New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 10 - HUMAN SERVICES
Chapter 90 - WORK FIRST NEW JERSEY PROGRAM
Subchapter 3 - FINANCIAL ELIGIBILITY-INCOME, RESOURCES, BENEFITS
Section 10:90-3.8 - Computing the WFNJ TANF/GA monthly cash benefit using disregards for earned and unearned income
Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) An earned income disregard shall not be applied in the initial financial eligibility determination for applicants who are employed. If financial eligibility exists, the appropriate disregard as set forth in (b) below shall be applied in computing the monthly cash assistance benefit thereafter.
(b) In computing the cash assistance benefit for WFNJ recipients who are employed an average of 20 hours or more per week, 100 percent of the gross earned income shall be disregarded for the first full month in which the earned income would be counted. After the 100 percent disregard for the first month of employment, if the recipient is employed for an average of 20 hours or more a week, 75 percent of the gross earned income shall be disregarded for six consecutive months, and 50 percent of the gross earned income shall be disregarded for each continuous month of employment thereafter. If the recipient is employed less than an average of 20 hours a week, after the 100 percent disregard for the first month of employment, 50 percent of the gross earned income shall be disregarded for each continuous month of employment thereafter. The appropriate disregard shall be applied to the earned income of each person in the assistance unit.
(c) In computing the cash assistance benefit for recipients who lose their employment through no fault of their own and subsequently become reemployed, the 100 percent disregard and the 75-percent disregard may be applied again only once every 12 months; otherwise, the 50 percent disregard shall be applied for each continuous month of employment.
(d) When a member of the eligible assistance unit receives a lump sum payment for services rendered over a period of more than a month, any disregard of earned income is to be computed for each month in which such income was earned.
(e) Income shall be considered available when with the exception of income from self employment, the income becomes payable but is not received by the individual due to his or her preference to voluntarily defer receipt of the income.
(f) In situations where a WFNJ applicant's or recipient's State or Federal benefit such as RSDI has been reduced due to an overpayment, the actual amount received from such entitled State or Federal benefit shall be counted when determining the cash assistance benefit.
(g) If gross income from employment is reduced due to garnishment of wages for a loan, lien or repayment of other outstanding debts other than child or spousal support, gross earned income shall be countable.
(h) An eligible assistance unit in receipt of child support income is eligible for a disregard of up to $ 100.00 per month provided that the total amount of child support received for that month is less than the monthly WFNJ grant amount. After an assistance unit has passed the initial eligibility test indicated in 10:90-3.1(b) and is verified as being in receipt of child support, the following disregards shall apply:
(i) When an individual is not included in the eligible assistance unit because of a sanction for failure to or refusal to comply with a WFNJ program requirement or is disqualified for an intentional program violation, and such individual has earned income, the gross amount of earned income shall be considered available, without application of the earned income disregards, to the eligible assistance unit (see 10:90-3.12) .
(j) In the case of an overpayment caused by the recipient's failure, without good cause, to report earned income on a timely basis, the amount of the overpayment shall be calculated without application of the earned income disregards (see 10:90-3.21) .