Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) In
order to determine qualification for AFDC-F eligibility, a determination shall
first be made as to which parent is the principal earner in that family.
1. The "principal earner" or primary wage
earner is whichever parent earned the greater amount of income in the 24-month
period immediately preceding the month of application for AFDC-F. This
designation thereafter shall apply for each consecutive month for which the
family receives AFDC-F.
2. When
either parent can qualify as the principal earner because both parents earned
an identical amount of income in such 24-month period, the principal earner
shall be whichever parent earned the greater amount of income in the most
recent consecutive six-month period of such 24-month period.
3. If both parents earned an identical amount
of income in such six-month period, the CWA shall designate which parent shall
be the principal earner.
(b) AFDC-F segment eligibility for families
with both natural or adoptive parents in the home is based on deprivation of
parental support to the children in that family due to unemployment of the
parent who is designated the principal earner. Form PA-22, Employment Criteria
for AFDC-F families, is to be used by the CWA in determining eligibility for
AFDC-F. Form PA-22 may be reproduced by each CWA. After the initial
application, the CWA shall reexamine Form PA-22 whenever the circumstances
surrounding employment in a two-parent household change. To qualify for AFDC-F,
the following criteria shall be met.
1. The
principal earner has been unemployed for at least 30 days prior to the receipt
of public assistance;
i. Unemployed is
defined as:
(1) Not working at all;
(2) Working less than 100 hours a
month;
(3) Participating in work
which exceeds the 100 hour per month standard but is intermittent and the
excess hours are of a temporary nature, as evidenced by the fact that the
principal earner was under the 100 hours standard for the two prior months and
is expected to be under the standard during the next month; or
(4) Regardless of hours worked, the family
income is below the applicable cash assistance standard contained in this
chapter.
2.
The principal earner has not, without good cause, within such 30-day period
prior to the receipt of AFDC-related Medicaid, refused a bona fide offer of
employment or training for employment;
3. The principal earner has not refused to
apply for or accept unemployment compensation for which he or she qualifies;
i. An individual shall be deemed "qualified"
for unemployment compensation under the State's unemployment compensation law
if he or she would have been eligible to receive such benefits upon filing
application, or he or she performed work not covered by such law which, if it
had been covered, would (together with any covered work he or she performed)
have made him or her eligible to receive such benefits upon filing
application;
ii. The applicant
shall also be informed that refusal to apply for or accept unemployment
compensation for which he or she qualifies will render the principal earner and
the second ineligible for Medicaid; and
4. The principal earner has six or more
quarters of work (as described in (b)4i below), no more than four of which may
be quarters of work over his or her lifetime as defined in (b)4i(2) below,
within any 13 calendar-quarter period ending within one year prior to the
application for such aid; or, within such one-year period, received
unemployment compensation under an unemployment compensation law of a State or
of the United States; or was qualified (see (b)3i above) for such compensation
under the State's unemployment compensation law.
i. A "quarter of work" with respect to any
individual means a period (of three consecutive calendar months ending on March
31, June 30, September 30, or December 31) in which:
(1) The individual received earned income of
not less than $ 50.00;
(2) The
individual attended full-time, an elementary school, a secondary school, or a
vocational or technical training course that is designed to prepare the
individual for gainful employment, or in which such individual participated in
an education or training program established under the Job Training Partnership
Act, Public Law 97-300; or
(3) The
individual participated in the Community Work Experience Program or WIN (Work
Incentive Program) prior to October, 1990, or the Job Opportunities and Basic
Skills Training Program (JOBS/REACH or FDP in New Jersey).
(c) AFDC-F segment
eligibility for families with both natural or adoptive parents in the home when
the principal earner does not satisfy the Federal work criteria delineated in
(b) above is based on the deprivation of parental support to the children in
that family. The following additional sanctions shall apply in AFDC-F segment
cases if financial eligibility is the result of voluntary cessation of
employment without good cause.
1. If AFDC-F
segment financial eligibility is the result of voluntary cessation of
employment without good cause including cessation of employment due to
inappropriate work habits by either of the applicant parents, regardless of
reason, within 90 days prior to the date of application for AFDC-related
Medicaid, neither of the parents shall be included in the eligible family. This
penalty shall extend for a period of 90 days beginning with the date of the
termination of employment. Eligibility shall be considered only for the
children in such instances.
i. At the end of
the 90-day penalty period, the parents may be granted assistance under AFDC-F
as long as other non-financial eligibility requirements are satisfied and
financial need exists.
2. If an employed primary wage earner
(principal wage earner) voluntarily ceases employment for whatever reason
without good cause both parents' needs shall be deleted from the eligible
family under AFDC-F.
