Minnesota Administrative Rules
Agency 120 - Commerce Department
Chapter 8775 - TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACCESS MINNESOTA
Part 8775.0300 - ELIGIBILITY FOR TAM SERVICES

Universal Citation: MN Rules 8775.0300

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 27, December 30, 2024

Subpart 1. Information provided.

On request, the division shall offer to a person an application form developed by the division and a brochure that describes the TAM eligibility requirements and application process.

Subp. 2. Application process.

The applicant shall complete the application form and return it to the division's regional service center for people who are deaf and hard-of-hearing. An application may be made by the applicant, the applicant's spouse, or a person authorized by the applicant to act in the applicant's behalf. All documentation must be provided within 30 days of the first interview with the division. The applicant shall provide medical documentation of hearing loss or communication disability on request.

Subp. 3. Documenting, verifying, and reviewing eligibility.

The division shall verify the applicant's household income, age, and access to telephone service, and that the applicant is a person with a communication disability. If the division becomes aware that a condition of eligibility has changed, the division may redetermine eligibility:

A. Within 30 days, an applicant shall document income or authorize the division to verify the income. The division shall help an applicant or recipient obtain documents that the applicant does not possess and cannot obtain. Information previously verified and retained by the division need not be verified again unless the information no longer applies to current circumstances.

B. The division shall not request information about an applicant for or recipient of TAM services that is not of public record from a source other than within the division without the applicant's or recipient's previous written consent. The division may request information about an applicant or recipient that is not of public record from the telephone companies by obtaining the applicant's or recipient's previous written consent on an application or redetermination form. The division shall not provide third parties with access to information about an applicant's eligibility status or other case record information without the previous written consent of that applicant or recipient, except when access to specific case information is granted to agencies designated by the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, Minnesota Statutes, chapter 13. Information designated as confidential by the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act may only be made available to agencies granted access under that law and must not be provided to an applicant, recipient, or third party.

C. The division shall inform the recipient of the recipient's responsibility to report permanent changes in circumstances that affect eligibility within ten days of each change.

Subp. 4. Eligibility criteria.

To be eligible for the TAM program, a person must:

A. be at least five years of age;

B. have a communication disability;

C. be a resident of Minnesota;

D. be a resident in a household at or below the applicable median income in the state, except that a deafblind person applying for a brailling device for use with the telephone system may reside in a household that has a median income no more than 150 percent of the applicable median household income in the state; and

E. have or have applied for telephone service and been assigned a telephone number. A person who at the time of application does not have telephone service, but meets all other eligibility requirements, will be declared "conditionally eligible" and, in order to be declared "eligible," must apply for telephone service and be assigned a telephone number.

Subp. 5. Persons not eligible.

Persons who are residents of a residential or treatment facility that directly or indirectly receives federal funding and is required to be fully accessible to all residents by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, United States Code, title 29, section 774, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, United States Code, title 42, section 12101, et seq., and are eligible for and can obtain communication devices through federal provisions are not eligible to receive TAM services under this chapter.

Subp. 6. Notification of eligibility.

Within 30 days of the receipt of the application and the necessary documentation the division shall notify the applicant in writing whether the applicant is found eligible and, if the applicant is denied, the reasons for denial.

Subp. 7. Determination of appropriate communication device.

The division shall determine the appropriate communication device for a recipient.

Statutory Authority: MS s 237.51

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