Hawaii Administrative Rules
Title 17 - DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES
Department of Human Services
Chapter 656.1 - TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES (TANF)
Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 17-656.1-2 - Definitions
For the purpose of this chapter:
"Adult" means a person age eighteen or over who is not a dependent child, or if under age eighteen is a minor head-of-household living with the TANF child.
"Aid to families with dependent children" or "AFDC" means the financial assistance and non-assistance programs administered by the DHS-BESSD under 42 U.S.C. §601 - 619, and section 346-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes prior to 1997.
"Assistance unit" means persons whose needs, income, and assets are considered in determining eligibility for financial assistance and the amount of assistance.
"Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division" or "BESSD" means the benefit, employment and support services division of the department.
"Caretaker relative" means the designated relative who provides care and supervision to dependent children.
"Current medical report" means the department's medical form completed by a licensed physician or a licensed psychologist not more than three months prior to the department's request.
"Department" or "DHS" means the department of human services, State of Hawaii.
"Domestic violence advocate" means an individual, organization, or agency who is currently working with individuals, or has worked with individuals in the past, regarding an individual's domestic violence situation.
"Domestic violence agency" means an agency, organization, or individual who routinely assists victims of domestic violence.
"Domestic violence victim" means an individual who has been battered or otherwise subjected to extreme cruelty. Acts which constitute domestic violence include but are not limited to the following:
(1) Physical acts that resulted in, or threatened to result in, physical injury;
(2) Sexual abuse;
(3) Sexual activity involving a dependent child;
(4) Nonconsensual sexual acts;
(5) Threats of, attempts at, physical or sexual abuse;
(6) Mental or emotional abuse;
(7) Medical care deprivation or neglect; or
(8) Stalking.
"Equivalent level of vocational or technical training" means enrollment in a vocational or technical training program which is equivalent to the level of secondary school and is approved by the state department of education.
"Family member" means a member of the assistance unit, to include members who have been excluded due to receipt of Supplemental Security Income, and any person residing in the home for whom the parent caretaker would meet the definition of specified relative regardless of the age of the person receiving care.
"First-to-Work" or "FTW" means the education, training, employment, and support services programs administered by the department.
"Full-time employment" means gainful employment of thirty hours or more per week.
"Full-time student" means an individual enrolled in a public or private elementary or secondary school or in a program of an equivalent level of vocational or technical training.
"Gainful employment" means employment available at the time an individual wants to become employed and pays at least minimum wage.
"Hanai" means a child who is taken permanently to be reared, educated, and loved by someone other than the child's natural parents at the time of the child's birth or in early childhood. The child is given outright, and the natural parents renounce all claims to the child.
"Household" means all members of the assistance unit and excluded standard filing unit members as defined in sections 17-647-12, 17-656.1-15, 17-656.1-16, and 17-656.1-17.
"Independent minor parent" means the specified relative of a child, who is under eighteen years of age and who has applied or is receiving assistance as a head of household or as a spouse or common-law spouse of the head of household.
"Individual" means applicant for or recipient of assistance.
"Legal parent" means a person who can establish a parent and child relationship by providing proof of:
(1) Having given birth to a child;
(2) Marriage to the natural mother when the child was born or within three hundred days after the marriage was terminated;
(3) Adoption;
(4) Adjudication; or
(5) Self-declaration as specified in section 17-656.1-8.
"Licensed physician" means a doctor of medicine authorized to practice medicine and surgery under chapter 453, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
"Licensed psychologist" means a person who engages in the practice of psychology and is licensed under chapter 465, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
"Medical board" means a panel of licensed physicians or licensed psychologists who are appointed by the director and paid by the department to make determinations, certify physical or mental impairments, and specify treatment plans.
"Medical professional" means an individual, such as a physician, nurse midwife, pediatric nurse practitioner, or a family nurse practitioner, who is authorized by state law to make pregnancy determinations with an estimated date of delivery.
"Non-needy" means a person who receives assistance as a caretaker relative for a dependent child, but that person does not request to be included in the assistance unit, nor is that person required to be included in the assistance unit as specified in section 17-647-12.
"Non-recipient parent" means a standard filing unit adult as defined in section 17-647-12, who is excluded under section 17-656.1-17.
"Non-work eligible household" means a household in which all the adult members are non-work eligible individuals.
"Non-work eligible individual" or "NWEI" means an adult receiving assistance under TANF, or a non-recipient parent, who is:
(1) A parent of a household member who also provides care for a disabled family member living in the home, provided that the need for such care is supported by medical documentation. Only one parent in a household may claim this status;
(2) A single custodial parent personally providing care for the parent's child under six months of age for a lifetime limit of twelve months, if the parent caring for the child wishes to claim NWEI status;
(3) A non-needy caretaker; or
(4) A recipient of Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance as defined in 42 U.S.C. §§1381 - 1383.
"Other work eligible household" means a household in which there is no work eligible individual and at least one adult member is an other work eligible individual.
"Other work eligible individual" or "OWEI" means an adult receiving assistance under TANF, or a non-recipient parent, who is:
(1) Unable to engage in full-time employment as defined by the work participation requirements of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §607, at a job for which he or she is equipped by education, training, or experience, for a period of more than thirty days from the onset of an illness, incapacity, or disability due to a physical or mental impairment or substance abuse, as determined by a licensed physician or psychologist;
(2) A domestic violence victim who meets the criteria established in subsection 17-656.1-20(a) and (b);
(3) Any other adult in an assistance unit that contains a domestic violence victim who meets the criteria established in section 17-656.1-20(a) and (b); or
(4) An adult sixty-five years of age or older. "Primary adult" means the adult with the greatest number of time eligible months.
"Primary residence" means the single residence designated as the child's home.
"Temporarily absent" means the child or caretaker relative is not present in the home for a period not to exceed sixty days, or for a household receiving supportive services through a plan approved by the department, not to exceed one hundred and eighty days, provided that from the date of departure there was a planned date of return.
"Temporary Assistance for Needy Families" or "TANF" means the financial assistance and non-assistance programs administered by the DHS-BESSD under 42 U.S.C. §601 - 619 and section 346-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
"Time eligible month" means a month a work eligible household received TANF benefits.
"Up-front universal engagement" or "UFUE" means compliance with participation requirements as specified in chapter 17-794.1 as a condition of eligibility for TANF.
"Work eligible household" means a household in which at least one member is a work eligible individual.
"Work eligible individual" or "WEI" means an adult receiving assistance under TANF, or a non-recipient parent, who is not an NWEI or an OWEI.
