1997 Minnesota Statutes

     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).