Current through Register Vol. 6, March 22, 2024
(1) Except as provided in (2)(e), an
application for TANF Cash Assistance must be made on behalf of a minor child as
defined in ARM
37.78.103.
(2) Subject to the restrictions set forth in
ARM 37.78.220 and in (3), TANF Cash
Assistance may be granted to the following classes of persons if they meet all
other eligibility requirements:
(a) minor
children as defined in ARM 37.78.103;
(b) specified caretaker relatives, as defined
in ARM 37.78.103;
(c) stepparents
of minor children who live with the child and with the child's natural or
adoptive parent;
(d) minor children
as defined in ARM
37.78.103 who live in the home of
a minor child and who are the child's siblings by blood, marriage, or adoption,
including half brothers and half sisters and stepsiblings;
(e) pregnant women who have no other eligible
children living with them, provided that they shall be eligible for cash
assistance payments beginning the third month prior to the month in which the
child is expected to be born.
(3) The following are not eligible for TANF
Cash Assistance:
(a) persons receiving
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits under Title XVI of the federal
Social Security Act;
(b) all
members of the specified caretaker relative's filing unit when a specified
caretaker relative fails or refuses without good cause to comply with the
requirements of ARM
37.78.215 regarding the assignment
of child and medical support rights and cooperation in establishing paternity
and obtaining child and medical support;
(c) a specified caretaker relative who fails
to report the absence of a child, lasting more than 90 consecutive days as
specified in ARM
37.78.207 by the end of the
five-day period which begins with the date on which it becomes clear to the
caretaker relative that the child will be absent for more than 90 consecutive
days;
(d) teenage parents who are
not living with their parent or parents, legal guardian, or other adult
relative who would qualify to be a guardian of a minor child under Title 72,
chapter 5, MCA, unless the teenage parent has been authorized to live in an
alternative setting by the local office of public assistance living arrangement
review committee because:
(i) the teenage
parent has no parent, legal guardian, or other adult relative who would qualify
to serve as a guardian who will allow the teenage parent to live in their home;
or
(ii) the teenage parent is
living independently because:
(A) physical,
verbal, or emotional abuse or domestic violence exists in the home of any adult
relative or guardian with whom the teenage parent could otherwise
live;
(B) alcohol or drug abuse
exists in the home of any adult relative or guardian with whom the teenage
parent could otherwise live;
(C)
any adult relatives with whom the teenage parent could otherwise live do not
live in Montana;
(D) any adult
relative with whom the teenage parent could otherwise live is mentally ill;
or
(E) it would be dangerous to the
teenage parent's physical or emotional well being for any other reason to live
with any adult relatives with whom the teenage parent could otherwise
live.
(e)
persons who are in violation of a condition of the individual's probation or
parole imposed under state or federal law and persons fleeing to avoid being
prosecuted for a felony or fleeing to avoid custody or confinement after
conviction of a felony;
(i) a person is an
ineligible fleeing felon if the crime involved is a felony in the jurisdiction
where the crime occurred.
(f) persons who have intentionally
misrepresented their place of residence in order to obtain TANF, Medicaid, or
food stamps in two or more states simultaneously are ineligible for a period of
ten years;
(g) all members of the
assistance unit which includes an individual who was convicted after August 22,
1996, of any offense which is classified as a felony in the jurisdiction where
the offense occurred and which has as an element the possession, use, or
distribution of a controlled substance as defined in section 102(6) of the
federal Controlled Substance Act,
21
USC 802 (6) who is not in compliance with the
conditions of supervision, whose sentence associated with the felony conviction
has not been discharged or the individual is not actively participating in
treatment, if required;
(h) all
members of the assistance unit which includes an adult who has received
assistance for 60 months or more, as prescribed in ARM
37.78.201;
(i) all members of the assistance unit which
includes a specified caretaker relative who fails or refuses to comply with
third party liability;
(j) all
members of the assistance unit which includes a specified caretaker relative or
minor child who fails or refuses to comply without good cause with eligibility
requirements including providing information and verification needed to
determine eligibility;
(i) refusal may occur
verbally, in writing, or by not responding in any manner;
(k) all members of the assistance unit if any
member of the assistance unit who is required by ARM
37.78.806 to participate in
allowable work activities as defined in ARM
37.78.103 and
37.78.807 fails or refuses without
good cause to negotiate and sign a Family Investment Agreement/WoRC
Employability Plan (FIA/EP);
(l)
all required members of the filing unit, or individuals who would have been a
required member of the filing unit at the time of sanction, which includes an
individual who is sanctioned for noncompliance in allowable work activities as
defined in ARM
37.78.103 and
37.78.807 negotiated in the Family
Investment Agreement/WoRC Employability Plan (FIA/EP) or sanctioned for failure
to accept and maintain employment without good cause, if the sanction results
in an ineligibility period as defined in ARM
37.78.506, with the following
exceptions:
(i) minor children who are
removed from the household by Child and Family Services and who are determined
eligible for child only TANF in another household; or
(ii) minor children who are determined
eligible for child only TANF in another household.
(m) an individual who is serving an
intentional program violation as outlined in ARM
37.78.505;
(n) an individual who is incarcerated and
does not meet the temporary absence criteria as outlined in ARM 37.78.207;
and
(o) all required members of the
filing unit if the filing unit includes an individual who has been sanctioned
twice and the sanctioned individual has not completed an intensive case
management meeting within the 30 day application time period.
(4) An application for
nonfinancial assistance must be made on behalf of a child under the age of
18.
(5) Subject to the restrictions
set forth in (6), nonfinancial assistance may be granted to the following
classes of persons if they meet all other eligibility requirements for
nonfinancial assistance:
(a) children under
the age of 18 for whom application is made;
(b) specified caretaker relatives, as defined
in ARM 37.78.103, of children described in (5)(a);
(c) stepparents of children under the age of
18 who live with the child for whom application is made and with the child's
natural or adoptive parent;
(d)
siblings, by blood, marriage, or adoption, who are under the age of 18, half
brothers and half sisters and stepsiblings of a child, in (5)(a).
(6) The following are not eligible
for nonfinancial assistance:
(a) all members
of the assistance unit which includes a specified caretaker relative or minor
child who fails or refuses to comply, without good cause, with eligibility
requirements including providing information and verification needed to
determine eligibility;
(i) refusal may occur
verbally, in writing, or by not responding in any manner.
53-2-201,
53-4-212,
MCA; IMP,
53-2-201,
53-4-211,
53-4-231,
MCA;