ARTICLE 20 SUBSTITUTE
A
RELATING TO CASH
ASSISTANCE
SECTION
1. Section 40-5.2-10 of the General Laws in Chapter 40-5.2 entitled "The
Rhode Island Works
Program" is hereby amended to read as follows:
40-5.2-10.
Necessary requirements and conditions. -- The following requirements
and
conditions shall be necessary to establish eligibility
for the program.
(a) Citizenship, alienage and residency requirements.
(1) A person shall be a
resident of the State of
(2) Effective October
1, 2008 a person shall be a
alienage requirements established in section 402(b) of the
Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, PRWORA, Public
Laws No. 104-193 and as that section
may hereafter be amended; a person who is not a
alienage requirements established in PRWORA, as amended, is
not eligible for cash assistance in
accordance with this chapter.
(b) The
family/assistance unit must meet any other requirements established by the
department of human services by rules and regulations
adopted pursuant to the Administrative
Procedures Act, as necessary to promote the purpose
and goals of this chapter.
(c) Receipt of cash
assistance is conditional upon compliance with all program
requirements.
(d) All individuals
domiciled in this state shall be exempt from the application of
subdivision 115(d)(1)(A) of Public Law 104-193, the
Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, PRWORA, which
makes any individual ineligible for
certain state and federal assistance if that
individual has been convicted under federal or state law
of any offense which is classified as a felony by the
law of the jurisdiction and which has as an
element the possession, use, or distribution of a
controlled substance as defined in section 102(6)
of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802(6)).
(e) Individual employment
plan as a condition of eligibility.
(1) Following receipt
of an application, the department of human services shall assess
the financial conditions of the family, including the
non-parent caretaker relative who is applying
for cash assistance for himself or herself as well as
for the minor child(ren),in the context of an
eligibility determination. If a parent or non parent
caretaker relative is unemployed or under-
employed, the department shall conduct an initial
assessment, taking into account: (A) the
physical capacity, skills, education, work experience,
health, safety, family responsibilities and
place of residence of the individual; and (B) the
child care and supportive services required by the
applicant to avail himself or herself of employment
opportunities and/or work readiness
programs.
(2) On the basis of
such assessment, the department of human services, in consultation
with the applicant, shall develop an individual
employment plan for the family which requires the
individual to participate in the intensive employment
services provided by the department of
labor and training.
(3) The director, or
his/her designee, may assign a case manager to an
applicant/participant, as appropriate.
(4) The department of
labor and training and the department of human services in
conjunction with the participant shall develop a
revised individual employment plan which shall
identify employment objectives, taking into
consideration factors above, and shall include a
strategy for immediate employment and for preparing
for, finding, and retaining employment
consistent, to the extent practicable, with the
individual's career objectives.
(5) The individual
employment plan must include the provision for the participant to
engage in work requirements as outlined in section
40-5.2-12 of this chapter.
(6) (A) The participant
shall attend and participate immediately in intensive assessment
and employment services as the first step in the
individual employment plan at the
department of labor and training, unless temporarily
exempt from this requirement in accordance
with this chapter.
(B) Parents under age
twenty (20) without a high school diploma or General Equivalency
Diploma (GED) shall be referred to special teen parent
programs which will provide intensive
services designed to assist teen parent to complete
high school education or GED, and to continue
approved work plan activities in accord with Works
program requirements.
(7) The applicant shall
become a participant in accordance with this chapter at the time
the individual employment plan is signed and entered
into.
(8) Applicants and
participants of the Rhode Island Work Program shall agree to comply
with the terms of the individual employment plan, and
shall cooperate fully with the steps
established in the individual employment plan,
including the work requirements.
(9) The department of
human services has the authority under the chapter to require
attendance by the applicant/participant, either at the
department of human services or at the
department of labor and training, at appointments
deemed necessary for the purpose of having the
applicant enter into and become eligible for assistance
through the Rhode Island Work Program.
Said appointments include, but are not limited to, the
initial interview, orientation and
assessment; job readiness and job search. Attendance
is required as a condition of eligibility for
cash assistance in accordance with rules and
regulations established by the department.
(10) As a condition of
eligibility for assistance pursuant to this chapter, the
applicant/participant shall be obligated to keep
appointments, attend orientation meetings at the
department of human services and/or the
participate in any initial assessments or appraisals
and comply with all the terms of the individual
employment plan in accordance with department of human
service rules and regulations.
(11) A participant,
including a parent or non-parent caretaker relative included in the
cash assistance payment, shall not voluntarily quit a
job or refuse a job unless there is good cause
as defined in this chapter or the department's rules
and regulations.
(12) A participant who
voluntarily quits or refuses a job without good cause, as defined
in subsection 40-5.2-12(l), while receiving cash
assistance in accordance with this chapter, shall
be sanctioned in accordance with rules and regulations
promulgated by the department.
(f) Resources.
(1) The Family or
assistance unit's countable resources shall be less than the allowable
resource limit established by the department in
accordance with this chapter.
(2) No family or
assistance unit shall be eligible for assistance payments if the combined
value of its available resources (reduced by any
obligations or debts with respect to such
resources) exceeds one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(3) For purposes of
this subsection, the following shall not be counted as resources of the
family/assistance unit in the determination of
eligibility for the works program:
(A) The home owned and
occupied by a child, parent, relative or other individual;
(B) Real property owned
by a husband and wife as tenants by the entirety, if the property
is not the home of the family and if the spouse of the
applicant refuses to sell his or her interest in
the property;
(C) Real property which
the family is making a good faith effort to dispose of, however,
any cash assistance payable to the family for any such
period shall be conditioned upon such
disposal of the real property within six (6) months of
the date of application and any payments of
assistance for that period shall (at the time of
disposal) be considered overpayments to the extent
that they would not have occurred at the beginning of
the period for which the payments were
made. All overpayments are debts subject to recovery
in accordance with the provisions of the
chapter;
(D) Income producing
property other than real estate including, but not limited to,
equipment such as farm tools, carpenter's tools and
vehicles used in the production of goods or
Services which the department determines are necessary
for the family to earn a living;
(E) One vehicle for
each adult household member, but not to exceed two (2) vehicles per
household, and in addition, a vehicle used primarily
for income producing purposes such as, but
not limited to, a taxi, truck or fishing boat; a
vehicle used as a family's home; a vehicle which
annually produces income consistent with its fair
market value, even if only used on a seasonal
basis; a vehicle necessary to transport a family
member with a disability where the vehicle is
specially equipped to meet the specific needs of the
person with a disability or if the vehicle is a
special type of vehicle that makes it possible to
transport the person with a disability;
(F) Household
furnishings and appliances, clothing, personal effects and keepsakes of
limited value;
(G) Burial plots (one
for each child, relative, and other individual in the assistance unit),
and funeral arrangements;
(H) For the month of receipt
and the following month, any refund of federal income
taxes made to the family by reason of section 32 of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C.
section 32 (relating to earned income tax credit), and
any payment made to the family by an
employer under section 3507 of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. section 3507
(relating to advance payment of such earned income
credit);
(I) The resources of
any family member receiving supplementary security income
assistance under the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C.
section 301 et seq.
(g) Income.
(1) Except as otherwise
provided for herein, in determining eligibility for and the amount
of cash assistance to which a family is entitled under
this chapter, the income of a family includes
all of the money, goods, and services received or
actually available to any member of the family.
(2) In determining the
eligibility for and the amount of cash assistance to which a
family/assistance unit is entitled under this chapter,
income in any month shall not include the
first one hundred seventy dollars ($170) of gross
earnings plus fifty percent (50%) of the gross
earnings of the family in excess of one hundred
seventy dollars ($170) earned during the month.
(3) The income of a
family shall not include:
(A) The first fifty
dollars ($50.00) in child support received in any month from each non-
custodial parent of a child plus any arrearages in
child support (to the extent of the first fifty
dollars ($50.00) per month multiplied by the number of
months in which the support has been in
arrears) which are paid in any month by a
non-custodial parent of a child;
(B) Earned income of
any child;
(C) Income received by
a family member who is receiving supplemental security income
(SSI) assistance under Title XVI of the Social
Security Act, 42 U.S.C. section 1381 et seq.;
(D) The value of
assistance provided by state or federal government or private agencies
to meet nutritional needs, including: value of USDA
donated foods; value of supplemental food
assistance received under the Child Nutrition Act of
1966, as amended and the special food
service program for children under Title VII,
nutrition program for the elderly, of the Older
Americans Act of 1965 as amended, and the value of
food stamps;
(E) Value of certain
assistance provided to undergraduate students, including any grant
or loan for an undergraduate student for educational
purposes made or insured under any loan
program administered by the U.S. Commissioner of
Education (or the
governors for higher education or the
(F) Foster Care
Payments;
(G) Home energy
assistance funded by state or federal government or by a nonprofit
organization;
(H) Payments for
supportive services or reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses made
to foster grandparents, senior health aides or senior
companions and to persons serving in SCORE
and ACE and any other program under Title II and Title
III of the Domestic Volunteer Service
Act of 1973, 42 U.S.C. section 5000 et seq.;
(I) Payments to
volunteers under AmeriCorps VISTA as defined in the
department's
rules and regulations;
(J) Certain payments to
native Americans; payments distributed per capita to, or held in
trust for, members of any Indian Tribe under P.L.
92-254, 25 U.S.C. section 1261 et seq., P.L. 93-
134, 25 U.S.C. section 1401 et seq., or P.L. 94-540;
receipts distributed to members of certain
Indian tribes which are referred to in section 5 of
P.L. 94-114, 25 U.S.C. section 459d, that
became effective October 17, 1975;
(K) Refund from the
federal and state earned income tax credit;
(L) The value of any
state, local, or federal government rent or housing subsidy,
provided that this exclusion shall not limit the
reduction in benefits provided for in the payment
standard section of this chapter.
(4) The receipt of a
lump sum of income shall affect participants for cash assistance in
accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by
the department.
(h) Time limit on the
receipt of cash assistance.
(1) No cash assistance
shall be provided, pursuant to this chapter, to a family or
assistance unit which includes an adult member who has
received cash assistance, either for
him/herself or on behalf of his/her children, for a
total of twenty-four (24) months, (whether or
not consecutive) within any sixty (60) continuous
months after July 1, 2008 to include any time
receiving any type of cash assistance in any other
state or territory of the
section (3) below with respect to certain minor
children, shall cash assistance be provided
pursuant to this chapter to a family or assistance
unit which includes an adult member who has
received cash assistance for a total of a lifetime
limit of forty-eight (48) months.
(2) Cash benefits
received by a minor dependent child shall not be counted toward their
lifetime time limit for receiving benefits under this
chapter should that minor child apply for cash
benefits as an adult.
(3) Certain minor
children not subject to time limit. This section regarding the lifetime
time limit for the receipt of cash assistance, shall
not apply only in the instances of a minor
child(ren) living with a
parent who receives SSI benefits and a minor child(ren)
living with a
responsible adult non-parent caretaker relative who is
not in the case assistance payment.
(4) Receipt of family
cash assistance in any other state or territory of the
assistance funded in whole or in part by Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds
[Title IV-A of the Federal Social Security Act 42
U.S.C. section 601 et seq.]and/or family cash
assistance provided under a program similar to the
Rhode Island Families Work and
Program or the federal TANF program.
(5) (A) The department
of human service shall mail a notice to each assistance unit when
the assistance unit has six (6) months of cash
assistance remaining and each month thereafter
until the time limit has expired. The notice must be
developed by the department of human
services and must contain information about the
lifetime time limit. the number of months the
participant has remaining, the hardship extension
policy, the availability of a post-employment-
and-closure bonus, and any other information pertinent
to a family or an assistance unit nearing
either the twenty-four (24) month or forty-eight (48)
month lifetime time limit.
(B) For applicants who have
less than six (6) months remaining in either the twenty-four
(24) month or forty-eight (48) month lifetime time
limit because the family or assistance unit
previously received cash assistance in
notify the applicant of the number of months remaining
when the application is approved and
begin the process required in paragraph (A) above.
(6) If a cash
assistance recipient family closed pursuant to
Assistance for Needy Families Program, (federal TANF
described in Title IV A of the Federal
Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) formerly
entitled the Rhode Island Family
Independence Program, more specifically under
subdivision 40-5.1-9(2)(c), due to sanction
because of failure to comply with the cash assistance
program requirements; and that recipients
family received forty-eight (48) months of cash
benefits in accordance with the Family
Independence Program, than that recipient family is
not able to receive further cash assistance for
his/her family, under this chapter, except under
hardship exceptions.
(7) The months of state
or federally funded cash assistance received by a recipient family
since May 1, 1997 under
(federal TANF described in Title IV A of the Federal
Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. section 601
et seq.) formerly entitled the Rhode Island Family
Independence Program, shall be countable
toward the time limited cash assistance described in
this chapter.
(i)
Time limit on the receipt of cash assistance.
(1) (A) No cash
assistance shall be provided, pursuant to this chapter, to a family
assistance unit in which an adult member has received
cash assistance for a total of sixty (60)
months (whether or not consecutive) to include any
time receiving any type of cash assistance in
any other state or territory of the
Provided further, that no cash assistance shall be
provided to a family in which an adult member
has received assistance for twenty-four (24)
consecutive months unless the adult member has a
rehabilitation employment plan as provided in
subsection 40-5.2-12(g)(5).
(B) Effective August 1,
2008 no cash assistance shall be provided pursuant to this
chapter to a family in which a child has received cash
assistance for a total of sixty (60) months
(whether or not consecutive) if the parent is
ineligible for assistance under this chapter pursuant
to subdivision 40-5.2(a) (2) to include any time
received any type of cash assistance in any other
state or territory of the
(j) Hardship
Exceptions.
(1) The department may extend
an assistance unit's or family's cash assistance beyond
the time limit, by reason of hardship; provided,
however, that the number of such families to be
exempted by the department with respect to their time
limit under this subsection shall not exceed
twenty percent (20%) of the average monthly number of
families to which assistance is provided
for under this chapter in a fiscal year; provided,
however, that to the extent now or hereafter
permitted by federal law, any waiver granted under
section 40-5.2-35, for domestic violence,
shall not be counted in determining the twenty percent
(20%) maximum under this section.
(2) Parents who receive
extensions to the time limit due to hardship must have and
comply with employment plans designed to remove or
ameliorate the conditions that warranted
the extension.
(k) Parents under
eighteen (18) years of age.
(1) A family consisting
of a parent who is under the age of eighteen (18), and who has
never been married, and who has a child; or a family
which consists of a woman under the age of
eighteen (18) who is at least six (6) months pregnant,
shall be eligible for cash assistance only if
such family resides in the home of an adult parent,
legal guardian or other adult relative. Such
assistance shall be provided to the adult parent,
legal guardian, or other adult relative on behalf of
the individual and child unless otherwise authorized
by the department.
(2) This subsection
shall not apply if the minor parent or pregnant minor has no parent,
legal guardian or other adult relative who is living
and/or whose whereabouts are unknown; or the
department determines that the physical or emotional
health or safety of the minor parent, or his
or her child, or the pregnant minor, would be
jeopardized if he or she was required to live in the
same residence as his or her parent, legal guardian or
other adult relative (refusal of a parent,
legal guardian or other adult relative to allow the
minor parent or his or her child, or a pregnant
minor, to live in his or her home shall constitute a
presumption that the health or safety would be
so jeopardized); or the minor parent or pregnant minor
has lived apart from his or her own parent
or legal guardian for a period of at least one year
before either the birth of any child to a minor
parent or the onset of the pregnant minor's pregnancy;
or there is good cause, under departmental
regulations, for waiving the subsection; and the
individual resides in supervised supportive living
arrangement to the extent available.
(3) For purposes of
this section "supervised supportive living arrangement" means an
arrangement which requires minor parents to enroll and
make satisfactory progress in a program
leading to a high school diploma or a general
education development certificate, and requires
minor parents to participate in the adolescent
parenting program designated by the department, to
the extent the program is available; and provides
rules and regulations which ensure regular adult
supervision.
(l) Assignment and
Cooperation. - As a condition of eligibility for cash and medical
assistance under this chapter, each adult member,
parent or caretaker relative of the
family/assistance unit must:
(1) Assign to the state
any rights to support for children within the family from any
person which the family member has at the time the
assignment is executed or may have while
receiving assistance under this chapter;
(2) Consent to and cooperate
with the state in establishing the paternity and in
establishing and/or enforcing child support and
medical support orders for all children in the
family or assistance unit in accordance with Title 15
of the general laws, as amended, unless the
parent or caretaker relative is found to have good
cause for refusing to comply with the
requirements of this subsection.
(3) Absent good cause,
as defined by the department of human services through the rule
making process, for refusing to comply with the
requirements of (1) and (2) above, cash
assistance to the family shall be reduced by
twenty-five percent (25%) until the adult member of
the family who has refused to comply with the
requirements of this subsection consents to and
cooperates with the state in accordance with the
requirements of this subsection.
(4) As a condition of
eligibility for cash and medical assistance under this chapter, each
adult member, parent or caretaker relative of the
family/assistance unit must consent to and
cooperate with the state in identifying and providing
information to assist the state in pursuing
any third-party who may be liable to pay for care and
services under Title XIX of the Social
Security Act, 42 U.S.C. section 1396 et seq.
SECTION
2. This article shall take effect upon passage.