SF 2912

as introduced - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 10/15/2018 02:44pm

A bill for an act
relating to human services; expanding general assistance eligibility; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2016, sections 256D.01, subdivision 1a; 256D.06, subdivision
1; Minnesota Statutes 2017 Supplement, section 256D.05, subdivision 1.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, 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 must follow the provisions under section 256P.06.

(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 2017 Supplement, 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 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;

(5) 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;

(6) 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;

(7) 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;

(8) 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;

(9) 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;

(10) 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;

(11) 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;

(12) 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

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

new text begin (15) a family with a child 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), (4), (7), and (8),
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.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 256D.06, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Eligibility; amount of assistance.

General assistance shall be granted
in an amount that when added to the countable income as determined to be actually available
to the assistance unit under section 256P.06, the total amount equals the applicable standard
of assistance for general assistance. new text begin For families with children, the applicable standard of
assistance for general assistance shall be the MFIP transitional standard as specified in
section 256J.24. new text end In determining eligibility for and the amount of assistance deleted text begin for an individual
or married couple deleted text end , the agency shall apply the earned income disregard as determined in
section 256P.03.