Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Office of the Revisor of Statutes

Chapter 256D

Section 256D.05

Topics

Recent History

256D.05 ELIGIBILITY FOR GENERAL ASSISTANCE.
    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 30 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 who resides in a shelter facility described in subdivision 3;
(5) 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;
(6) 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;
(7) 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;
(8) 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;
(9) a person who is determined by the county agency, according to permanent rules adopted
by the commissioner, to be learning disabled, provided that if a rehabilitation plan for the person
is developed or approved by the county agency, the person is following the plan;
(10) 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;
(11) 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;
(12) a person who lives more than four hours round-trip traveling time from any potential
suitable employment;
(13) 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;
(14) a person over age 18 whose primary language is not English and who is attending high
school at least half time; or
(15) 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.
(b) As a condition of eligibility under paragraph (a), clauses (1), (3), (5), (8), and (9), 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.
    Subd. 1a.[Repealed, 1983 c 312 art 8 s 17]
    Subd. 2. Use of federal funds. Effective March 31, 1998, notwithstanding any law to the
contrary, if a single adult or childless couple otherwise eligible for general assistance would, but
for state statutory restriction or limitation, be eligible for a federally aided assistance program
providing benefits equal to or greater than those of general assistance, the single adult or childless
couple shall be eligible for that federally aided program and ineligible for general assistance;
provided, however, that (a) nothing in this section shall be construed to extend eligibility for
federally aided programs to persons not otherwise eligible for general assistance; (b) this section
shall not be effective to the extent that federal law or regulation require new eligibility for federal
programs to persons not otherwise eligible for general assistance; and (c) nothing in this section
shall deny general assistance to a person otherwise eligible who is determined ineligible for a
substitute federally aided program.
    Subd. 3.[Repealed, 1999 c 216 art 6 s 26]
    Subd. 3a.[Repealed, 1999 c 216 art 6 s 26]
    Subd. 4. Consent to review records. No person shall be eligible for general assistance
medical care unless the person has authorized the commissioner of human services in writing to
examine all personal medical records developed while receiving general assistance for the purpose
of investigating whether or not a vendor has submitted a claim for reimbursement, a cost report or
a rate application which the vendor knows to be false in whole or in part, or in order to determine
whether or not the medical care provided was medically necessary. The vendor of medical care
shall receive notification from the commissioner at least 24 hours before the commissioner gains
access to such records. A vendor of medical care shall require presentation of this authorization
before the state agency can obtain access to such records unless the vendor already has received
written authorization. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, a vendor of medical care
shall not be subject to any civil or criminal liability for providing access to medical records to the
commissioner pursuant to this subdivision.
    Subd. 5. Transfers of property. The equity value of real and personal property transferred
without reasonable compensation within 12 months preceding the date of application for general
assistance must be included in determining the resources of an assistance unit in the same manner
as in the Minnesota family investment program under chapter 256J.
    Subd. 6. Assistance for persons without a verified residence. (a) For applicants or
recipients of general assistance or emergency general assistance who do not have a verified
residence address, the county agency may provide assistance using one or more of the following
methods:
(1) the county agency may provide assistance in the form of vouchers or vendor payments
and provide separate vouchers or vendor payments for food, shelter, and other needs;
(2) the county agency may divide the monthly assistance standard into weekly payments,
whether in cash or by voucher or vendor payment. Nothing in this clause prevents the county
agency from issuing voucher or vendor payments for emergency general assistance in an amount
less than the standards of assistance;
(3) the county agency may determine eligibility and provide assistance on a weekly basis.
Weekly assistance can be issued in cash or by voucher or vendor payment and can be determined
either on the basis of actual need or by prorating the monthly assistance standard; and
(4) for the purposes of clauses (2) and (3), the county agency may divide the monthly
assistance standard as follows: $50 per week for each of the first three weeks, and the remainder
for the fourth week.
(b) An individual may verify a residence address by providing a driver's license; a state
identification card; a statement by the landlord, apartment manager, or homeowner verifying
that the individual is residing at the address; or other written documentation approved by the
commissioner.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 256D.06, subdivision 1, if the county agency
elects to provide assistance on a weekly payment basis, the agency may not provide assistance
for a period during which no need is claimed by the individual unless the individual has good
cause for failing to claim need. The individual must be notified, each time weekly assistance is
provided, that subsequent weekly assistance will not be issued unless the individual claims need.
The advance notice required under section 256D.10 does not apply to weekly assistance that is
withheld because the individual failed to claim need without good cause.
(d) The county agency may not issue assistance on a weekly basis to an applicant or recipient
who has a professionally certified mental illness or developmental disability, or to an assistance
unit that includes minor children, unless requested by the assistance unit.
    Subd. 7. Ineligibility for general assistance. No single adult or childless couple shall be
eligible for general assistance during a period of disqualification because of sanctions.
    Subd. 8. Citizenship. (a) Effective July 1, 1997, citizenship requirements for applicants and
recipients under sections 256D.01 to 256D.03, subdivision 2, and 256D.04 to 256D.21 shall be
determined the same as under section 256J.11. The income and assets of sponsors of noncitizens
shall be deemed available to general assistance applicants and recipients according to the Personal
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Public Law 104-193, title IV,
sections 421 and 422, and subsequently set out in federal rules.
(b) As a condition of eligibility, each legal adult noncitizen in the assistance unit who has
resided in the country for four years or more and who is under 70 years of age must:
(1) be enrolled in a literacy class, English as a second language class, or a citizen class;
(2) be applying for admission to a literacy class, English as a second language class, and
is on a waiting list;
(3) be in the process of applying for a waiver from the United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services of the English language or civics requirements of the citizenship test;
(4) have submitted an application for citizenship to the United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services and is waiting for a testing date or a subsequent swearing in ceremony; or
(5) have been denied citizenship due to a failure to pass the test after two attempts or because
of an inability to understand the rights and responsibilities of becoming a United States citizen, as
documented by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services or the county.
If the county social service agency determines that a legal noncitizen subject to the
requirements of this subdivision will require more than one year of English language training,
then the requirements of clause (1) or (2) shall be imposed after the legal noncitizen has resided
in the country for three years. Individuals who reside in a facility licensed under chapter 144A,
144D, 245A, or 256I are exempt from the requirements of this section.
History: 1973 c 650 art 21 s 5; 1974 c 297 s 2; 1977 c 428 s 7; 1980 c 349 s 10; 1980 c 544
s 1; 1981 c 360 art 2 s 36,54; 1Sp1981 c 4 art 4 s 22,23; 1982 c 633 s 8,9; 1983 c 312 art 1 s 27;
1984 c 654 art 5 s 58; 1Sp1985 c 9 art 2 s 59; 1Sp1985 c 14 art 9 s 75; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 270
s 2; 1987 c 384 art 3 s 5; 1987 c 403 art 2 s 106; art 3 s 31; 1989 c 282 art 5 s 50,51; 1990 c
568 art 4 s 84; 1990 c 611 s 3; 1991 c 255 s 19; 1991 c 292 art 5 s 32-35; 1992 c 513 art 8 s
18; 1Sp1993 c 1 art 6 s 30; 1995 c 178 art 2 s 30; art 6 s 1,17; 1995 c 207 art 5 s 7; 1996 c 465
art 3 s 32; 1997 c 85 art 3 s 30-34; 1997 c 203 art 12 s 5,6; 1998 c 407 art 6 s 14; 1999 c 159 s
58-60; 2004 c 206 s 52; 2005 c 56 s 1; 2007 c 13 art 1 s 25

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes