46-292

46-292. Eligibility for assistance

A. A family without a dependent child in the household may not receive cash
assistance.

B. Cash assistance may be given under this title to any dependent child and member
of a needy family:

1. Who has established residence in Arizona at the time of application and is
either:

(a) A citizen by birth or naturalization.

(b) A qualified alien who entered the United States on or before August 21, 1996.

(c) A qualified alien who entered the United States as a member of one of the
exception groups under Public Law 104-193, section 412, in which case the person shall be
determined eligible in accordance with Public Law 104-193.

(d) Defined as a qualified alien by the attorney general of the United States under
the authority of Public Law 104-208, section 501.

For the purposes of subdivisions (b) and (c) of this paragraph, "qualified alien" means a
person who is defined as a qualified alien under Public Law 104-193, section 431.

2. If the parent or parents of the dependent child or the nonparent relative head
of household receiving assistance, if employable, does not refuse to accept available
employment. The department shall assess the applicant's employability at the time of
initial application for assistance to establish a self-sufficiency diversion option, if
appropriate, before benefit issuance. The determination of employability and the
conditions under which employment shall be required shall be determined by the state
department, except that claimed unemployability because of physical or mental incapacity
shall be determined by the state department in accordance with this title.

3. If the parent or parents of the dependent child or the nonparent head of
household in a needy family has not, within one year prior to application, or while a
recipient, transferred or assigned real or personal property with the intent to evade
federal or state eligibility requirements. Transfer of property with retention of a life
estate for the purpose of qualifying for assistance is prohibited. Where fair
consideration for the property was received, no inquiry into motive is necessary. A
person found ineligible under this section shall be ineligible for such time as the state
department determines.

4. Who meets the requirements of this section and department rule to qualify as
part of the assistance unit.

C. Qualified aliens entering the United States after August 21, 1996 are ineligible
for benefits for a period of five years beginning on their date of entry, except for
Cuban and Haitian entrants as defined in section 501(e)(2) of the refugee education
assistance act of 1980 and exceptions provided under Public Law 104-193 (personal
responsibility and work opportunity reconciliation act of 1996) and Public Law 105-32
(balanced budget act of 1997).

D. A parent or any other relative who applies for or receives cash assistance under
this title on behalf of a child shall cooperate with the department by taking the
following actions:

1. Providing information regarding the identity of the child's father and mother
and other pertinent information including their names, social security numbers and
current addresses or a sworn statement that attests to the lack of this information and
that is accompanied by facts supporting the asserted lack of information.

2. Appearing at interviews, hearings and legal proceedings.

3. Submitting and having the child submit to genetic testing.

4. Signing authorizations for third parties to release information concerning the
applicant or the child, or both.

5. In cases in which parentage has not been established, providing a sworn
statement alleging paternity and setting forth facts establishing a reasonable
possibility of the requisite sexual contact between the parties.

6. Supplying additional information the department requires.

E. The department shall sanction a recipient who, without good cause as prescribed
in subsection F of this section, fails to cooperate with child support enforcement
efforts according to the sanction provisions of section 46-300.

F. One or more of the following circumstances constitute good cause for failure to
cooperate with child support enforcement efforts:

1. Cooperation may result in physical or emotional harm to the parent, child for
whom support is sought or caretaker relative with whom the child is living.

2. Legal proceedings for adoption of the child for whom support is sought are
pending before a court.

3. The participant has been working, for less than ninety days, with a public or
licensed private social agency on the issue of whether to allow the child for whom
support is sought to be adopted.

4. The child for whom support is sought was conceived as a result of sexual assault
pursuant to section 13-1406 or incest.

G. A person claiming good cause has twenty days from the date the good cause claim
is provided to the agency to supply evidence supporting the claim. When determining
whether the parent or relative is cooperating with the agency as provided in subsection D
of this section, the agency shall require:

1. If the good cause exception in subsection F, paragraph 1 of this section is
claimed, law enforcement, court, medical, criminal, psychological, social service or
governmental records or sworn statements from persons with personal knowledge of the
circumstances that indicate that the alleged parent or obligor might inflict physical
harm on the parent, child or caretaker relative.

2. If the good cause exception in subsection F, paragraph 2 of this section is
claimed, court documents that indicate that legal proceedings for adoption are pending
before a court of competent jurisdiction.

3. If the good cause exception in subsection F, paragraph 3 of this section is
claimed, records from a public or licensed private social services agency showing that
placing the child for whom support is sought is under consideration.

4. If the good cause exception in subsection F, paragraph 4 of this section is
claimed, law enforcement, court, medical, criminal, psychological, social service or
governmental records or sworn statements from persons with personal knowledge of the
circumstances surrounding the conception of the child that indicate the child was
conceived as a result of sexual assault pursuant to section 13-1406 or incest.

H. Notwithstanding subsection B of this section and except as provided in
subsection I of this section, a dependent child or children who are born during one of
the following time periods are not eligible for assistance under this title:

1. The period in which the parent or other relative is receiving assistance
benefits.

2. The temporary period in which the parent or other relative is ineligible
pursuant to a penalty imposed by the department for failure to comply with benefit
eligibility requirements, after which the parent or other relative is eligible for a
continuation of benefits.

3. Any period after November 1, 1995 that is less than sixty months between a
voluntary withdrawal from program benefits or a period of ineligibility for program
benefits which immediately followed a period during which program benefits were received
and a subsequent reapplication and eligibility approval for benefits.

I. The following exceptions apply to subsection H of this section:

1. The department shall allow an increase in cash assistance under the program for
a dependent child or children born as a result of an act of sexual assault as prescribed
in section 13-1406 or incest. The department shall ensure that the proper law enforcement
authorities are notified of allegations of sexual assault or incest made pursuant to this
paragraph. For the purposes of this paragraph, "an act of sexual assault" includes sexual
assault of a spouse if the offense was committed before August 12, 2005.

2. For those parents or other relatives who are currently authorized for cash
assistance the department shall allow an increase in cash assistance under the program as
a result of the birth of a child or children to the parent or other relative only if the
birth occurred within ten months of the initial eligible month. The department may use
only the additional child or children who are born from the pregnancies covered in this
subsection in computing the additional benefit.

3. The department shall allow an increase in cash assistance for any dependent
child born to a parent who has not received cash assistance under this title for at least
twelve consecutive months if the child is born within the period beginning ten months
after the twelve consecutive month period and ending ten months after the parent resumes
receiving cash assistance.

4. A dependent child or children who were born during a period in which the
custodial parent received cash assistance through the Arizona works program shall be
eligible to receive assistance under this title.

5. A dependent child or children who were born within ten months after the
custodial parent received cash assistance through the Arizona works program shall be
eligible to receive assistance under this title.

J. The department shall calculate the sixty-month time period referenced in
subsection H, paragraph 3 of this section in the following manner:

1. For persons who are receiving cash assistance on November 1, 1995, the
sixty-month time period begins on November 1, 1995. A subsequent sixty-month time period
begins immediately after the previous period ends if the person is receiving cash
assistance through two sixty-month periods. If the individual is not receiving cash
assistance at the end of the previous sixty-month period, any subsequent sixty-month time
period begins on the date when cash assistance became effective again, regardless of when
the person received an actual payment.

2. For persons who begin receiving cash assistance after November 1, 1995, the
sixty-month time period begins on the date cash assistance becomes effective, regardless
of when the person received an actual payment. A subsequent sixty-month period begins as
provided in paragraph 1 of this subsection.

K. In calculating a parent's or any other relative's benefit increase that arises
from any general increase that has been approved for all program recipients, the
department shall not consider a child or children born under the time periods listed in
subsection H of this section.

L. For the parents or other relatives who have additional children for whom they
receive no cash assistance payment under subsection H of this section, the department
shall make any necessary program amendments or request any necessary federal waivers to
allow the parents or other relatives to earn income in an amount equal to the disallowed
cash assistance payment without affecting their eligibility for assistance.

M. The director shall adopt rules:

1. To implement this section, including rules to define the investigatory steps
that must be taken to confirm that an act of sexual assault or incest led to the birth of
a dependent child or children.

2. That require the department to inform both verbally and in writing the parents
and other relatives who are receiving assistance under this article of the specific
family planning services that are available to them while they are enrolled as eligible
persons in the Arizona health care cost containment system.

N. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent an otherwise eligible
child who is not included in the family's calculation of benefits under this article from
being eligible for coverage under title 36, chapter 29 or for any services that are
directly linked to eligibility for the temporary assistance for needy families program.

O. Assistance shall not be denied or terminated under this article because the
principal wage earner works one hundred or more hours per month.

P. Except as provided in paragraph 2 of this subsection, all members of a needy
family, including stepparents, must meet the same financial eligibility criteria
established in this title, by department rule and as follows:

1. The department shall include all income from every source available to a needy
family requesting cash assistance, except income that is required to be disregarded by
this subsection and as determined by the department in rules. For the amount of income
that is received from employment, each month every employed person is entitled to receive
an earned income disregard of ninety dollars plus an additional thirty per cent of the
remaining earned income. A needy family that includes an employed person is entitled to
an earned income disregard equal to the actual amount billed to the household for the
care of an adult or child dependent household member, up to two hundred dollars a month
for a child under two years of age and up to one hundred seventy-five dollars a month for
each other dependent. This dependent care disregard is allowed only if the expense is
necessary to allow the household member to become or remain employed or to attend
postsecondary training or education that is preparatory to employment.

2. The total gross countable income of a needy family that includes a nonparent
relative head of household who is not applying for or receiving cash assistance and who
is requesting cash assistance only for a dependent child shall not exceed one hundred
thirty per cent of the federal poverty guidelines.

Q. If the total gross countable income in subsection P, paragraph 2 of this section
does not exceed one hundred thirty per cent of the federal poverty guidelines, in
determining benefit amount, the department shall exclude the income of all members of the
needy family except for the income of the eligible dependent child for whom cash
assistance is requested.

R. For the purposes of eligibility and benefit amount, only the income of the
dependent child is considered for a child only case.

S. Any parent or other relative who applies for or receives cash assistance under
this article on behalf of a dependent child who is between six and sixteen years of age
shall ensure that the child is enrolled in and attending school. An initial applicant is
ineligible for benefits until the applicant's dependent children are verified to be
enrolled in and attending an educational program. The department of education shall
assist the department of economic security in obtaining verification of school enrollment
and attendance. The director of the department of economic security may adopt rules for
granting good cause exceptions from this subsection. The department of economic security
shall sanction a recipient who fails, without good cause, to ensure school enrollment and
attendance according to section 46-300.

T. Any parent or other relative who applies for or receives cash assistance under
this section on behalf of a dependent child shall ensure that the child is immunized in
accordance with the schedule of immunizations pursuant to section 36-672. The director of
the department of economic security may adopt rules for granting good cause exceptions
from this subsection. The department of economic security shall sanction a recipient, in
accordance with section 46-300, who fails, without good cause, to obtain the required
immunizations for a dependent child unless the recipient submits to the department of
economic security the documentation described in section 15-873.