1997 Minnesota Statutes

     256.036 Protections. 

    Subdivision 1.    Support services.  If assistance with 
 child care or transportation is necessary to enable a parental 
 caregiver to work, obtain training or education, attend 
 orientation, or comply with the terms of a family support 
 agreement with the county agency, and the county agency 
 determines that child care or transportation is not available, 
 the family's applicable standard of assistance continues to be 
 the transitional standard. 

    Subd. 2.    Volunteers.  For caregivers receiving 
 assistance under the Minnesota family investment plan who are 
 not currently employed but who are independently pursuing 
 self-sufficiency, case management, support services, and child 
 care are available to the extent that resources permit.  A 
 caregiver who volunteers is not subject to a sanction under 
 section 256.035, subdivision 3.  

    Subd. 3.    Notification requirement.  The county agency 
 shall contact a family headed by a single adult parent when the 
 family has received assistance through the Minnesota family 
 investment plan for 18 months within the preceding 36 months.  
 The county agency shall remind the family that beginning with 
 the 24th month of assistance, receipt of the transitional 
 standard is contingent upon transitional status.  The county 
 agency shall encourage the family to begin preparing for the 
 change in expectations. 

    Subd. 4.    Timely assistance.  Applications must be 
 processed in a timely manner according to the processing 
 standards of the federal Food Stamp Act of 1977, as amended, and 
 no later than 30 days following the date of application, unless 
 the county agency has requested information that the applicant 
 has not yet supplied.  Financial assistance must be provided at 
 least monthly to eligible families. 

    Subd. 5.    Due process.  Any family that applies for or 
 receives assistance under the Minnesota family investment plan 
 whose application for assistance is denied or not acted upon 
 with reasonable promptness, or whose assistance is suspended, 
 reduced, terminated, or claimed to have been incorrectly paid, 
 is entitled, upon request, to a hearing under section 256.045.  
 A parental caregiver may request a conciliation conference, as 
 provided under section 256.035, subdivision 6e, when the 
 caregiver disputes the terms of a family support agreement 
 developed under the Minnesota family investment plan or disputes 
 a decision regarding failure or refusal to comply with the terms 
 of a family support agreement.  The disputes are not subject to 
 administrative review under section 256.045, unless they result 
 in a denial, suspension, reduction, or termination, and the 
 parental caregiver complies with section 256.045.  A caregiver 
 need not request a conciliation conference to request a hearing 
 according to section 256.045. 

    Subd. 6.    Treatment of food assistance.  The portion 
 of cash assistance provided under the Minnesota family 
 investment plan that the commissioner designates as representing 
 food assistance must be disregarded for other local, state, or 
 federal programs. 

    Subd. 7.    Adjustment of food assistance amount.  The 
 commissioner shall assure that increases in the federal food 
 stamp allotments and deductions are reflected in the food 
 assistance portion of the assistance provided under the 
 Minnesota family investment plan. 

    Subd. 8.    Expedited benefits.  Provisions for 
 expedited benefits under the Minnesota family investment plan 
 may not be less restrictive than provisions for expedited 
 benefits under the Food Stamp Act of 1977, as amended, and state 
 food stamp policy and include either expediting issuance of a 
 predesignated portion of assistance provided through the 
 Minnesota family investment plan or through the existing food 
 stamp program. 

    Subd. 9.    Special rights of migrant and seasonal farm 
 workers and homeless people.  Federally prescribed procedures, 
 means of applying for and obtaining assistance, reporting and 
 verification requirements, and other similar provisions 
 specifically for migrant and seasonal farmworkers or homeless 
 people under the Food Stamp Act of 1977, as amended, continue to 
 be available to eligible migrant, seasonal farmworker, or 
 homeless families.  The commissioner shall comply with the 
 bilingual requirements of United States Code, title 7, section 
 2020(e)(1)(B). 

    Subd. 10. Repealed, 1991 c 292 art 5 s 82 

    HIST: 1989 c 282 art 5 s 11; 1991 c 292 art 5 s 17-20