§ 40-5.2-10 Necessary requirements andconditions. – The following requirements and conditions shall be necessary to establisheligibility for the program.
(a) Citizenship, alienage and residency requirements.
(1) A person shall be a resident of the State of Rhode Island.
(2) Effective October 1, 2008 a person shall be a UnitedStates citizen, or shall meet the alienage requirements established in §402(b) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Actof 1996, PRWORA, Public Laws No. 104-193 and as that section may hereafter beamended; a person who is not a United States citizen and does not meet thealienage requirements established in PRWORA, as amended, is not eligible forcash assistance in accordance with this chapter.
(b) The family/assistance unit must meet any otherrequirements established by the department of human services by rules andregulations adopted pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act, as necessaryto promote the purpose and goals of this chapter.
(c) Receipt of cash assistance is conditional upon compliancewith all program requirements.
(d) All individuals domiciled in this state shall be exemptfrom the application of subdivision 115(d)(1)(A) of Public Law 104-193, thePersonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996,PRWORA, which makes any individual ineligible for certain state and federalassistance if that individual has been convicted under federal or state law ofany offense which is classified as a felony by the law of the jurisdiction andwhich has as an element the possession, use, or distribution of a controlledsubstance as defined in § 102(6) of the Controlled Substances Act (21U.S.C. 802(6)).
(e) Individual employment plan as a condition of eligibility.
(1) Following receipt of an application, the department ofhuman services shall assess the financial conditions of the family, includingthe non-parent caretaker relative who is applying for cash assistance forhimself or herself as well as for the minor child(ren),in the context of aneligibility determination. If a parent or non parent caretaker relative isunemployed or under-employed, the department shall conduct an initialassessment, taking into account: (A) the physical capacity, skills, education,work experience, health, safety, family responsibilities and place of residenceof the individual; and (B) the child care and supportive services required bythe applicant to avail himself or herself of employment opportunities and/orwork readiness programs.
(2) On the basis of such assessment, the department of humanservices, in consultation with the applicant, shall develop an individualemployment plan for the family which requires the individual to participate inthe intensive employment services provided by the department of labor andtraining.
(3) The director, or his/her designee, may assign a casemanager to an applicant/participant, as appropriate.
(4) The department of labor and training and the departmentof human services in conjunction with the participant shall develop a revisedindividual employment plan which shall identify employment objectives, takinginto consideration factors above, and shall include a strategy for immediateemployment 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 provisionfor the participant to engage in work requirements as outlined in §40-5.2-12 of this chapter.
(6) The participant shall attend and participate immediatelyin intensive assessment and employment services as the first step in theindividual employment plan at the Rhode Island department of labor andtraining, unless temporarily exempt from this requirement in accordance withthis chapter.
(B) Parents under age twenty (20) without a high schooldiploma or General Equivalency Diploma (GED) shall be referred to special teenparent programs which will provide intensive services designed to assist teenparent to complete high school education or GED, and to continue approved workplan activities in accord with Works program requirements.
(7) The applicant shall become a participant in accordancewith this chapter at the time the individual employment plan is signed andentered into.
(8) Applicants and participants of the Rhode Island WorkProgram shall agree to comply with the terms of the individual employment plan,and shall cooperate fully with the steps established in the individualemployment plan, including the work requirements.
(9) The department of human services has the authority underthe chapter to require attendance by the applicant/participant, either at thedepartment of human services or at the department of labor and training, atappointments deemed necessary for the purpose of having the applicant enterinto 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 isrequired as a condition of eligibility for cash assistance in accordance withrules and regulations established by the department.
(10) As a condition of eligibility for assistance pursuant tothis chapter, the applicant/participant shall be obligated to keepappointments, attend orientation meetings at the department of human servicesand/or the Rhode Island department of labor and training, participate in anyinitial assessments or appraisals and comply with all the terms of theindividual employment plan in accordance with department of human service rulesand regulations.
(11) A participant, including a parent or non-parentcaretaker relative included in the cash assistance payment, shall notvoluntarily quit a job or refuse a job unless there is good cause as defined inthis chapter or the department's rules and regulations.
(12) A participant who voluntarily quits or refuses a jobwithout good cause, as defined in subsection 40-5.2-12(l), while receiving cashassistance in accordance with this chapter, shall be sanctioned in accordancewith rules and regulations promulgated by the department.
(1) The Family or assistance unit's countable resources shallbe less than the allowable resource limit established by the department inaccordance with this chapter.
(2) No family or assistance unit shall be eligible forassistance payments if the combined value of its available resources (reducedby any obligations or debts with respect to such resources) exceeds onethousand dollars ($1,000).
(3) For purposes of this subsection, the following shall notbe counted as resources of the family/assistance unit in the determination ofeligibility for the works program:
(A) The home owned and occupied by a child, parent, relativeor other individual;
(B) Real property owned by a husband and wife as tenants bythe entirety, if the property is not the home of the family and if the spouseof the applicant refuses to sell his or her interest in the property;
(C) Real property which the family is making a good faitheffort to dispose of, however, any cash assistance payable to the family forany such period shall be conditioned upon such disposal of the real propertywithin six (6) months of the date of application and any payments of assistancefor that period shall (at the time of disposal) be considered overpayments tothe extent that they would not have occurred at the beginning of the period forwhich the payments were made. All overpayments are debts subject to recovery inaccordance with the provisions of the chapter;
(D) Income producing property other than real estateincluding, but not limited to, equipment such as farm tools, carpenter's toolsand vehicles used in the production of goods or Services which the departmentdetermines are necessary for the family to earn a living;
(E) One vehicle for each adult household member, but not toexceed two (2) vehicles per household, and in addition, a vehicle usedprimarily 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 whichannually produces income consistent with its fair market value, even if onlyused on a seasonal basis; a vehicle necessary to transport a family member witha disability where the vehicle is specially equipped to meet the specific needsof the person with a disability or if the vehicle is a special type of vehiclethat makes it possible to transport the person with a disability;
(F) Household furnishings and appliances, clothing, personaleffects and keepsakes of limited value;
(G) Burial plots (one for each child, relative, and otherindividual in the assistance unit), and funeral arrangements;
(H) For the month of receipt and the following month, anyrefund of federal income taxes made to the family by reason of § 32 of theInternal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. § 32 (relating to earned incometax credit), and any payment made to the family by an employer under §3507 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. § 3507 (relating toadvance payment of such earned income credit);
(I) The resources of any family member receivingsupplementary security income assistance under the Social Security Act, 42U.S.C. § 301 et seq.
(1) Except as otherwise provided for herein, in determiningeligibility for and the amount of cash assistance to which a family is entitledunder 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 cashassistance 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 thefamily 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 supportreceived in any month from each non-custodial parent of a child plus anyarrearages 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 inarrears) 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 receivingsupplemental security income (SSI) assistance under Title XVI of the SocialSecurity Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1381 et seq.;
(D) The value of assistance provided by state or federalgovernment or private agencies to meet nutritional needs, including: value ofUSDA donated foods; value of supplemental food assistance received under theChild Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended and the special food service programfor children under Title VII, nutrition program for the elderly, of the OlderAmericans Act of 1965 as amended, and the value of food stamps;
(E) Value of certain assistance provided to undergraduatestudents, including any grant or loan for an undergraduate student foreducational purposes made or insured under any loan program administered by theU.S. Commissioner of Education (or the Rhode Island board of governors forhigher education or the Rhode Island higher educational assistance authority);
(F) Foster Care Payments;
(G) Home energy assistance funded by state or federalgovernment or by a nonprofit organization;
(H) Payments for supportive services or reimbursement ofout-of-pocket expenses made to foster grandparents, senior health aides orsenior companions and to persons serving in SCORE and ACE and any other programunder Title II and Title III of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, 42U.S.C. § 5000 et seq.;
(I) Payments to volunteers under AmeriCorps VISTA as definedin the department's rules and regulations;
(J) Certain payments to native Americans; paymentsdistributed per capita to, or held in trust for, members of any Indian Tribeunder P.L. 92-254, 25 U.S.C. § 1261 et seq., P.L. 93-134, 25 U.S.C. §1401 et seq., or P.L. 94-540; receipts distributed to members of certain Indiantribes which are referred to in § 5 of P.L. 94-114, 25 U.S.C. § 459d,that became effective October 17, 1975;
(K) Refund from the federal and state earned income taxcredit;
(L) The value of any state, local, or federal government rentor housing subsidy, provided that this exclusion shall not limit the reductionin benefits provided for in the payment standard section of this chapter.
(4) The receipt of a lump sum of income shall affectparticipants for cash assistance in accordance with rules and regulationspromulgated by the department.
(1) No cash assistance shall be provided, pursuant to thischapter, to a family or assistance unit which includes an adult member who hasreceived cash assistance, either for him/herself or on behalf of his/herchildren, 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 timereceiving any type of cash assistance in any other state or territory of theUnited States of America as defined herein. Provided further, in nocircumstances other than provided for in section (3) below with respect tocertain minor children, shall cash assistance be provided pursuant to thischapter to a family or assistance unit which includes an adult member who hasreceived cash assistance for a total of a lifetime limit of forty-eight (48)months.
(2) Cash benefits received by a minor dependent child shallnot be counted toward their lifetime time limit for receiving benefits underthis chapter should that minor child apply for cash benefits as an adult.
(3) Certain minor children not subject to time limit. Thissection 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 aparent who receives SSI benefits and a minor child(ren) living with aresponsible adult non-parent caretaker relative who is not in the caseassistance payment.
(4) Receipt of family cash assistance in any other state orterritory of the United States of America shall be determined by the departmentof human services and shall include family cash assistance funded in whole orin part by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds [TitleIV-A of the Federal Social Security Act 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.]and/or family cash assistance provided under a program similar to the RhodeIsland Families Work and Opportunity Program or the federal TANF program.
(5) The department of human service shall mail a notice toeach assistance unit when the assistance unit has six (6) months of cashassistance remaining and each month thereafter until the time limit hasexpired. The notice must be developed by the department of human services andmust contain information about the lifetime time limit. the number of monthsthe participant has remaining, the hardship extension policy, the availabilityof a post-employment-and-closure bonus, and any other information pertinent toa family or an assistance unit nearing either the twenty-four (24) month orforty-eight (48) month lifetime time limit.
(B) For applicants who have less than six (6) monthsremaining in either the twenty-four (24) month or forty-eight (48) monthlifetime time limit because the family or assistance unit previously receivedcash assistance in Rhode Island or in another state, the department shallnotify the applicant of the number of months remaining when the application isapproved and begin the process required in paragraph (A) above.
(6) If a cash assistance recipient family closed pursuant toRhode Island's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program, (federal TANFdescribed in Title IV A of the Federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 601 etseq.) formerly entitled the Rhode Island Family Independence Program, morespecifically under subdivision 40-5.1-9(2)(c), due to sanction because offailure to comply with the cash assistance program requirements; and thatrecipients family received forty-eight (48) months of cash benefits inaccordance with the Family Independence Program, than that recipient family isnot able to receive further cash assistance for his/her family, under thischapter, except under hardship exceptions.
(7) The months of state or federally funded cash assistancereceived by a recipient family since May 1, 1997 under Rhode Island's TemporaryAssistance for Needy Families Program, (federal TANF described in Title IV A ofthe Federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.) formerlyentitled the Rhode Island Family Independence Program, shall be countabletoward the time limited cash assistance described in this chapter.
(1) No cash assistance shall be provided, pursuant to thischapter, to a family assistance unit in which an adult member has received cashassistance for a total of sixty (60) months (whether or not consecutive) toinclude any time receiving any type of cash assistance in any other state orterritory of the United States as defined herein effective August 1, 2008.Provided further, that no cash assistance shall be provided to a family inwhich an adult member has received assistance for twenty-four (24) consecutivemonths unless the adult member has a rehabilitation employment plan as providedin subsection 40-5.2-12(g)(5).
(B) Effective August 1, 2008 no cash assistance shall beprovided pursuant to this chapter to a family in which a child has receivedcash assistance for a total of sixty (60) months (whether or not consecutive)if the parent is ineligible for assistance under this chapter pursuant tosubdivision 40-5.2(a) (2) to include any time received any type of cashassistance in any other state or territory of the United States as definedherein.
(1) The department may extend an assistance unit's orfamily's cash assistance beyond the time limit, by reason of hardship;provided, however, that the number of such families to be exempted by thedepartment with respect to their time limit under this subsection shall notexceed twenty percent (20%) of the average monthly number of families to whichassistance is provided for under this chapter in a fiscal year; provided,however, that to the extent now or hereafter permitted by federal law, anywaiver granted under § 40-5.2-35, for domestic violence, shall not becounted in determining the twenty percent (20%) maximum under this section.
(2) Parents who receive extensions to the time limit due tohardship must have and comply with employment plans designed to remove orameliorate the conditions that warranted the extension.
(1) A family consisting of a parent who is under the age ofeighteen (18), and who has never been married, and who has a child; or a familywhich 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 familyresides 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 otheradult relative on behalf of the individual and child unless otherwiseauthorized by the department.
(2) This subsection shall not apply if the minor parent orpregnant minor has no parent, legal guardian or other adult relative who isliving and/or whose whereabouts are unknown; or the department determines thatthe physical or emotional health or safety of the minor parent, or his or herchild, or the pregnant minor, would be jeopardized if he or she was required tolive in the same residence as his or her parent, legal guardian or other adultrelative (refusal of a parent, legal guardian or other adult relative to allowthe minor parent or his or her child, or a pregnant minor, to live in his orher home shall constitute a presumption that the health or safety would be sojeopardized); or the minor parent or pregnant minor has lived apart from his orher own parent or legal guardian for a period of at least one year beforeeither the birth of any child to a minor parent or the onset of the pregnantminor's pregnancy; or there is good cause, under departmental regulations, forwaiving the subsection; and the individual resides in supervised supportiveliving arrangement to the extent available.
(3) For purposes of this section "supervised supportiveliving arrangement" means an arrangement which requires minor parents to enrolland make satisfactory progress in a program leading to a high school diploma ora general education development certificate, and requires minor parents toparticipate in the adolescent parenting program designated by the department,to the extent the program is available; and provides rules and regulationswhich ensure regular adult supervision.
(l) Assignment and Cooperation. As a condition ofeligibility for cash and medical assistance under this chapter, each adultmember, parent or caretaker relative of the family/assistance unit must:
(1) Assign to the state any rights to support for childrenwithin the family from any person which the family member has at the time theassignment is executed or may have while receiving assistance under thischapter;
(2) Consent to and cooperate with the state in establishingthe paternity and in establishing and/or enforcing child support and medicalsupport orders for all children in the family or assistance unit in accordancewith Title 15 of the general laws, as amended, unless the parent or caretakerrelative is found to have good cause for refusing to comply with therequirements of this subsection.
(3) Absent good cause, as defined by the department of humanservices through the rule making process, for refusing to comply with therequirements of (1) and (2) above, cash assistance to the family shall bereduced by twenty-five percent (25%) until the adult member of the family whohas refused to comply with the requirements of this subsection consents to andcooperates with the state in accordance with the requirements of thissubsection.
(4) As a condition of eligibility for cash and medicalassistance under this chapter, each adult member, parent or caretaker relativeof the family/assistance unit must consent to and cooperate with the state inidentifying and providing information to assist the state in pursuing anythird-party who may be liable to pay for care and services under Title XIX ofthe Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1396 et seq.
§ 40-5.2-10 Necessary requirements andconditions. – The following requirements and conditions shall be necessary to establisheligibility for the program.
(a) Citizenship, alienage and residency requirements.
(1) A person shall be a resident of the State of Rhode Island.
(2) Effective October 1, 2008 a person shall be a UnitedStates citizen, or shall meet the alienage requirements established in §402(b) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Actof 1996, PRWORA, Public Laws No. 104-193 and as that section may hereafter beamended; a person who is not a United States citizen and does not meet thealienage requirements established in PRWORA, as amended, is not eligible forcash assistance in accordance with this chapter.
(b) The family/assistance unit must meet any otherrequirements established by the department of human services by rules andregulations adopted pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act, as necessaryto promote the purpose and goals of this chapter.
(c) Receipt of cash assistance is conditional upon compliancewith all program requirements.
(d) All individuals domiciled in this state shall be exemptfrom the application of subdivision 115(d)(1)(A) of Public Law 104-193, thePersonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996,PRWORA, which makes any individual ineligible for certain state and federalassistance if that individual has been convicted under federal or state law ofany offense which is classified as a felony by the law of the jurisdiction andwhich has as an element the possession, use, or distribution of a controlledsubstance as defined in § 102(6) of the Controlled Substances Act (21U.S.C. 802(6)).
(e) Individual employment plan as a condition of eligibility.
(1) Following receipt of an application, the department ofhuman services shall assess the financial conditions of the family, includingthe non-parent caretaker relative who is applying for cash assistance forhimself or herself as well as for the minor child(ren),in the context of aneligibility determination. If a parent or non parent caretaker relative isunemployed or under-employed, the department shall conduct an initialassessment, taking into account: (A) the physical capacity, skills, education,work experience, health, safety, family responsibilities and place of residenceof the individual; and (B) the child care and supportive services required bythe applicant to avail himself or herself of employment opportunities and/orwork readiness programs.
(2) On the basis of such assessment, the department of humanservices, in consultation with the applicant, shall develop an individualemployment plan for the family which requires the individual to participate inthe intensive employment services provided by the department of labor andtraining.
(3) The director, or his/her designee, may assign a casemanager to an applicant/participant, as appropriate.
(4) The department of labor and training and the departmentof human services in conjunction with the participant shall develop a revisedindividual employment plan which shall identify employment objectives, takinginto consideration factors above, and shall include a strategy for immediateemployment 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 provisionfor the participant to engage in work requirements as outlined in §40-5.2-12 of this chapter.
(6) The participant shall attend and participate immediatelyin intensive assessment and employment services as the first step in theindividual employment plan at the Rhode Island department of labor andtraining, unless temporarily exempt from this requirement in accordance withthis chapter.
(B) Parents under age twenty (20) without a high schooldiploma or General Equivalency Diploma (GED) shall be referred to special teenparent programs which will provide intensive services designed to assist teenparent to complete high school education or GED, and to continue approved workplan activities in accord with Works program requirements.
(7) The applicant shall become a participant in accordancewith this chapter at the time the individual employment plan is signed andentered into.
(8) Applicants and participants of the Rhode Island WorkProgram shall agree to comply with the terms of the individual employment plan,and shall cooperate fully with the steps established in the individualemployment plan, including the work requirements.
(9) The department of human services has the authority underthe chapter to require attendance by the applicant/participant, either at thedepartment of human services or at the department of labor and training, atappointments deemed necessary for the purpose of having the applicant enterinto 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 isrequired as a condition of eligibility for cash assistance in accordance withrules and regulations established by the department.
(10) As a condition of eligibility for assistance pursuant tothis chapter, the applicant/participant shall be obligated to keepappointments, attend orientation meetings at the department of human servicesand/or the Rhode Island department of labor and training, participate in anyinitial assessments or appraisals and comply with all the terms of theindividual employment plan in accordance with department of human service rulesand regulations.
(11) A participant, including a parent or non-parentcaretaker relative included in the cash assistance payment, shall notvoluntarily quit a job or refuse a job unless there is good cause as defined inthis chapter or the department's rules and regulations.
(12) A participant who voluntarily quits or refuses a jobwithout good cause, as defined in subsection 40-5.2-12(l), while receiving cashassistance in accordance with this chapter, shall be sanctioned in accordancewith rules and regulations promulgated by the department.
(1) The Family or assistance unit's countable resources shallbe less than the allowable resource limit established by the department inaccordance with this chapter.
(2) No family or assistance unit shall be eligible forassistance payments if the combined value of its available resources (reducedby any obligations or debts with respect to such resources) exceeds onethousand dollars ($1,000).
(3) For purposes of this subsection, the following shall notbe counted as resources of the family/assistance unit in the determination ofeligibility for the works program:
(A) The home owned and occupied by a child, parent, relativeor other individual;
(B) Real property owned by a husband and wife as tenants bythe entirety, if the property is not the home of the family and if the spouseof the applicant refuses to sell his or her interest in the property;
(C) Real property which the family is making a good faitheffort to dispose of, however, any cash assistance payable to the family forany such period shall be conditioned upon such disposal of the real propertywithin six (6) months of the date of application and any payments of assistancefor that period shall (at the time of disposal) be considered overpayments tothe extent that they would not have occurred at the beginning of the period forwhich the payments were made. All overpayments are debts subject to recovery inaccordance with the provisions of the chapter;
(D) Income producing property other than real estateincluding, but not limited to, equipment such as farm tools, carpenter's toolsand vehicles used in the production of goods or Services which the departmentdetermines are necessary for the family to earn a living;
(E) One vehicle for each adult household member, but not toexceed two (2) vehicles per household, and in addition, a vehicle usedprimarily 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 whichannually produces income consistent with its fair market value, even if onlyused on a seasonal basis; a vehicle necessary to transport a family member witha disability where the vehicle is specially equipped to meet the specific needsof the person with a disability or if the vehicle is a special type of vehiclethat makes it possible to transport the person with a disability;
(F) Household furnishings and appliances, clothing, personaleffects and keepsakes of limited value;
(G) Burial plots (one for each child, relative, and otherindividual in the assistance unit), and funeral arrangements;
(H) For the month of receipt and the following month, anyrefund of federal income taxes made to the family by reason of § 32 of theInternal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. § 32 (relating to earned incometax credit), and any payment made to the family by an employer under §3507 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. § 3507 (relating toadvance payment of such earned income credit);
(I) The resources of any family member receivingsupplementary security income assistance under the Social Security Act, 42U.S.C. § 301 et seq.
(1) Except as otherwise provided for herein, in determiningeligibility for and the amount of cash assistance to which a family is entitledunder 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 cashassistance 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 thefamily 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 supportreceived in any month from each non-custodial parent of a child plus anyarrearages 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 inarrears) 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 receivingsupplemental security income (SSI) assistance under Title XVI of the SocialSecurity Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1381 et seq.;
(D) The value of assistance provided by state or federalgovernment or private agencies to meet nutritional needs, including: value ofUSDA donated foods; value of supplemental food assistance received under theChild Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended and the special food service programfor children under Title VII, nutrition program for the elderly, of the OlderAmericans Act of 1965 as amended, and the value of food stamps;
(E) Value of certain assistance provided to undergraduatestudents, including any grant or loan for an undergraduate student foreducational purposes made or insured under any loan program administered by theU.S. Commissioner of Education (or the Rhode Island board of governors forhigher education or the Rhode Island higher educational assistance authority);
(F) Foster Care Payments;
(G) Home energy assistance funded by state or federalgovernment or by a nonprofit organization;
(H) Payments for supportive services or reimbursement ofout-of-pocket expenses made to foster grandparents, senior health aides orsenior companions and to persons serving in SCORE and ACE and any other programunder Title II and Title III of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, 42U.S.C. § 5000 et seq.;
(I) Payments to volunteers under AmeriCorps VISTA as definedin the department's rules and regulations;
(J) Certain payments to native Americans; paymentsdistributed per capita to, or held in trust for, members of any Indian Tribeunder P.L. 92-254, 25 U.S.C. § 1261 et seq., P.L. 93-134, 25 U.S.C. §1401 et seq., or P.L. 94-540; receipts distributed to members of certain Indiantribes which are referred to in § 5 of P.L. 94-114, 25 U.S.C. § 459d,that became effective October 17, 1975;
(K) Refund from the federal and state earned income taxcredit;
(L) The value of any state, local, or federal government rentor housing subsidy, provided that this exclusion shall not limit the reductionin benefits provided for in the payment standard section of this chapter.
(4) The receipt of a lump sum of income shall affectparticipants for cash assistance in accordance with rules and regulationspromulgated by the department.
(1) No cash assistance shall be provided, pursuant to thischapter, to a family or assistance unit which includes an adult member who hasreceived cash assistance, either for him/herself or on behalf of his/herchildren, 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 timereceiving any type of cash assistance in any other state or territory of theUnited States of America as defined herein. Provided further, in nocircumstances other than provided for in section (3) below with respect tocertain minor children, shall cash assistance be provided pursuant to thischapter to a family or assistance unit which includes an adult member who hasreceived cash assistance for a total of a lifetime limit of forty-eight (48)months.
(2) Cash benefits received by a minor dependent child shallnot be counted toward their lifetime time limit for receiving benefits underthis chapter should that minor child apply for cash benefits as an adult.
(3) Certain minor children not subject to time limit. Thissection 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 aparent who receives SSI benefits and a minor child(ren) living with aresponsible adult non-parent caretaker relative who is not in the caseassistance payment.
(4) Receipt of family cash assistance in any other state orterritory of the United States of America shall be determined by the departmentof human services and shall include family cash assistance funded in whole orin part by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds [TitleIV-A of the Federal Social Security Act 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.]and/or family cash assistance provided under a program similar to the RhodeIsland Families Work and Opportunity Program or the federal TANF program.
(5) The department of human service shall mail a notice toeach assistance unit when the assistance unit has six (6) months of cashassistance remaining and each month thereafter until the time limit hasexpired. The notice must be developed by the department of human services andmust contain information about the lifetime time limit. the number of monthsthe participant has remaining, the hardship extension policy, the availabilityof a post-employment-and-closure bonus, and any other information pertinent toa family or an assistance unit nearing either the twenty-four (24) month orforty-eight (48) month lifetime time limit.
(B) For applicants who have less than six (6) monthsremaining in either the twenty-four (24) month or forty-eight (48) monthlifetime time limit because the family or assistance unit previously receivedcash assistance in Rhode Island or in another state, the department shallnotify the applicant of the number of months remaining when the application isapproved and begin the process required in paragraph (A) above.
(6) If a cash assistance recipient family closed pursuant toRhode Island's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program, (federal TANFdescribed in Title IV A of the Federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 601 etseq.) formerly entitled the Rhode Island Family Independence Program, morespecifically under subdivision 40-5.1-9(2)(c), due to sanction because offailure to comply with the cash assistance program requirements; and thatrecipients family received forty-eight (48) months of cash benefits inaccordance with the Family Independence Program, than that recipient family isnot able to receive further cash assistance for his/her family, under thischapter, except under hardship exceptions.
(7) The months of state or federally funded cash assistancereceived by a recipient family since May 1, 1997 under Rhode Island's TemporaryAssistance for Needy Families Program, (federal TANF described in Title IV A ofthe Federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.) formerlyentitled the Rhode Island Family Independence Program, shall be countabletoward the time limited cash assistance described in this chapter.
(1) No cash assistance shall be provided, pursuant to thischapter, to a family assistance unit in which an adult member has received cashassistance for a total of sixty (60) months (whether or not consecutive) toinclude any time receiving any type of cash assistance in any other state orterritory of the United States as defined herein effective August 1, 2008.Provided further, that no cash assistance shall be provided to a family inwhich an adult member has received assistance for twenty-four (24) consecutivemonths unless the adult member has a rehabilitation employment plan as providedin subsection 40-5.2-12(g)(5).
(B) Effective August 1, 2008 no cash assistance shall beprovided pursuant to this chapter to a family in which a child has receivedcash assistance for a total of sixty (60) months (whether or not consecutive)if the parent is ineligible for assistance under this chapter pursuant tosubdivision 40-5.2(a) (2) to include any time received any type of cashassistance in any other state or territory of the United States as definedherein.
(1) The department may extend an assistance unit's orfamily's cash assistance beyond the time limit, by reason of hardship;provided, however, that the number of such families to be exempted by thedepartment with respect to their time limit under this subsection shall notexceed twenty percent (20%) of the average monthly number of families to whichassistance is provided for under this chapter in a fiscal year; provided,however, that to the extent now or hereafter permitted by federal law, anywaiver granted under § 40-5.2-35, for domestic violence, shall not becounted in determining the twenty percent (20%) maximum under this section.
(2) Parents who receive extensions to the time limit due tohardship must have and comply with employment plans designed to remove orameliorate the conditions that warranted the extension.
(1) A family consisting of a parent who is under the age ofeighteen (18), and who has never been married, and who has a child; or a familywhich 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 familyresides 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 otheradult relative on behalf of the individual and child unless otherwiseauthorized by the department.
(2) This subsection shall not apply if the minor parent orpregnant minor has no parent, legal guardian or other adult relative who isliving and/or whose whereabouts are unknown; or the department determines thatthe physical or emotional health or safety of the minor parent, or his or herchild, or the pregnant minor, would be jeopardized if he or she was required tolive in the same residence as his or her parent, legal guardian or other adultrelative (refusal of a parent, legal guardian or other adult relative to allowthe minor parent or his or her child, or a pregnant minor, to live in his orher home shall constitute a presumption that the health or safety would be sojeopardized); or the minor parent or pregnant minor has lived apart from his orher own parent or legal guardian for a period of at least one year beforeeither the birth of any child to a minor parent or the onset of the pregnantminor's pregnancy; or there is good cause, under departmental regulations, forwaiving the subsection; and the individual resides in supervised supportiveliving arrangement to the extent available.
(3) For purposes of this section "supervised supportiveliving arrangement" means an arrangement which requires minor parents to enrolland make satisfactory progress in a program leading to a high school diploma ora general education development certificate, and requires minor parents toparticipate in the adolescent parenting program designated by the department,to the extent the program is available; and provides rules and regulationswhich ensure regular adult supervision.
(l) Assignment and Cooperation. As a condition ofeligibility for cash and medical assistance under this chapter, each adultmember, parent or caretaker relative of the family/assistance unit must:
(1) Assign to the state any rights to support for childrenwithin the family from any person which the family member has at the time theassignment is executed or may have while receiving assistance under thischapter;
(2) Consent to and cooperate with the state in establishingthe paternity and in establishing and/or enforcing child support and medicalsupport orders for all children in the family or assistance unit in accordancewith Title 15 of the general laws, as amended, unless the parent or caretakerrelative is found to have good cause for refusing to comply with therequirements of this subsection.
(3) Absent good cause, as defined by the department of humanservices through the rule making process, for refusing to comply with therequirements of (1) and (2) above, cash assistance to the family shall bereduced by twenty-five percent (25%) until the adult member of the family whohas refused to comply with the requirements of this subsection consents to andcooperates with the state in accordance with the requirements of thissubsection.
(4) As a condition of eligibility for cash and medicalassistance under this chapter, each adult member, parent or caretaker relativeof the family/assistance unit must consent to and cooperate with the state inidentifying and providing information to assist the state in pursuing anythird-party who may be liable to pay for care and services under Title XIX ofthe Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1396 et seq.
§ 40-5.2-10 Necessary requirements andconditions. – The following requirements and conditions shall be necessary to establisheligibility for the program.
(a) Citizenship, alienage and residency requirements.
(1) A person shall be a resident of the State of Rhode Island.
(2) Effective October 1, 2008 a person shall be a UnitedStates citizen, or shall meet the alienage requirements established in §402(b) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Actof 1996, PRWORA, Public Laws No. 104-193 and as that section may hereafter beamended; a person who is not a United States citizen and does not meet thealienage requirements established in PRWORA, as amended, is not eligible forcash assistance in accordance with this chapter.
(b) The family/assistance unit must meet any otherrequirements established by the department of human services by rules andregulations adopted pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act, as necessaryto promote the purpose and goals of this chapter.
(c) Receipt of cash assistance is conditional upon compliancewith all program requirements.
(d) All individuals domiciled in this state shall be exemptfrom the application of subdivision 115(d)(1)(A) of Public Law 104-193, thePersonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996,PRWORA, which makes any individual ineligible for certain state and federalassistance if that individual has been convicted under federal or state law ofany offense which is classified as a felony by the law of the jurisdiction andwhich has as an element the possession, use, or distribution of a controlledsubstance as defined in § 102(6) of the Controlled Substances Act (21U.S.C. 802(6)).
(e) Individual employment plan as a condition of eligibility.
(1) Following receipt of an application, the department ofhuman services shall assess the financial conditions of the family, includingthe non-parent caretaker relative who is applying for cash assistance forhimself or herself as well as for the minor child(ren),in the context of aneligibility determination. If a parent or non parent caretaker relative isunemployed or under-employed, the department shall conduct an initialassessment, taking into account: (A) the physical capacity, skills, education,work experience, health, safety, family responsibilities and place of residenceof the individual; and (B) the child care and supportive services required bythe applicant to avail himself or herself of employment opportunities and/orwork readiness programs.
(2) On the basis of such assessment, the department of humanservices, in consultation with the applicant, shall develop an individualemployment plan for the family which requires the individual to participate inthe intensive employment services provided by the department of labor andtraining.
(3) The director, or his/her designee, may assign a casemanager to an applicant/participant, as appropriate.
(4) The department of labor and training and the departmentof human services in conjunction with the participant shall develop a revisedindividual employment plan which shall identify employment objectives, takinginto consideration factors above, and shall include a strategy for immediateemployment 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 provisionfor the participant to engage in work requirements as outlined in §40-5.2-12 of this chapter.
(6) The participant shall attend and participate immediatelyin intensive assessment and employment services as the first step in theindividual employment plan at the Rhode Island department of labor andtraining, unless temporarily exempt from this requirement in accordance withthis chapter.
(B) Parents under age twenty (20) without a high schooldiploma or General Equivalency Diploma (GED) shall be referred to special teenparent programs which will provide intensive services designed to assist teenparent to complete high school education or GED, and to continue approved workplan activities in accord with Works program requirements.
(7) The applicant shall become a participant in accordancewith this chapter at the time the individual employment plan is signed andentered into.
(8) Applicants and participants of the Rhode Island WorkProgram shall agree to comply with the terms of the individual employment plan,and shall cooperate fully with the steps established in the individualemployment plan, including the work requirements.
(9) The department of human services has the authority underthe chapter to require attendance by the applicant/participant, either at thedepartment of human services or at the department of labor and training, atappointments deemed necessary for the purpose of having the applicant enterinto 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 isrequired as a condition of eligibility for cash assistance in accordance withrules and regulations established by the department.
(10) As a condition of eligibility for assistance pursuant tothis chapter, the applicant/participant shall be obligated to keepappointments, attend orientation meetings at the department of human servicesand/or the Rhode Island department of labor and training, participate in anyinitial assessments or appraisals and comply with all the terms of theindividual employment plan in accordance with department of human service rulesand regulations.
(11) A participant, including a parent or non-parentcaretaker relative included in the cash assistance payment, shall notvoluntarily quit a job or refuse a job unless there is good cause as defined inthis chapter or the department's rules and regulations.
(12) A participant who voluntarily quits or refuses a jobwithout good cause, as defined in subsection 40-5.2-12(l), while receiving cashassistance in accordance with this chapter, shall be sanctioned in accordancewith rules and regulations promulgated by the department.
(1) The Family or assistance unit's countable resources shallbe less than the allowable resource limit established by the department inaccordance with this chapter.
(2) No family or assistance unit shall be eligible forassistance payments if the combined value of its available resources (reducedby any obligations or debts with respect to such resources) exceeds onethousand dollars ($1,000).
(3) For purposes of this subsection, the following shall notbe counted as resources of the family/assistance unit in the determination ofeligibility for the works program:
(A) The home owned and occupied by a child, parent, relativeor other individual;
(B) Real property owned by a husband and wife as tenants bythe entirety, if the property is not the home of the family and if the spouseof the applicant refuses to sell his or her interest in the property;
(C) Real property which the family is making a good faitheffort to dispose of, however, any cash assistance payable to the family forany such period shall be conditioned upon such disposal of the real propertywithin six (6) months of the date of application and any payments of assistancefor that period shall (at the time of disposal) be considered overpayments tothe extent that they would not have occurred at the beginning of the period forwhich the payments were made. All overpayments are debts subject to recovery inaccordance with the provisions of the chapter;
(D) Income producing property other than real estateincluding, but not limited to, equipment such as farm tools, carpenter's toolsand vehicles used in the production of goods or Services which the departmentdetermines are necessary for the family to earn a living;
(E) One vehicle for each adult household member, but not toexceed two (2) vehicles per household, and in addition, a vehicle usedprimarily 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 whichannually produces income consistent with its fair market value, even if onlyused on a seasonal basis; a vehicle necessary to transport a family member witha disability where the vehicle is specially equipped to meet the specific needsof the person with a disability or if the vehicle is a special type of vehiclethat makes it possible to transport the person with a disability;
(F) Household furnishings and appliances, clothing, personaleffects and keepsakes of limited value;
(G) Burial plots (one for each child, relative, and otherindividual in the assistance unit), and funeral arrangements;
(H) For the month of receipt and the following month, anyrefund of federal income taxes made to the family by reason of § 32 of theInternal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. § 32 (relating to earned incometax credit), and any payment made to the family by an employer under §3507 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. § 3507 (relating toadvance payment of such earned income credit);
(I) The resources of any family member receivingsupplementary security income assistance under the Social Security Act, 42U.S.C. § 301 et seq.
(1) Except as otherwise provided for herein, in determiningeligibility for and the amount of cash assistance to which a family is entitledunder 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 cashassistance 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 thefamily 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 supportreceived in any month from each non-custodial parent of a child plus anyarrearages 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 inarrears) 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 receivingsupplemental security income (SSI) assistance under Title XVI of the SocialSecurity Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1381 et seq.;
(D) The value of assistance provided by state or federalgovernment or private agencies to meet nutritional needs, including: value ofUSDA donated foods; value of supplemental food assistance received under theChild Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended and the special food service programfor children under Title VII, nutrition program for the elderly, of the OlderAmericans Act of 1965 as amended, and the value of food stamps;
(E) Value of certain assistance provided to undergraduatestudents, including any grant or loan for an undergraduate student foreducational purposes made or insured under any loan program administered by theU.S. Commissioner of Education (or the Rhode Island board of governors forhigher education or the Rhode Island higher educational assistance authority);
(F) Foster Care Payments;
(G) Home energy assistance funded by state or federalgovernment or by a nonprofit organization;
(H) Payments for supportive services or reimbursement ofout-of-pocket expenses made to foster grandparents, senior health aides orsenior companions and to persons serving in SCORE and ACE and any other programunder Title II and Title III of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, 42U.S.C. § 5000 et seq.;
(I) Payments to volunteers under AmeriCorps VISTA as definedin the department's rules and regulations;
(J) Certain payments to native Americans; paymentsdistributed per capita to, or held in trust for, members of any Indian Tribeunder P.L. 92-254, 25 U.S.C. § 1261 et seq., P.L. 93-134, 25 U.S.C. §1401 et seq., or P.L. 94-540; receipts distributed to members of certain Indiantribes which are referred to in § 5 of P.L. 94-114, 25 U.S.C. § 459d,that became effective October 17, 1975;
(K) Refund from the federal and state earned income taxcredit;
(L) The value of any state, local, or federal government rentor housing subsidy, provided that this exclusion shall not limit the reductionin benefits provided for in the payment standard section of this chapter.
(4) The receipt of a lump sum of income shall affectparticipants for cash assistance in accordance with rules and regulationspromulgated by the department.
(1) No cash assistance shall be provided, pursuant to thischapter, to a family or assistance unit which includes an adult member who hasreceived cash assistance, either for him/herself or on behalf of his/herchildren, 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 timereceiving any type of cash assistance in any other state or territory of theUnited States of America as defined herein. Provided further, in nocircumstances other than provided for in section (3) below with respect tocertain minor children, shall cash assistance be provided pursuant to thischapter to a family or assistance unit which includes an adult member who hasreceived cash assistance for a total of a lifetime limit of forty-eight (48)months.
(2) Cash benefits received by a minor dependent child shallnot be counted toward their lifetime time limit for receiving benefits underthis chapter should that minor child apply for cash benefits as an adult.
(3) Certain minor children not subject to time limit. Thissection 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 aparent who receives SSI benefits and a minor child(ren) living with aresponsible adult non-parent caretaker relative who is not in the caseassistance payment.
(4) Receipt of family cash assistance in any other state orterritory of the United States of America shall be determined by the departmentof human services and shall include family cash assistance funded in whole orin part by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds [TitleIV-A of the Federal Social Security Act 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.]and/or family cash assistance provided under a program similar to the RhodeIsland Families Work and Opportunity Program or the federal TANF program.
(5) The department of human service shall mail a notice toeach assistance unit when the assistance unit has six (6) months of cashassistance remaining and each month thereafter until the time limit hasexpired. The notice must be developed by the department of human services andmust contain information about the lifetime time limit. the number of monthsthe participant has remaining, the hardship extension policy, the availabilityof a post-employment-and-closure bonus, and any other information pertinent toa family or an assistance unit nearing either the twenty-four (24) month orforty-eight (48) month lifetime time limit.
(B) For applicants who have less than six (6) monthsremaining in either the twenty-four (24) month or forty-eight (48) monthlifetime time limit because the family or assistance unit previously receivedcash assistance in Rhode Island or in another state, the department shallnotify the applicant of the number of months remaining when the application isapproved and begin the process required in paragraph (A) above.
(6) If a cash assistance recipient family closed pursuant toRhode Island's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program, (federal TANFdescribed in Title IV A of the Federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 601 etseq.) formerly entitled the Rhode Island Family Independence Program, morespecifically under subdivision 40-5.1-9(2)(c), due to sanction because offailure to comply with the cash assistance program requirements; and thatrecipients family received forty-eight (48) months of cash benefits inaccordance with the Family Independence Program, than that recipient family isnot able to receive further cash assistance for his/her family, under thischapter, except under hardship exceptions.
(7) The months of state or federally funded cash assistancereceived by a recipient family since May 1, 1997 under Rhode Island's TemporaryAssistance for Needy Families Program, (federal TANF described in Title IV A ofthe Federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.) formerlyentitled the Rhode Island Family Independence Program, shall be countabletoward the time limited cash assistance described in this chapter.
(1) No cash assistance shall be provided, pursuant to thischapter, to a family assistance unit in which an adult member has received cashassistance for a total of sixty (60) months (whether or not consecutive) toinclude any time receiving any type of cash assistance in any other state orterritory of the United States as defined herein effective August 1, 2008.Provided further, that no cash assistance shall be provided to a family inwhich an adult member has received assistance for twenty-four (24) consecutivemonths unless the adult member has a rehabilitation employment plan as providedin subsection 40-5.2-12(g)(5).
(B) Effective August 1, 2008 no cash assistance shall beprovided pursuant to this chapter to a family in which a child has receivedcash assistance for a total of sixty (60) months (whether or not consecutive)if the parent is ineligible for assistance under this chapter pursuant tosubdivision 40-5.2(a) (2) to include any time received any type of cashassistance in any other state or territory of the United States as definedherein.
(1) The department may extend an assistance unit's orfamily's cash assistance beyond the time limit, by reason of hardship;provided, however, that the number of such families to be exempted by thedepartment with respect to their time limit under this subsection shall notexceed twenty percent (20%) of the average monthly number of families to whichassistance is provided for under this chapter in a fiscal year; provided,however, that to the extent now or hereafter permitted by federal law, anywaiver granted under § 40-5.2-35, for domestic violence, shall not becounted in determining the twenty percent (20%) maximum under this section.
(2) Parents who receive extensions to the time limit due tohardship must have and comply with employment plans designed to remove orameliorate the conditions that warranted the extension.
(1) A family consisting of a parent who is under the age ofeighteen (18), and who has never been married, and who has a child; or a familywhich 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 familyresides 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 otheradult relative on behalf of the individual and child unless otherwiseauthorized by the department.
(2) This subsection shall not apply if the minor parent orpregnant minor has no parent, legal guardian or other adult relative who isliving and/or whose whereabouts are unknown; or the department determines thatthe physical or emotional health or safety of the minor parent, or his or herchild, or the pregnant minor, would be jeopardized if he or she was required tolive in the same residence as his or her parent, legal guardian or other adultrelative (refusal of a parent, legal guardian or other adult relative to allowthe minor parent or his or her child, or a pregnant minor, to live in his orher home shall constitute a presumption that the health or safety would be sojeopardized); or the minor parent or pregnant minor has lived apart from his orher own parent or legal guardian for a period of at least one year beforeeither the birth of any child to a minor parent or the onset of the pregnantminor's pregnancy; or there is good cause, under departmental regulations, forwaiving the subsection; and the individual resides in supervised supportiveliving arrangement to the extent available.
(3) For purposes of this section "supervised supportiveliving arrangement" means an arrangement which requires minor parents to enrolland make satisfactory progress in a program leading to a high school diploma ora general education development certificate, and requires minor parents toparticipate in the adolescent parenting program designated by the department,to the extent the program is available; and provides rules and regulationswhich ensure regular adult supervision.
(l) Assignment and Cooperation. As a condition ofeligibility for cash and medical assistance under this chapter, each adultmember, parent or caretaker relative of the family/assistance unit must:
(1) Assign to the state any rights to support for childrenwithin the family from any person which the family member has at the time theassignment is executed or may have while receiving assistance under thischapter;
(2) Consent to and cooperate with the state in establishingthe paternity and in establishing and/or enforcing child support and medicalsupport orders for all children in the family or assistance unit in accordancewith Title 15 of the general laws, as amended, unless the parent or caretakerrelative is found to have good cause for refusing to comply with therequirements of this subsection.
(3) Absent good cause, as defined by the department of humanservices through the rule making process, for refusing to comply with therequirements of (1) and (2) above, cash assistance to the family shall bereduced by twenty-five percent (25%) until the adult member of the family whohas refused to comply with the requirements of this subsection consents to andcooperates with the state in accordance with the requirements of thissubsection.
(4) As a condition of eligibility for cash and medicalassistance under this chapter, each adult member, parent or caretaker relativeof the family/assistance unit must consent to and cooperate with the state inidentifying and providing information to assist the state in pursuing anythird-party who may be liable to pay for care and services under Title XIX ofthe Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1396 et seq.
