1997 Minnesota Statutes

     256.034 Program simplification. 

    Subdivision 1.    Consolidation of types of assistance.  
 Under the Minnesota family investment plan, assistance 
 previously provided to families through the AFDC, food stamp, 
 and general assistance programs must be combined into a single 
 cash assistance program.  As authorized by Congress, families 
 receiving assistance through the Minnesota family investment 
 plan are automatically eligible for and entitled to medical 
 assistance under chapter 256B.  Federal, state, and local funds 
 that would otherwise be allocated for assistance to families 
 under the AFDC, food stamp, and general assistance programs must 
 be transferred to the Minnesota family investment plan.  The 
 provisions of the Minnesota family investment plan prevail over 
 any provisions of sections 245.771, 256.72 to 256.87, 256D.01 to 
 256D.21, or 393.07, subdivisions 10 and 10a, and any rules 
 implementing those sections with which they are irreconcilable.  
 The food stamp, general assistance, and work readiness programs 
 for single persons and couples who are not responsible for the 
 care of children are not replaced by the Minnesota family 
 investment plan.  Unless stated otherwise in statutes or rules 
 governing the Minnesota family investment plan, participants in 
 the Minnesota family investment plan shall be considered to be 
 recipients of aid under aid to families with dependent children, 
 family general assistance, and food stamps for the purposes of 
 statutes and rules affecting such recipients or allocations of 
 funding based on the assistance status of the recipients, and to 
 specifically be subject to the provisions of section 256.98.  

    Subd. 2.    Coupon option.  Families have the option to 
 receive a standardized amount of assistance as described in 
 Public Law Number 101-202, section 22(a)(3)(D), designated by 
 the commissioner, in the form of food coupons or vendor payments.

    Subd. 3.    Modification of eligibility tests.  (a) A 
 needy family is eligible and entitled to receive assistance 
 under the program if the family is assigned to a test group in 
 the evaluation as provided in section 256.031, subdivision 3, 
 paragraph (d), even if its children are not found to be deprived 
 of parental support or care by reason of death, continued 
 absence from the home, physical or mental incapacity of a 
 parent, or unemployment of a parent, provided the family's 
 income and resources do not exceed the eligibility requirements 
 in section 256.033.  In addition, a caregiver who is in the 
 assistance unit who is physically and mentally fit, who is 
 between the ages of 18 and 60 years, who is enrolled at least 
 half time in an institution of higher education, and whose 
 family income and resources do not exceed the eligibility 
 requirements in section 256.033, is eligible for assistance 
 under the Minnesota family investment plan if the family is 
 assigned to a test group in the evaluation as provided in 
 section 256.031, subdivision 3, paragraph (d), even if the 
 conditions for eligibility as prescribed under the federal Food 
 Stamp Act of 1977, as amended, are not met. 

    (b) An applicant for, or a person receiving, assistance 
 under the Minnesota family investment plan is considered to have 
 assigned to the public agency responsible for child support 
 enforcement at the time of application all rights to child 
 support, health care benefits coverage, and maintenance from any 
 other person the applicant may have in the applicant's own 
 behalf or on behalf of any other family member for whom 
 application is made under the Minnesota family investment plan.  
 The provisions of section 256.74, subdivision 5, govern the 
 assignment.  An applicant for, or a person receiving, assistance 
 under the Minnesota family investment plan shall cooperate with 
 the efforts of the county agency to collect child and spousal 
 support.  The county agency is entitled to any child support and 
 maintenance received by or on behalf of the person receiving 
 assistance or another member of the family for which the person 
 receiving assistance is responsible.  Failure by an applicant or 
 a person receiving assistance to cooperate with the efforts of 
 the county agency to collect child and spousal support without 
 good cause must be sanctioned according to section 256.035, 
 subdivision 3.  

    (c) An applicant for, or a person receiving, assistance 
 under the Minnesota family investment plan is not required to 
 comply with the employment and training requirements prescribed 
 under sections 256.736, subdivisions 3, 3a, and 14; and 256D.05, 
 subdivision 1; section 402(a)(19) of the Social Security Act; 
 the federal Food Stamp Act of 1977, as amended; Public Law 
 Number 100-485; or any other state or federal employment and 
 training program, unless and to the extent compliance is 
 specifically required in a family support agreement with the 
 county agency or its designee. 

    Subd. 4.    Simplification of budgeting procedures.  The 
 monthly amount of assistance provided by the Minnesota family 
 investment plan must be calculated by taking into account actual 
 income or circumstances that existed in a previous month and 
 other relevant information to predict income and circumstances 
 for the next month or months.  When a family has a significant 
 change in circumstances, the budgeting cycle must be interrupted 
 and the amount of assistance for the payment month must be based 
 on the county agency's best estimate of the family's income and 
 circumstances for that month.  Families may be required to 
 report their income monthly, but income may be averaged over a 
 period of more than one month.  

    Subd. 5.    Simplification of verification procedures.  
 Verification procedures must be reduced to the minimum that is 
 workable and consistent with the goals and requirements of the 
 Minnesota family investment plan as determined by the 
 commissioner. 

    Subd. 6.    Payment methods.  Minnesota family 
 investment plan grant payments may be issued in the form of 
 warrants immediately redeemable in cash, electronic benefits 
 transfer, or by direct deposit into the recipient's account in a 
 financial institution. 

    HIST: 1989 c 282 art 5 s 9; 1991 c 292 art 5 s 15; 1992 c 513 
 art 8 s 7; 1993 c 306 s 5; 1995 c 207 art 2 s 26; 1996 c 465 art 
 3 s 4