another household, in this or any other state, the child will be excluded from the household determination in the same month according to the provisions of R986-200-205(2)(d). TANF funded financial assistance in Utah is FEP, FEP-TP, Emergency Assistance and AA.

 

R986-200-205. How to Determine Who Is Included in the Household Assistance Unit.

The amount of financial assistance for an eligible household is based on the size of the household assistance unit and the income and assets of all people in the household assistance unit.

(1) The income and assets of the following individuals living in the same household must be counted in determining eligibility of the household assistance unit:

(a) all natural parents, adoptive parents, parents listed on the birth certificate and stepparents, unless expressly excluded in this section, who are related to and residing in the same household as an eligible dependent child. Natural parentage is determined as follows:

(i) A woman is the natural parent if her name appears on the birth record of the child.

(ii) For a man to be determined to be the natural parent, that relationship must be established or acknowledged or his name must appear on the birth record. If the parents have a solemnized marriage at the time of birth, relationship is established and can only be rebutted by a DNA test;

(b) household members who would otherwise be included but who are absent solely by reason of employment, school or training, or who will return home to live within 30 days;

(c) all minor siblings, half-siblings, and adopted siblings living in the same household as an eligible dependent child; and

(d) all spouses living in the household.

(2) The following individuals in the household are not counted in determining the household size for determining payment amount nor are the assets or income of the individuals counted in determining household eligibility:

(a) a recipient of SSI benefits. If the SSI recipient is the parent and is receiving FEP assistance for the child(ren) residing in the household, the SSI parent must cooperate with establishing paternity and child support enforcement for the household to be eligible. If the only dependent child is a SSI recipient, the parent or specified relative may receive a FEP assistance payment which does not include that child, provided the parent or specified relative is not on SSI and can meet all other requirements;

(b) a child during any month in which a foster care maintenance payment is being provided to meet the child's needs. If the only dependent child in the household is receiving a foster care maintenance payment, the parent or specified relative may still receive a FEP assistance payment which does not include the child, provided all other eligibility, income and asset requirements are met;

(c) an absent household member who is expected to be gone from the household for 180 days or more unless the absence is due to employment, school or training. If the absence is due to employment, school or training the household member must be included.

(d) a child who was counted as a dependent in a household that received TANF funded financial assistance or in a specified relative household in the same month. A child cannot be counted as a dependent in two households that receive TANF funded financial assistance or specific relative assistance in the same month.

(3) The household assistance unit can choose whether to include or exclude the following individuals living in the household. If included, all income and assets of that person are counted:

(a) all absent household members who are expected to be temporarily absent from the home for more than 30 but not more than 180 consecutive days unless the absence is due to employment, school or training. If the absence is due to employment, school or training the household member must be included;

(b) Native American children, or deaf or blind children, who are temporarily absent while in boarding school, even if the temporary absence is expected to last more than 180 days;

(c) an adopted child who receives a federal, state or local government special needs adoption payment. If the adopted child receiving this type of payment is the only dependent child in the household and excluded, the parent(s) or specified relative may still receive a FEP or FEPTP assistance payment which does not include the child, provided all other eligibility requirements are met. If the household chooses to include the adopted child in the household assistance unit under this paragraph, the special needs adoption payment is counted as income;

(d) former stepchildren who have no blood relationship to a dependent child in the household;

(e) a specified relative. If a household requests that a specified relative be included in the household assistance unit, only one specified relative can be included in the financial assistance payment regardless of how many specified relatives are living in the household. The income and assets of all household members are counted according to the provisions of R986-200-241.

(4) In situations where there are children in the home for which there is court order regarding custody of the children, the Department will determine if the children should be included in the household assistance unit based on the actual living arrangements of the children and not on the custody order. If the child lives in the home 50% or more of the time, the child must be included in the household assistance unit and duty of support completed. It is not an option to exclude the child. This is true even if the court awarded custody to the other parent or the court ordered joint custody. If the child lives in the household less than 50% of the time, the child cannot be included in the household. It is not an option to include the child. This is true even if the parent applying for financial assistance has been awarded custody by the court or the court ordered joint custody. If financial assistance is allowed, a joint custody order might be modified by the court under the provisions of 30-3-10.2(4) and 30-3-10.4.

(5) The income and assets of the following individuals are counted in determining eligibility even though the individual is not included in the assistance payment:

(a) a household member who has been disqualified from the receipt of assistance because of an IPV, (fraud determination);

(b) a household member who does not meet the citizenship and alienage requirements; or

(c) a minor child who is not in school full time or participating in self sufficiency activities.

 

KEY: family employment program

Date of Enactment or Last Substantive Amendment: [September 7, ]2011

Notice of Continuation: September 8, 2010

Authorizing, and Implemented or Interpreted Law: 35A-3-301 et seq.