New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 10 - HUMAN SERVICES
Chapter 90 - WORK FIRST NEW JERSEY PROGRAM
Subchapter 2 - NON-FINANCIAL ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Section 10:90-2.7 - Composition of the WFNJ/TANF and WFNJ/GA eligible assistance unit
Universal Citation: NJ Admin Code 10:90-2.7
Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) Composition of the eligible WFNJ/TANF assistance unit is as follows:
1. An eligible assistance
unit under WFNJ/TANF shall be comprised of those individuals who are living together and functioning as one
economic unit and whose relationship is based upon a blood and/or legal relationship. (A legal relationship
is one that is created through marriage, adoption, civil union or legal guardianship procedures.) The
eligible WFNJ/TANF assistance unit includes the parent(s), parent person(s) or legal guardian (see (a)3
below) and his or her related dependent children up to the age of 18, or up to the age of 19 if they are
full-time students in a secondary school, or in the equivalent level of vocational or technical training, and
are reasonably expected to complete the program before reaching age 19. Children up to the age of 21 are also
eligible for WFNJ/TANF if they are enrolled in a special education program.
i. When any school or course of training involves attendance during an
academic year, a child shall be considered eligible during the summer months when he or she has been accepted
for admission in the fall. He or she shall be considered eligible during regular vacation periods unless the
educational program has been completed or unless there is verification that the child does not attend or is
not acceptable to re-enter the program.
ii. When a parent and
another adult relative live in the same household and both are providing care and control of the child(ren),
it shall be presumed that the parent is exercising primary responsibility for the care and control of the
child(ren) and, therefore, the other adult relative shall not be included in the TANF assistance unit.
(1) In cases where it is determined by the WFNJ agency worker that the
parent is not providing the care and control of the child, but instead the adult relative is considered the
caretaker relative, then the parent, the caretaker relative and the child shall be included in the eligible
TANF unit.
iii. An SSI recipient parent with a needy
child may be eligible to receive TANF assistance on behalf of that child. A needy parent of an SSI recipient
child may be eligible to receive TANF assistance for himself or herself.
iv. When an RSDI recipient child joins a TANF assistance unit headed by an
adult other than his or her natural or adoptive parent and the child's income and/or child support would make
the TANF assistance unit financially ineligible, that child shall be excluded from the TANF assistance
unit.
v. An ineligible alien parent with an eligible child may be
eligible to receive TANF assistance on behalf of that child. An eligible parent with an ineligible child may
be eligible to receive TANF assistance for himself or herself.
2. A recipient child cannot be included in the WFNJ/TANF cash payment after
the month in which he or she attains the age when he or she is no longer eligible as a child. Furthermore, an
individual who attains such age on the first day of the month is not considered to be of eligible age during
that month and is not eligible for inclusion in the grant for that month. Additionally, the assistance unit
ceases to be eligible for WFNJ/TANF when the youngest assistance unit member is no longer of eligible age.
However, the individual adult(s) may apply for assistance under the WFNJ/GA component.
3. The term "parent" shall refer to natural and/or adoptive parent(s),
parent-person(s) or legal guardian(s). By law, certain relatives shall be recognized as taking the place of a
parent.
i. The term "parent-person" refers to any person related by blood,
marriage, civil union, adoption or legal guardianship.
(1) An applicant who
is a parent-person may apply for WFNJ/TANF benefits for a child(ren) and him or herself as a needy
parent-person.
(2) Non-needy caretakers and/or parent persons
shall also be eligible to apply for WFNJ/TANF benefits for the children in their care.
ii. Spouses of any persons named in the above groups may be considered
"parent-persons" even though the marriage has been terminated by death or divorce.
iii. Under New Jersey law, relatives of persons who adopt children become
legally related to such adopted children to the same extent that they are related to natural children of the
adopting parent.
iv. A legal guardian, according to
9:3-38, refers to a person who has "the right to exercise
continuing control over the person or property or both of a child which includes any specific right of
control over an aspect of the child's upbringing, pursuant to a court order."
4. Any child for whom a payment or subsidy is received from CP&P,
including, but not limited to, a resource family care payment, guardianship subsidy, or adoption subsidy,
shall not be included in the eligible assistance unit. Such child's parent(s) may be eligible to receive cash
assistance for himself or herself and all other eligible children in the household.
5. Although a WFNJ cash assistance benefit shall not be granted for any
child receiving a Kinship Legal Guardianship subsidy through CP&P or DFD, a kinship caregiver who has
obtained subsidy payments as a kinship legal guardian, either through CP&P or DFD, may be eligible to
receive TANF assistance for himself or herself and all other eligible children in the household.
(b) Composition of the eligible WFNJ/GA assistance unit is as follows:
1. The WFNJ/GA assistance unit shall be comprised of one or more
persons. In most cases, it will consist of a single individual, 18 years of age or over, or a couple without
dependent children. In room and board or residential treatment situations, each person is an eligible
assistance unit of one, with the exception of situations involving couples without dependent children who are
considered as an eligible unit of two. In all other situations, the eligible assistance unit shall consist
of:
i. The applicant/recipient;
ii. The spouse of the applicant/recipient who lives in the home unless the
spouse is receiving SSI or public assistance through another program; or
iii. The person with whom the applicant/recipient lives as a couple (that
is, two individuals who live together, function as one economic unit, and present themselves as a couple to
the WFNJ agency), unless such person is receiving SSI or public assistance through the WFNJ/TANF program
component.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. New Jersey may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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