2003 Minnesota Statutes

     256D.06 Amount of assistance. 

    Subdivision 1.    Eligibility; amount of assistance.  
 General assistance shall be granted in an amount that when added 
 to the nonexempt income actually available to the assistance 
 unit, the total amount equals the applicable standard of 
 assistance for general assistance.  In determining eligibility 
 for and the amount of assistance for an individual or married 
 couple, the county agency shall disregard the first $50 of 
 earned income per month.  

    Subd. 1a. Repealed, 1983 c 312 art 8 s 17 

    Subd. 1b.    Earned income savings account.  In addition 
 to the $50 disregard required under subdivision 1, the county 
 agency shall disregard an additional earned income up to a 
 maximum of $150 per month for:  (1) persons residing in 
 facilities licensed under Minnesota Rules, parts 9520.0500 to 
 9520.0690 and 9530.2500 to 9530.4000, and for whom discharge and 
 work are part of a treatment plan; (2) persons living in 
 supervised apartments with services funded under Minnesota 
 Rules, parts 9535.0100 to 9535.1600, and for whom discharge and 
 work are part of a treatment plan; and (3) persons residing in 
 group residential housing, as that term is defined in section 
 256I.03, subdivision 3, for whom the county agency has approved 
 a discharge plan which includes work.  The additional amount 
 disregarded must be placed in a separate savings account by the 
 eligible individual, to be used upon discharge from the 
 residential facility into the community.  For individuals 
 residing in a chemical dependency program licensed under 
 Minnesota Rules, part 9530.4100, subpart 22, item D, withdrawals 
 from the savings account require the signature of the individual 
 and for those individuals with an authorized representative 
 payee, the signature of the payee.  A maximum of $1,000, 
 including interest, of the money in the savings account must be 
 excluded from the resource limits established by section 
 256D.08, subdivision 1, clause (1).  Amounts in that account in 
 excess of $1,000 must be applied to the resident's cost of 
 care.  If excluded money is removed from the savings account by 
 the eligible individual at any time before the individual is 
 discharged from the facility into the community, the money is 
 income to the individual in the month of receipt and a resource 
 in subsequent months.  If an eligible individual moves from a 
 community facility to an inpatient hospital setting, the 
 separate savings account is an excluded asset for up to 18 
 months.  During that time, amounts that accumulate in excess of 
 the $1,000 savings limit must be applied to the patient's cost 
 of care.  If the patient continues to be hospitalized at the 
 conclusion of the 18-month period, the entire account must be 
 applied to the patient's cost of care. 

    Subd. 1c. Repealed, 1990 c 568 art 4 s 85 

    Subd. 2.    Emergency need.  Notwithstanding the 
 provisions of subdivision 1, a grant of emergency general 
 assistance shall, to the extent funds are available, be made to 
 an eligible single adult, married couple, or family for an 
 emergency need, as defined in rules promulgated by the 
 commissioner, where the recipient requests temporary assistance 
 not exceeding 30 days if an emergency situation appears to exist 
 and the individual or family is ineligible for MFIP or DWP or is 
 not a participant of MFIP or DWP.  If an applicant or recipient 
 relates facts to the county agency which may be sufficient to 
 constitute an emergency situation, the county agency shall, to 
 the extent funds are available, advise the person of the 
 procedure for applying for assistance according to this 
 subdivision.  An emergency general assistance grant is available 
 to a recipient not more than once in any 12-month period.  
 Funding for an emergency general assistance program is limited 
 to the appropriation.  Each fiscal year, the commissioner shall 
 allocate to counties the money appropriated for emergency 
 general assistance grants based on each county agency's average 
 share of state's emergency general expenditures for the 
 immediate past three fiscal years as determined by the 
 commissioner, and may reallocate any unspent amounts to other 
 counties.  Any emergency general assistance expenditures by a 
 county above the amount of the commissioner's allocation to the 
 county must be made from county funds. 

    Subd. 3. Repealed, 1989 c 282 art 5 s 133; 1Sp1989 c 1 
 art 16 s 20 

    Subd. 4. Repealed, 1989 c 282 art 5 s 133; 1Sp1989 c 1 
 art 16 s 20 

    Subd. 5.    Eligibility; requirements.  Any applicant, 
 otherwise eligible for general assistance and possibly eligible 
 for maintenance benefits from any other source shall (a) make 
 application for those benefits within 30 days of the general 
 assistance application; and (b) execute an interim assistance 
 authorization agreement on a form as directed by the 
 commissioner.  The commissioner shall review a denial of an 
 application for other maintenance benefits and may require a 
 recipient of general assistance to file an appeal of the denial 
 if appropriate.  If found eligible for benefits from other 
 sources, and a payment received from another source relates to 
 the period during which general assistance was also being 
 received, the recipient shall be required to reimburse the 
 county agency for the interim assistance paid.  Reimbursement 
 shall not exceed the amount of general assistance paid during 
 the time period to which the other maintenance benefits apply 
 and shall not exceed the state standard applicable to that time 
 period.  The commissioner shall adopt rules authorizing county 
 agencies or other client representatives to retain from the 
 amount recovered under an interim assistance agreement 25 
 percent plus actual reasonable fees, costs, and disbursements of 
 appeals and litigation, of providing special assistance to the 
 recipient in processing the recipient's claim for maintenance 
 benefits from another source.  The money retained under this 
 section shall be from the state share of the recovery.  The 
 commissioner or the county agency may contract with qualified 
 persons to provide the special assistance.  The rules adopted by 
 the commissioner shall include the methods by which county 
 agencies shall identify, refer, and assist recipients who may be 
 eligible for benefits under federal programs for the disabled.  
 This subdivision does not require repayment of per diem payments 
 made to shelters for battered women pursuant to section 256D.05, 
 subdivision 3. 

    Subd. 6. Repealed, 1989 c 282 art 5 s 133; 1Sp1989 c 1 
 art 16 s 20 

    Subd. 7.    SSI conversions and back claims.  (a)    
 SSI conversions.  The commissioner of human services shall 
 contract with agencies or organizations capable of ensuring that 
 clients who are presently receiving assistance under sections 
 256D.01 to 256D.21, and who may be eligible for benefits under 
 the federal Supplemental Security Income program, apply and, 
 when eligible, are converted to the federal income assistance 
 program and made eligible for health care benefits under the 
 medical assistance program.  The commissioner shall ensure that 
 money owing to the state under interim assistance agreements is 
 collected.  

    (b)    Back claims for federal health care benefits.  
 The commissioner shall also directly or through contract 
 implement procedures for collecting federal Medicare and medical 
 assistance funds for which clients converted to SSI are 
 retroactively eligible. 

    (c)    Additional requirements.  The commissioner shall 
 begin contracting with agencies to ensure implementation of this 
 section within 14 days after April 29, 1992.  County contracts 
 with providers for residential services shall include the 
 requirement that providers screen residents who may be eligible 
 for federal benefits and provide that information to the local 
 agency.  The commissioner shall modify the MAXIS computer system 
 to provide information on clients who have been on general 
 assistance for two years or longer.  The list of clients shall 
 be provided to local services for screening under this section. 

    (d)    Report.  The commissioner shall report to the 
 legislature by January 15, 1993, on the implementation of this 
 section.  The report shall contain information on the following: 

    (1) the number of clients converted from general assistance 
 to SSI, by county; 

    (2) information on the organizations involved; 

    (3) the amount of money collected through interim 
 assistance agreements; 

    (4) the amount of money collected in federal Medicare or 
 Medicaid funds; 

    (5) problems encountered in processing conversions and back 
 claims; and 

    (6) recommended changes to enhance recoveries and maximize 
 the receipt of federal money in the most efficient way possible. 

    Subd. 8.    Recovery of ATM errors.  For recipients 
 receiving benefits via electronic benefit transfer, if the 
 recipient is overpaid as a result of an automated teller machine 
 (ATM) dispensing funds in error to the recipient, the agency may 
 recover the ATM error by immediately withdrawing funds from the 
 recipient's electronic benefit transfer account, up to the 
 amount of the error. 

    HIST: 1973 c 650 art 21 s 6; 1977 c 301 s 4; 1980 c 536 s 
 12,13; 1980 c 614 s 131; 1981 c 360 art 2 s 37,38; 1983 c 312 
 art 8 s 7; 1984 c 640 s 32; 1984 c 641 s 25; 1984 c 654 art 5 s 
 31; 1985 c 252 s 25; 1987 c 403 art 3 s 38-40; 1988 c 689 art 2 
 s 189-191; 1990 c 568 art 4 s 32,84; 1991 c 292 art 4 s 70; 1992 
 c 406 s 1; 1992 c 513 art 8 s 21,22; 1994 c 465 art 1 s 30; 1995 
 c 233 art 2 s 56; 1996 c 465 art 3 s 36; 1997 c 85 art 3 s 43; 
 1999 c 245 art 6 s 4; 1Sp2001 c 9 art 10 s 66; 1Sp2003 c 14 art 
 1 s 3