SF 1426

as introduced - 89th Legislature (2015 - 2016) Posted on 04/04/2016 09:00am

A bill for an act
relating to human services; expanding general assistance eligibility; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2014, sections 256D.01, subdivision 1a; 256D.05,
subdivision 1.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 256D.01, subdivision 1a, is amended to
read:

Subd. 1a.

Standards.

(a) A principal objective in providing general assistance is
to provide for single adults, childless couples, deleted text begin or deleted text end children as defined in section 256D.02,
subdivision 6, new text begin and families with children new text end ineligible for federal programs who are unable to
provide for themselves. The minimum standard of assistance determines the total amount of
the general assistance grant without separate standards for shelter, utilities, or other needs.

(b) The commissioner shall set the standard of assistance for an assistance unit
consisting of an adult recipient who is childless and unmarried or living apart from
children and spouse and who does not live with a parent or parents or a legal custodian new text begin ,
and for families with children new text end . When the other standards specified in this subdivision
increase, this standard must also be increased by the same percentage.

(c) For an assistance unit consisting of a single adult who lives with a parent or
parents, the general assistance standard of assistance is the amount that the aid to families
with dependent children standard of assistance, in effect on July 16, 1996, would increase
if the recipient were added as an additional minor child to an assistance unit consisting of
the recipient's parent and all of that parent's family members, except that the standard may
not exceed the standard for a general assistance recipient living alone. Benefits received
by a responsible relative of the assistance unit under the Supplemental Security Income
program, a workers' compensation program, the Minnesota supplemental aid program, or
any other program based on the responsible relative's disability, and any benefits received
by a responsible relative of the assistance unit under the Social Security retirement program,
may not be counted in the determination of eligibility or benefit level for the assistance
unit. Except as provided below, the assistance unit is ineligible for general assistance if the
available resources or the countable income of the assistance unit and the parent or parents
with whom the assistance unit lives are such that a family consisting of the assistance
unit's parent or parents, the parent or parents' other family members and the assistance unit
as the only or additional minor child would be financially ineligible for general assistance.
For the purposes of calculating the countable income of the assistance unit's parent or
parents, the calculation methods, income deductions, exclusions, and disregards used
when calculating the countable income for a single adult or childless couple must be used.

(d) For an assistance unit consisting of a childless couple, the standards of assistance
are the same as the first and second adult standards of the aid to families with dependent
children program in effect on July 16, 1996. If one member of the couple is not included
in the general assistance grant, the standard of assistance for the other is the second adult
standard of the aid to families with dependent children program as of July 16, 1996.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 256D.05, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Eligibility.

(a) Each assistance unit with income and resources
less than the standard of assistance established by the commissioner and with a member
who is a resident of the state shall be eligible for and entitled to general assistance if
the assistance unit is:

(1) a person who is suffering from a professionally certified permanent or temporary
illness, injury, or incapacity which is expected to continue for more than 45 days and
which prevents the person from obtaining or retaining employment;

(2) a person whose presence in the home on a substantially continuous basis is
required because of the professionally certified illness, injury, incapacity, or the age of
another member of the household;

(3) a person who has been placed in, and is residing in, a licensed or certified facility
for purposes of physical or mental health or rehabilitation, or in an approved chemical
dependency domiciliary facility, if the placement is based on illness or incapacity and is
according to a plan developed or approved by the county agency through its director or
designated representative;

(4) a person who resides in a shelter facility described in subdivision 3;

(5) a person not described in clause (1) or (3) who is diagnosed by a licensed
physician, psychological practitioner, or other qualified professional, as developmentally
disabled or mentally ill, and that condition prevents the person from obtaining or retaining
employment;

(6) a person who has an application pending for, or is appealing termination of benefits
from, the Social Security disability program or the program of Supplemental Security
Income for the aged, blind, and disabled, provided the person has a professionally certified
permanent or temporary illness, injury, or incapacity which is expected to continue for
more than 30 days and which prevents the person from obtaining or retaining employment;

(7) a person who is unable to obtain or retain employment because advanced age
significantly affects the person's ability to seek or engage in substantial work;

(8) a person who has been assessed by a vocational specialist and, in consultation
with the county agency, has been determined to be unemployable for purposes of this
clause; a person is considered employable if there exist positions of employment in the
local labor market, regardless of the current availability of openings for those positions,
that the person is capable of performing. The person's eligibility under this category must
be reassessed at least annually. The county agency must provide notice to the person not
later than 30 days before annual eligibility under this item ends, informing the person of the
date annual eligibility will end and the need for vocational assessment if the person wishes
to continue eligibility under this clause. For purposes of establishing eligibility under this
clause, it is the applicant's or recipient's duty to obtain any needed vocational assessment;

(9) a person who is determined by the county agency, according to permanent rules
adopted by the commissioner, to have a condition that qualifies under Minnesota's special
education rules as a specific learning disability, provided that a rehabilitation plan for the
person is developed or approved by the county agency, and the person is following the plan;

(10) a child under the age of 18 who is not living with a parent, stepparent, or legal
custodian, and only if: the child is legally emancipated or living with an adult with the
consent of an agency acting as a legal custodian; the child is at least 16 years of age and the
general assistance grant is approved by the director of the county agency or a designated
representative as a component of a social services case plan for the child; or the child is
living with an adult with the consent of the child's legal custodian and the county agency.
For purposes of this clause, "legally emancipated" means a person under the age of 18 years
who: (i) has been married; (ii) is on active duty in the uniformed services of the United
States; (iii) has been emancipated by a court of competent jurisdiction; or (iv) is otherwise
considered emancipated under Minnesota law, and for whom county social services has
not determined that a social services case plan is necessary, for reasons other than the child
has failed or refuses to cooperate with the county agency in developing the plan;

(11) a person who is eligible for displaced homemaker services, programs, or
assistance under section 116L.96, but only if that person is enrolled as a full-time student;

(12) a person who is involved with protective or court-ordered services that prevent
the applicant or recipient from working at least four hours per day;

(13) a person over age 18 whose primary language is not English and who is
attending high school at least half time; deleted text begin or
deleted text end

(14) a person whose alcohol and drug addiction is a material factor that contributes
to the person's disability; applicants who assert this clause as a basis for eligibility must
be assessed by the county agency to determine if they are amenable to treatment; if the
applicant is determined to be not amenable to treatment, but is otherwise eligible for
benefits, then general assistance must be paid in vendor form, for the individual's shelter
costs up to the limit of the grant amount, with the residual, if any, paid according to section
256D.09, subdivision 2a; if the applicant is determined to be amenable to treatment, then
in order to receive benefits, the applicant must be in a treatment program or on a waiting
list and the benefits must be paid in vendor form, for the individual's shelter costs, up to
the limit of the grant amount, with the residual, if any, paid according to section 256D.09,
subdivision 2a deleted text begin . deleted text end new text begin ;
new text end

new text begin (15) a person who is unemployed and who is looking for work; or
new text end

new text begin (16) a family with children that is ineligible for MFIP due to the 60-month time limit.
new text end

(b) As a condition of eligibility under paragraph (a), clauses (1), (3), (5), (8), and
(9), the recipient must complete an interim assistance agreement and must apply for other
maintenance benefits as specified in section 256D.06, subdivision 5, and must comply
with efforts to determine the recipient's eligibility for those other maintenance benefits.

(c) The burden of providing documentation for a county agency to use to verify
eligibility for general assistance or for exemption from the food stamp employment
and training program is upon the applicant or recipient. The county agency shall use
documents already in its possession to verify eligibility, and shall help the applicant or
recipient obtain other existing verification necessary to determine eligibility which the
applicant or recipient does not have and is unable to obtain.