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Department
of Human Services Families
First Online Policy Manual Income |
Revised: |
20.5 |
PAYMENTS/BENEFITS EXCLUDED FROM ALL FAMILIES FIRST INCOME TESTS (GIS/CNS) AND IN CALCULATING BENEFITS |
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·
A child for
whom Foster care or Adoption Assistance payments are received is excluded
from the AU. The child’s income and
the Foster Care/Adoption Assistance payments are also excluded from the
family’s income. ·
If a minor
parent’s foster care payments include the foster care costs of the minor’s
child, the child is not eligible for Families First. ·
If a minor
parent is receiving foster care board or adoption assistance payments but his
or her child is not, do not count the income(including the board/adoption
assistance payment) and resources of the minor parent in determining his/her
child(ren’s) eligibility for Families First. ·
Foster care
board payments made to the foster parents for the care of a foster child are
not income, but are service fees. (The
amount paid to the foster parent in addition to the board payment is income). ·
Exception: If the exclusion of the child for whom
adoption assistance is paid would reduce the amount of cash assistance for
the adoptive family, the child must be included in the AU and his income,
including the adoption assistance payment, must be counted. ·
Relocation
Assistance payments received under Title II of the Uniform Relocation
Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Act of 1970. ·
Funds
distributed per capita to or held in trust for members of any Indian tribe
under P.L. 920254, P.L. 93-134, or P.L. 04-540. ·
Payments
received under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (P.L. 92-203, Section
21(a); payments by the Indian Claims Commission to the Confederated Tribes
and Bands of the Yakima Indian Nation or the Apache Tribe of the Mescalera Reservation (P.L. 95-443); payments to the
Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation or any of their members received
pursuant to the Maine Indians Claims Settlement Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-420,
Section 5); payments of relocation assistance to members of the Navajo and
Hopi tribes (P.L. 93-531). ·
Receipts
distributed to members of certain Indian tribes referred to in Section 6,
P.L. 94-114. ·
Payments
from the Nutrition Programs for the Elderly (Title VII). ·
The value of
supplemental food assistance received under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966
(WIC), as amended, and the special food service program for children under
the National School Lunch Act, as amended. ·
Payments for
supporting services and reimbursements of out-of-pocket expenses made to individual
volunteers serving as health aids, senior companions, R.S.V.P., Foster
Grandparents and any other programs under Title II pursuant to Section 418 of
P.L. 93-113. ·
AmeriCorps
VISTA payments for Families First participants who were receiving Families
First at the time they joined AmeriCorps VISTA. ·
Income of
minor child recipients who are students. This does not apply to minor caretakers. Do not
count the earned income of a minor full-time
student. Do not count this income
in computing the grant or test it against the GIS or CNS during this period. Note: Families First requires that all school
age children attend school. If a child
is not attending school, see the School Attendance Chapter for details. Also check this section for
verification/documentation details. A student is
defined as a minor
child recipient attending primary/secondary school, college, university, or a
course of vocational or technical training A student retains student status during
official school vacations and breaks if requirements prior to the
vacation/break were met and if the student plans to return. A child who is receiving
elementary/secondary or equivalent vocational/technical instruction from a
homebound teacher meets student requirements. Participation in apprenticeships,
correspondence courses, other courses of home study, and rehab programs other
than academic or institutional vocational or technical training do not
qualify a child as a student. An elementary school is defined as a state
approved educational institution comprised of grades K through eight. A secondary school is defined as a state
approved educational institution offering a curriculum for grades nine
through twelve. Note: A full
time student in a secondary school is defined as one who is taking an adequate grade level academic load
to meet the graduation requirements for the respective school system in which
he is enrolled. Generally, this is
defined as 25 clock hours/week or 4 Carnegie units per year; half time is defined as 12 clock
hours/week or 2 Carnegie units per year. An equivalent level of vocational or
technical training means equivalent to elementary or secondary
education. It is not post-secondary
education such as that leading to an Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree. Note: Full-
time attendance in a trade, technical, or vocational school is considered
to be 30 clock hours per week with shop practice or 25 hours a week without
shop practice. A part-time student is defined as one who attends 15 clock hours
per week with shop practice or 12 hours per week without shop practice. ·
JTPA
Payments for Adults and Minor Caretakers – Exclude as unearned income
payments at all steps of the budget calculation if income is identified by
JTPA as a supportive services payment and is paid for supportive services
such as child care, medical and other services needed to enable the client to
work; or if income is identified by JTPA as a “needs based payment” which is
income that is paid to meet a basic need that the Families First grant does
not cover. ·
Guardianship
payments come in two types: 1. Kinship care – enables children to be cared
for by family members while in the custody of the state. 2. Subsidized Guardianship – focuses on enabling
children, who cannot be adopted, and who do not live with relatives, to have
a greater degree of permanency. These payments should be treated like
Foster Care assistance payments. They
are seen as service fees, not income. ·
Payments
made under P.L. 104-204 to children of Vietnam veterans (male or female) who
are born with spina bifida. ·
VA payments
made under P.L. 106-419, Section 401 of the Veterans Benefits and Health care
Improvement Act of 2000 to children with certain birth defects born to female
Vietnam veterans. The birth defects
identified may not include birth defects resulting from the following: -
A familial
disorder. -
A
birth-related injury. -
A fetal or
neonatal infirmity with well-established causes. -
Spina
bifida. (Spina
bifida is covered by previous legislature (P.L. 104-204). It provides benefits to children with this
disability born to either male or female Vietnam veterans.) ·
Payments
made to individuals because of their status as victims of Nazi persecution
are excluded. ·
Educational
grants, loans, scholarships, stipends and/or college work study. ·
Payments
made to or in behalf of a Families First AU member or a stepparent in the
home or parent in the home of a minor Families First parent are excluded. ·
Exclude Agent
Orange Settlement payments. ·
Earned
Income Tax Credits are excluded. ·
The costs of
doing business such as wages, benefits paid to employees; inventories,
supplies, utilities, etc are excluded from income. ·
Clothing
allowance for disabled veterans for additional clothing needs resulting from
the use of prosthetic or orthopedic devices. ·
Legally
obligated payments otherwise payable to an assistance unit which are diverted
by the provider to a third party, unless this arrangement is made at the
request of an assistance unit member. ·
Loans
provided by an individual or commercial lending institution which represent
an obligation and not a benefit such as chattel mortgages and personal notes,
are not income. ·
Monies
received and used for the care and maintenance of a non-assistance unit
member, who is not the responsible relative of an assistance unit member
living in the same home, are not income for the AU. If payments are for multiple beneficiaries
that include both AU and non-AU members, prorate the payments evenly among
the intended beneficiaries to determine individual shares. The individual shares of the assistance
unit members (their responsible relatives) will be considered income to the
assistance unit (relative). ·
Income
belonging to non-assistance unit household members is not counted unless the
member is a responsible relative or stepparent of an assistance unit member. ·
Reimbursements
for out-of-pocket expenses by volunteers or employees in the performance of
their duties are not counted as income. ·
Retroactive
Families First/AFDC or SSI payments. ·
Payments
that are made either directly to Families First recipients or to a third
party for rent or utilities under “Section 8” of the U.S. Housing Act. ·
Payments for
utilities to or on behalf of Families First recipients through the Department
of Health and Human Services’ Low Income Energy Assistance Program or other
federal, state, or local energy assistance plan. Such payments must be clearly identified as
energy assistance by the legislative body authorizing the program and the
agency making the payment. ·
Support
payments (child and related spousal support) received by an assistance unit,
but transferred to the IV-D agency as assigned support. ·
Casual and
inconsequential income that is $30 or less per quarter per Families First AU
member. ·
The portion
of the assistance unit’s income that is withheld by the provider to repay a
prior overpayment is not income. ·
Any gain or
benefit not in the form of money payable directly to an assistance unit such
as non-monetary or in-kind benefits.
Examples are goods and services; food stamps, surplus commodities;
rent or mortgage payments paid to a landlord or mortgage holder by HUD or
state or local housing authorities or under section 8 of the Housing Act,
etc. ·
Payments
made under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for flood mitigation
activities shall not be counted as income or resources of the property owner.
·
Payments
made under the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund to certain veterans
or spouses of veterans who served in the military of the Government of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines during World War II are not counted as
income. Bulletin 33, FA-09-19 |
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