256.74 Assistance.
Subdivision 1. Amount. The amount of assistance which shall be granted to or on behalf of any dependent child and parent or other needy eligible relative caring for the dependent child shall be determined by the county agency according to rules promulgated by the commissioner and shall be sufficient, when added to all other income and support available to the child, to provide the child with a reasonable subsistence compatible with decency and health. To the extent permissible under federal law, an eligible relative caretaker or parent shall have the option to include in the assistance unit the needs, income, and resources of the following essential persons who are not otherwise eligible for AFDC because they do not qualify as a caretaker or as a dependent child:
(1) a parent or relative caretaker's spouse and stepchildren; or
(2) blood or legally adopted relatives who are under the age of 18 or under the age of 19 years who are regularly attending as a full-time student, and are expected to complete before or during the month of their 19th birthday, a high school or secondary level course of vocational or technical training designed to prepare students for gainful employment. The amount shall be based on the method of budgeting required in Public Law Number 97-35, section 2315, United States Code, title 42, section 602, as amended and federal regulations at Code of Federal Regulations, title 45, section 233. Nonrecurring lump sum income received by an AFDC family must be budgeted in the normal retrospective cycle. When the family's income, after application of the applicable disregards, exceeds the need standard for the family because of receipt of earned or unearned lump sum income, the family will be ineligible for the full number of months derived by dividing the sum of the lump sum income and other income by the monthly need standard for a family of that size. Any income remaining from this calculation is income in the first month following the period of ineligibility. The first month of ineligibility is the payment month that corresponds with the budget month in which the lump sum income was received. For purposes of applying the lump sum provision, family includes those persons defined in the Code of Federal Regulations, title 45, section 233.20(a)(3)(ii)(F). A period of ineligibility must be shortened when the standard of need increases and the amount the family would have received also changes, an amount is documented as stolen, an amount is unavailable because a member of the family left the household with that amount and has not returned, an amount is paid by the family during the period of ineligibility to cover a cost that would otherwise qualify for emergency assistance, or the family incurs and pays for medical expenses which would have been covered by medical assistance if eligibility existed. In making its determination the county agency shall disregard the following from family income:
(1) all the earned income of each dependent child applying for AFDC if the child is a full-time student and all of the earned income of each dependent child receiving AFDC who is a full-time student or is a part-time student who is not a full-time employee. A student is one who is attending a school, college, or university, or a course of vocational or technical training designed to fit students for gainful employment and includes a participant in the Job Corps program under the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). The county agency shall also disregard all income of each dependent child applying for or receiving AFDC when the income is derived from a program carried out under JTPA, except that disregard of earned income may not exceed six months per calendar year;
(2) all educational assistance, except the county agency shall count graduate student teaching assistantships, fellowships, and other similar paid work as earned income and, after allowing deductions for any unmet and necessary educational expenses, shall count scholarships or grants awarded to graduate students that do not require teaching or research as unearned income;
(3) the first $90 of each individual's earned income. For self-employed persons, the expenses directly related to producing goods and services and without which the goods and services could not be produced shall be disregarded according to rules promulgated by the commissioner;
(4) thirty dollars plus one-third of each individual's earned income for individuals found otherwise eligible to receive aid or who have received aid in one of the four months before the month of application. With respect to any month, the county welfare agency shall not disregard under this clause any earned income of any person who has: (a) reduced earned income without good cause within 30 days preceding any month in which an assistance payment is made; (b) refused without good cause to accept an offer of suitable employment; or (c) failed without good cause to make a timely report of earned income according to rules promulgated by the commissioner of human services. Persons who are already employed and who apply for assistance shall have their needs computed with full account taken of their earned and other income. If earned and other income of the family is less than need, as determined on the basis of public assistance standards, the county agency shall determine the amount of the grant by applying the disregard of income provisions. The county agency shall not disregard earned income for persons in a family if the total monthly earned and other income exceeds their needs, unless for any one of the four preceding months their needs were met in whole or in part by a grant payment;
(5) an amount equal to the actual expenditures for the care of each dependent child or incapacitated individual living in the same home and receiving aid, not to exceed $175 for each individual age two and older, and $200 for each individual under the age of two. The dependent care disregard must be applied after all other disregards under this subdivision have been applied;
(6) that portion of an insurance settlement earmarked and used to pay medical expenses, funeral and burial costs, or to repair or replace insured property; and
(7) all earned income tax credit payments received by the family as a refund of federal income taxes or made as advance payments by an employer.
All payments made according to a court order for the support of children not living in the assistance unit's household shall be disregarded from the income of the person with the legal obligation to pay support, provided that, if there has been a change in the financial circumstances of the person with the legal obligation to pay support since the support order was entered, the person with the legal obligation to pay support has petitioned for a modification of the support order.
Subd. 1a. Stepparent's income. In determining income available, the county agency shall take into account the remaining income of the dependent child's stepparent who lives in the same household after disregarding:
(1) the first $90 of the stepparent's gross earned income;
(2) an amount for support of the stepparent and any other individuals whom the stepparent claims as dependents for determining federal personal income tax liability and who live in the same household but whose needs are not considered in determining eligibility for assistance under sections 256.72 to 256.87. The amount equals the standard of need for a family of the same composition as the stepparent and these other individuals;
(3) amounts the stepparent actually paid to individuals not living in the same household but whom the stepparent claims as dependents for determining federal personal income tax liability; and
(4) alimony or child support, or both, paid by the stepparent for individuals not living in the same household.
Subd. 1b. Review of standard of need. The commissioner of human services shall develop a household budget sufficient to maintain a family in Minnesota. The budget must be based on a market survey of the cost of items needed by families raising children to the extent these factors are consistent with the requirements of federal regulations. The commissioner shall develop recommendations for an AFDC standard of need and level of payment that are based on the budget. The commissioner shall submit to the legislature by January 1, 1990, a report identifying the methods proposed for the conduct of the market survey, the funds required for the survey, and a timetable for completion of the survey, establishment of a family budget, and recommendation of an AFDC standard of need.
Subd. 1c. MFIP and MFIP-R comparison group families. Notwithstanding subdivision 1, the limitations of this subdivision apply to MFIP and MFIP-R comparison group families under sections 256.031 to 256.0361. The disregard of $30 plus one-third of earned income in this subdivision shall be applied to the individual's income for a period not to exceed four consecutive months. Any month in which the individual loses this disregard because of the provisions of subdivision 1, paragraph (4), clauses (a) to (c), shall be considered as one of the four months. An additional $30 work incentive must be available for an eight-month period beginning in the month following the last month of the combined $30 and one-third work incentive. This period must be in effect whether or not the person has earned income or is eligible for AFDC. To again qualify for the earned income disregards under this subdivision, the individual must not be a recipient of and for a period of 12 consecutive months. When an assistance unit becomes ineligible for aid due to the fact that these disregards are no longer applied to income, the assistance unit shall be eligible for medical assistance benefits for a 12-month period beginning with the first month of AFDC ineligibility.
Subd. 2. Application. Application for assistance under sections 256.72 to 256.87 shall be made to the county agency of the county in which the dependent child lives. If the child is not living within the state at the time of application but is eligible for assistance, the application may be made to the agency of the county where the child is present and forwarded to the agency of the county where the child last lived. The application shall be in writing or reduced to writing in the manner and upon the form prescribed by the state agency and verified by the oath of the applicant or in lieu thereof shall contain the following declaration which shall be signed by the applicant: "I declare that this application has been examined by me and to the best of my knowledge and belief is a true and correct statement of every material point." The application shall be made by the person with whom the child will live and contain information as to the age and residence of the child and such other information as may be required by the rules of the state agency. One application may be made for several children of the same family if they live with the same person.
Subd. 3. Repealed, Ex1971 c 16 s 6
Subd. 4. Repealed, Ex1971 c 16 s 6
Subd. 5. Assignment of support and maintenance rights. An applicant for assistance, or a recipient of assistance, under sections 256.72 to 256.87 or an applicant or recipient for whom foster care maintenance is provided under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act is considered to have assigned to the public agency responsible for child support enforcement at the time of application all rights to child support and maintenance from any other person the applicant may have in the applicant's own behalf or in the behalf of any other family member for whom application is made under sections 256.72 to 256.87 or Title IV-E. The assignment:
(1) is effective as to both current and accrued child support and maintenance obligations;
(2) takes effect upon a determination that the applicant is eligible for assistance under sections 256.72 to 256.87 or that the applicant or family member is eligible for foster care maintenance under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act;
(3) terminates when an applicant ceases to receive assistance under sections 256.72 to 256.87 or when the applicant or family member ceases to receive foster care maintenance under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, except with respect to the amount of any unpaid support or maintenance obligation, or both, under the assignment.
Subd. 6. State supplementary payments. The commissioner of human services shall report back on a plan for providing supplemental payments for recipients of AFDC whose income is reduced or terminated as a result of a reduction in the rate of pay, reduction in numbers of hours worked, or reduction in court ordered or agreed upon support, but whose assistance under the AFDC program is not adjusted accordingly because of the operation of retrospective budgeting procedures. The amount of assistance must be sufficient to ensure that the assistance unit's income equals, but does not exceed, the standard of assistance in the AFDC program for an assistance unit of like size and composition. A recipient shall not be eligible for supplementary assistance if the recipient voluntarily, and without good cause attributable to the employer, discontinued employment with the employer or was discharged for misconduct connected with work or for misconduct which interferes with or adversely affects employment. The commissioner's report shall provide information on the projected number of families likely to be eligible for supplementary payments during the 1997-1999 biennium; and on the costs, including administrative costs, of making those payments to eligible recipients. The report shall be presented to the legislature by February 15, 1996.
Subd. 7. Good cause claims. All applications for good cause exemption from cooperation with child support enforcement shall be reviewed by designees of the county human services board to ensure the validity of good cause determinations.
HIST: (8688-7, 8688-8) 1937 c 438 s 5,6; 1943 c 580 s 1; 1945 c 320 s 1; 1947 c 192 s 1; 1949 c 606 s 1; 1951 c 229 s 3; 1955 c 763 s 1,2; 1957 c 690 s 3; 1963 c 296 s 1; 1963 c 794 s 5; 1967 c 653 s 1; 1969 c 478 s 1; 1969 c 747 s 1; 1979 c 250 s 1; 3Sp1981 c 3 s 11,12; 1982 c 640 s 1,2; 1983 c 308 s 1; 1984 c 654 art 5 s 58; 1985 c 131 s 1,2; 1985 c 248 s 70; 1985 c 252 s 11-13; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 403 art 3 s 23; 1989 c 282 art 5 s 37-39; 1990 c 568 art 2 s 61; 1Sp1993 c 1 art 6 s 22; 1994 c 529 s 7; 1995 c 178 art 2 s 19; 1995 c 207 art 5 s 6; art 10 s 5; 1997 c 85 art 3 s 5,6
* NOTE: Subdivisions 1, 1a, 1b, 2, and 6, are repealed by *Laws 1997, chapter 85, article 1, section 74, effective July 1, *1998. From January 1, 1998, to March 31, 1998, the statutory *sections listed in Laws 1997, chapter 85, article 1, section 74, *paragraph (a), apply only in counties that operate an MFIP field *trial and that continue to provide project STRIDE services to *members of the MFIP comparison group, and in those counties that *have not completed conversion to MFIP-S employment and training *services. From April 1, 1998, through June 30, 1998, the *sections listed in paragraph (a) are effective only in counties *that operate an MFIP field trial and that continue to provide *project STRIDE services to members of the comparison group.
* NOTE: Subdivisions 5 and 7 are repealed effective March *31, 1998. Laws 1997, chapter 203, article 6, section 93, *paragraph (b).
Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes