New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 8 - SOCIAL SERVICES
Chapter 106 - STATE FUNDED ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Part 100 - RECIPIENT POLICIES - DEFINITIONS AND ACRONYMS
Section 8.106.100.7 - DEFINITIONS
Universal Citation: 8 NM Admin Code 8.106.100.7
Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
A. Definitions beginning with "A":
(1)
Adult residential shelter care home
(ARSCH): means a shelter care home for adults that is licensed by the
department of health.
(2)
Alien: means an individual who is not a United States
citizen.
(3)
Application: means a written request for assistance, on the
appropriate ISD form, signed by or on behalf of an individual or
family.
(4)
Attendant:
means an individual needed in the home for medical, housekeeping or child care
reasons.
(5)
Authorized
beneficiary: means the surviving spouse of a disabled adult or the
caretaker of an unrelated child, who has the ability to use a deceased
recipient's issued payment.
(6)
Authorized representative: means an adult who is designated in
writing by the applicant and is sufficiently knowledgeable about the
applicant/benefit group's circumstances to complete the application form
correctly and represent the benefit group.
B. Definitions beginning with "B":
(1)
Basic needs:
means food, clothing, shelter, utilities, personal requirements and the
individual's share of household supplies.
(2)
Benefit group: means an
individual or group of individuals authorized to receive cash assistance
financed by state or local funds.
(3)
Benefit month: means the
month for which cash assistance benefits are issued.
(4)
Budget month: means the
calendar month for which income and other circumstances of the benefit group
shall be determined in order to calculate the cash assistance
amount.
C. Definitions beginning with "C":
(1)
Capacity to work: the
effects of impairment(s), work-related factors, functionality on the ability
for an individual to engage in gainful employment.
(2)
Capital gains: means the
proceeds from the sale of capital goods or equipment.
(3)
Cash assistance: means
state-funded cash assistance in the general assistance program, the adult
residential shelter care home program (ARSCH), or the burial assistance program
for the indigent.
(4)
Categorical eligibility (CE): means a SNAP household that meets
one of the following conditions is considered to be CE and have limited
eligibility requirements.
(a)
Financial
CE: Any SNAP household in which all members receive Title IV-A
assistance (TANF), general assistance (GA), or supplemental security income
(SSI) benefits is considered to be categorically eligible for SNAP
benefits.
(b)
Broad-based
CE: Any SNAP household, in good standing, in which at least one member
is receiving a non-cash TANF/MOE funded benefit or service and household income
is below one hundred sixty-five percent FPG.
(5)
Certification: means the
authorization of eligibility of a benefit group for the issuance of cash
assistance benefits.
(6)
Certification period: means the time period in calendar months
that is assigned to a benefit group that is approved to receive cash assistance
benefits.
(7)
Collateral
contact: means an individual or agency designated to provide information
concerning eligibility.
(8)
Contingency: means requirement(s) an individual must accept as a
condition of eligibility such as, treatment available outside the GA program,
unless a determination is made that good cause exists for the individual's
inability to comply.
(9)
Conversion factor: means anticipated monthly income received on a
weekly or bi-weekly basis shall be converted to a monthly
amount.
D. Definitions beginning with "D":
(1)
Date of admission: means the
date established by the immigration and naturalization service as the date an
alien (or sponsored alien) was admitted for permanent residence.
(2)
Date of application: means
the date the application is received by the income support division offices
during regular business hours, this includes applications that are dropped off,
submitted in person and electronically. Applications that are dropped off or
submitted electronically after regularly scheduled business hours, holidays and
weekends will be considered received as of the next business day.
(3)
Date of authorization: means
the date when action is taken to approve a cash payment for a benefit
group.
(4)
Date of
entry: means the date established by the immigration and naturalization
service as the date an alien (or sponsored alien) was admitted for permanent
residence.
(5)
Day(s):
means working days, unless otherwise defined in this chapter.
(6)
Department: means the human
services department.
(7)
Dependent child: means an individual who is seventeen years of age
or younger; eighteen years of age and enrolled in high school; or between
eighteen and twenty-two years of age and is receiving special education
services regulated by the state public education department.
(8)
Director: means the director
of the income support division.
(9)
Disability: means the definitions of disability related to the
general assistance program and the disability determination process found at
8.106.420.7
NMAC.
E. Definitions beginning with "E":
(1)
Earned income: means cash or
payment in-kind that is received as wages from employment or payment in lieu of
wages; and earnings from self-employment or earnings acquired from the direct
provision of services, goods or property, production of goods, management of
property or supervision of services.
(2)
Emancipated: means an
individual under the age of 18 who is legally recognized as no longer under
parental control due to the individual's marriage, active duty in the armed
forces or by the order of a court.
(3)
Encumbrance: means debt owed
on property.
(4)
Equity
value: means the fair market value of property, less any encumbrances
owed on the property.
(5)
Essential person: means an individual responsible for the care of
a disabled general assistance recipient to the extent that placement into
institutional care would be required were it not for care provided by this
individual.
(6)
Expungement: means the permanent deletion of cash benefits from an
EBT account that is stale.
F. Definitions beginning with "F":
(1)
Fair hearing:
means an administrative proceeding that a claimant or the claimant's
representative may request if:
(a) an
application is not acted on within the application time limits at
8.106.110.12 NMAC; or
(b) an application is denied in whole or in
part; or
(c) cash assistance or
services are modified, terminated or not provided.
(2)
Fair market value (FMV):
means the amount an item can be expected to sell for on the open market at the
prevailing rate of return. For vehicles, the term FMV means the amount a dealer
would buy a vehicle for wholesale or as a trade-in, not the amount the dealer
would sell the vehicle for at retail.
(3)
Federal act: means the
federal Social Security Act and rules promulgated pursuant to the Social
Security Act.
(4)
Federal
fiscal year: means the time period beginning on October 1 and ending on
September 30 of the calendar year.
(5)
Federal poverty guidelines:
means the level of income defining poverty by family size, published annually
in the federal register by the United States department of health and human
services.
G. Definitions beginning with "G":
(1)
Gainful employment: means
any job or class of jobs in the state that would provide an income equaling or
exceeding eighty-five percent of the federal poverty guidelines to the benefit
group.
(2)
Government
entity: means any federal, state, tribal or local unit of government as
well as any non-government entity that receives public funds for the purpose of
meeting the needs of its clientele.
(3)
Gross income: means the
total amount of earned or unearned income before any voluntary or involuntary
deductions are made, such as, but not limited to, federal and state taxes,
FICA, garnishments, insurance premiums (including medicare), and monies due and
owing the benefit group but diverted by the provider. Gross income does not
include specific income exclusions, such as but not limited to, the cost of
producing self-employment income and income excluded by federal law.
(4)
Gross income test: means the
income test applied to the maximum income eligibility limit for participation
in a particular cash assistance program based on the size of the household or
benefit group.
(5)
Guaranteed
basic income: Guaranteed basic income is a program where citizens
receive direct cash payments on a regular basis if they meet the eligibility
criteria for that program.
H. Definitions beginning with H": Head of household means an individual who is the responsible case head for the benefit group. The head of household may be the parent, guardian, sole adult member, specified relative, pregnant woman, a recipient of general assistance, or caretaker.
I. Definitions beginning with "I":
(1)
Immigrant: means an
individual who is an alien as defined in title IV of the federal Personal
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PROWRA) and within the
technical meaning at 8 U.S.C.
1101(a)(15).
(2)
Ineligible alien: means an
individual who does not meet the eligible alien requirements or has not been
admitted for permanent residence.
(3)
Initial month: means the
first month for which a benefit group is certified for participation in the
cash assistance program. An initial month is also a month in which a benefit
group is certified following a break in participation of one calendar month or
longer.
(4)
Inquiry:
means a request for information about eligibility requirements for a financial,
medical, or food assistance program that is not an application for that
program.
(5)
Interim
assistance reimbursement: means the program within the social security
administration that will reimburse the state through the department for
payments made to an individual receiving GA disability during the period the
individual's application for SSI was pending.
(6)
Institution of higher
education: means any education institution which normally requires a
high school diploma or equivalency certificate for enrollment, including, but
not limited to, colleges, universities, and vocational or technical schools at
the post-high school level.
(7)
Institutionalized: Living in a facility licensed as an adult
residential shelter care home (ARSCH) by the New Mexico department of
health.
(8)
Irrevocable trust
funds: means an arrangement to have monies held by one person for the
benefit of another that cannot be revoked.
(9)
Issuance month: means the
calendar month in which cash assistance is issued.
J. Definitions beginning with "J": [RESERVED]
K. Definitions beginning with "K": [RESERVED]
L. Definitions beginning with "L": Limited state funds means that the standard of need for a one person benefit group is calculated at $150.00 per month or less.
M. Definitions beginning with "M":
(1)
Maintenance of
effort: means the amount of general funds the state agency must expend
annually on the four purposes of temporary assistance to needy families (TANF)
to meet the minimum expenditure requirement based on a state's historical
assistance for families with dependent children (AFDC) expenditures.
(2)
Mandatory benefit group
member: The income and resources of mandatory members will always be
considered to determine need, but not payment. In order to be included in the
assistance group, members must individually meet eligibility requirements.
Members mandatory for inclusion are: spouses residing in the home with the
applicant, a caretaker of the applicant, and the father of an unborn child
residing in the home with the applicant.
(3)
Medicaid: means medical
assistance under title XIX of the Social Security Act, as amended.
(4)
Minor unmarried parent:
means an unmarried parent who is under the age of 18 years or is age 18 and
enrolled in high school.
(5)
Month of approval: means the first month in which a benefit group
is eligible for cash assistance.
N. Definitions beginning with "N":
(1)
Net income test:
means the income test applied to eligibility for a particular program, after
all allowable deductions are taken from the gross income for the household or
benefit group. To be eligible, the benefit group's net earned income must be
less than the standard of need applicable to the benefit group after allowable
deductions have been made to the earned and unearned income.
(2)
Net monthly income: means
gross non-exempt income minus the allowable deductions. Net monthly income is
the figure used to determine eligibility and cash assistance benefit
amount.
(3)
New Mexico
works: means the federally funded temporary cash assistance program for
needy families that carries a sixty-month term limit for adults in the
state.
(4)
Non-benefit group
members: means persons residing with a benefit group but who are
specifically excluded by regulation from being included in the benefit group
certification.
(5)
Non-cash
TANF/MOE benefit or service: means a non-cash TANF/MOE benefit or
services including programs or services that do not provide cash to recipients,
but are funded by the TANF program, either by the federal TANF block grant or
the state MOE share. These services may include transportation, childcare,
counseling programs, parenting programs, pamphlets or referrals to other
TANF/MOE-funded services.
(6)
Notice: means written correspondence that is generated by any
method including handwritten, typed or electronic, delivered to the client or
their authorized representative by hand, U.S. mail, professional delivery or by
any electronic means. The term "written notice" and "notice" are used
interchangeably.
(7)
Notice
of adverse action (NOAA): means a written or electronic notice sent 13
days in advance of an action to reduce, suspend or terminate benefits that
includes a statement of the action the department intends to take, the reason
for the action, the benefit group's right to a fair hearing, who to contact for
additional information, the availability of continued benefits, and liability
of the benefit group for any overpayment received if the hearing decision is
adverse to the benefit group.
O. Definitions beginning with "O": Overpayment/over-issuance means the amount by which cash assistance benefits issued to a benefit group exceed the amount the benefit group was eligible to receive.
P. Definitions beginning with "P":
(1)
Parent: means a natural
parent, adoptive parent, or stepparent.
(2)
Payment: means the amount of
the cash assistance benefit, after the countable net earned and unearned income
of the benefit group has been subtracted from the benefit group's standard of
need, and before any reduction by sanction or recoupment.
(3)
Permanently residing under color of
law (PRUCOL): means aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence or
permanently residing in the United States under color of law as follows.
(a) The individual may be eligible for
medicaid if the individual is an alien residing in the United States with the
knowledge and permission of the immigration and naturalization services (INS)
and the INS does not contemplate enforcing the alien's departure. The INS does
not contemplate enforcing an alien's departure if it is the policy or practice
of INS not to enforce the departure of aliens in the same category, or if from
all the facts and circumstances in a particular case it appears that INS is
otherwise permitting the alien to reside in the United States indefinitely, as
determined by verifying the aliens status with INS.
(b) Aliens who are permanently residing in
the United States under color of law are listed below. None of the categories
include applicants for an immigration and naturalization service status other
than those applicants listed in Item (vi) of Subparagraph (b) of Paragraph (2)
of Subsection A of
8.200.410.11 NMAC or those covered
under Item (xvi) of Subparagraph (b) of Paragraph (2) of Subsection A of
8.200.410.11 NMAC. None of the
categories allow medicaid eligibility for non-immigrants; for example, students
or visitors. Also listed are the most commonly used documents that the INS
provides to aliens in these categories:
(i)
aliens admitted to the United States pursuant to
8 U.S.C.
1153(a)(7) (Section
203(a)(7) of the Immigration and Nationality Act); ask for a copy of INS Form
I-94 endorsed "refugee-conditional entry";
(ii) aliens, including Cuban/Haitian
entrants, paroled in the United States pursuant to
8 U.S.C.
1182(d)(5) (Section
212(d)(5)) of the Immigration and Nationality Act; for Cuban/Haitian entrant
(Status Pending) reviewable January 15, 1981; (although the forms bear this
notation, Cuban/Haitian entrants are admitted under section 212(d)(5) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act);
(iii) aliens residing in the United States
pursuant to an indefinite stay of deportation; ask for an immigration and
naturalization service's letter with this information or INS Form I-94 clearly
stated that voluntary departure has been granted for an indefinite period of
time;
(iv) aliens residing in the
United States pursuant to an indefinite voluntary departure; ask for an
immigration and naturalization service's letter or INS Form I-94 showing that
voluntary departure has been granted for an indefinite time period;
(v) aliens on whose behalf an immediate
relative petition has been approved and their families covered by the petition
who are entitled to voluntary departure (under
8 CFR
242.5(a)(2)(vi)) and whose
departure the immigration and naturalization service does not contemplate
enforcing; ask for a copy of INS Form I-94 or Form I-210 or a letter clearly
stating that status;
(vi) aliens
who have filed applications for adjustment of status pursuant to Section 245 of
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1255) that the immigration
and naturalization services has accepted as properly filed (within the meaning
of 8 CFR
245.2(a)(1) or (2) and whose
departure the immigration and naturalization service does not contemplate
enforcing; ask for a copy of INS Form I-94 or I-181 or a passport appropriately
stamped;
(vii) aliens granted stays
of deportation by court order, statute, or regulation, or by individual
determination of the immigration and naturalization service pursuant to Section
106 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1105 a) or relevant immigration and
naturalization service's instructions, whose departure that agency does not
contemplate enforcing; ask for a copy of INS Form I-94 or a letter from the
immigration and naturalization service, or a copy of a court order establishing
the alien's status;
(viii) aliens
granted asylum pursuant to Section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C.
1158); ask for a copy of INS Form I-94 and a
letter establishing this status;
(ix) aliens admitted as refugees pursuant to
Section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) or
Section 203(a)(7) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1153(a)(7)); ask for a copy
of INS Form I-94 properly endorsed;
(x) aliens granted voluntary departure
pursuant to Section 242(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C.
1252(b)) or
8 CFR
242.5 whose departure the Immigration and
Naturalization Service does not contemplate enforcing; ask for a Form I-94 or
Form I-210 bearing a departure date;
(xi) aliens granted deferred action status
pursuant to Immigration and Naturalization Service Operations Instruction
103.1(a)(ii) prior to June 15, 1984 or 242.1(a)(22) issued June 15, 1984 and
later; ask for a copy for INS Form I-210 or a letter showing that departure has
been deferred;
(xii) aliens
residing in the United States under orders of supervision pursuant to Section
242 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1252(d)); ask for a copy of
Form I-220 B;
(xiii) aliens who
have entered and continuously resided in the United States since before January
1, 1972, (or any date established by Section 249 of the Immigration and
Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C.
1259); ask for any proof establishing this
entry and continuous residence;
(xiv) aliens granted suspension for
deportation pursuant to Section 244 of the Immigration and Naturalization Act
(8 U.S.C.
1254) and whose departure the immigration and
naturalization service does not contemplate enforcing; ask for an order from an
immigration judge showing that deportation has been withheld;
(xv) aliens whose deportation has been
withheld pursuant to Section 243(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C.
1253(h)); ask for an order
from an immigration judge showing that deportation has been withheld;
(xvi) any other aliens living in the United
States with the knowledge and permission of the immigration and naturalization
service and whose departure the agency does not contemplate enforcing
(including permanent non-immigrants as established by
Public Law
99-239, and persons granted extended voluntary
departure due to conditions in the alien's home country based on a
determination by the secretary of state).
(4)
Person: means an
individual.
(5)
Prospective
budgeting: means the computation of a benefit group's eligibility and
benefit amount based on an estimate of income and circumstances that will exist
in the current month and future months.
Q. Definitions beginning with "Q": Qualified alien includes any of the classes of immigrant status granted by USCIS below:
(1) an alien who is
lawfully-admitted for permanent residence (LPR) under the Immigration and
Nationality Act (INA);
(2) an alien
granted asylum under section 208 of the INA;
(3) an alien admitted into the United States
as a refugee under section 207 of the INA;
(4) an alien paroled into the United States
for a period of at least one year under section 212(d)(5) of the INA;
(5) an alien whose deportation has been
withheld under section 243(h) of the INA as in effect prior to April 1, 1997,
who whose removal has been withheld under section 241(b)(3) of the
INA;
(6) an alien who has been
granted conditional entry pursuant to section 203(a)(7) of the INA as in effect
prior to April 1, 1980;
(7) an
alien who was a Cuban or Haitian entrant, as defined in section 501(e) of the
Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980;
(8) an alien, an alien parent or alien child,
who has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty in the United States by a
spouse or a parent or by a member of the spouse or parent's family residing in
the same home as the alien at the time of the abuse and there is a petition
pending under 204(a)(1)(A) or (B) or 244(a)(3) of the INA, as long as the alien
has begun the process of becoming a lawful permanent resident under the
Violence Against Women Act;
(9) an
alien who is a victim of a severe form of trafficking, regardless of
immigration status, under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of
2000.
R. Definitions beginning with "R":
(1)
Real property: means land
and affixed improvements and structures, which include mobile homes. Grazing
permits are also considered real property.
(2)
Recertification: means a
complete review of all conditions of eligibility and a redetermination of the
amount of the cash assistance benefits for an additional period of
time.
(3)
Recipient:
means a person receiving cash assistance benefits.
(4)
Reconsideration: means a
re-evaluation of disability based on additional medical evidence provided by
the client.
(5)
Refugee: means a lawfully admitted individual granted conditional
entry into the United States.
(6)
Resource standard: means the financial standard with respect to an
applicant's/recipient's resources and property, which is set at $2,000 for
non-liquid resources and $1,500 for liquid resources.
(7)
Retrospective budgeting:
means the computation of a benefit group's benefits for an issuance month based
on actual income and circumstances that existed in the previous
month.
S. Definitions beginning with "S":
(1)
Secretary: means the
secretary of the human services department.
(2)
Self-employed: means an
individual who engages in a self-managed enterprise for the purpose of
providing support and income.
(3)
Set term GA: The certification period shall be for a set length of
time dependent upon conditions, beginning from the month of approval and is not
subject to review.
(4)
Shelter for battered persons: means a public or private nonprofit
residential facility that serves battered persons. If such a facility serves
other individuals, a portion of the facility must be set aside on a long-term
basis to serve only battered persons.
(5)
Simplified reporting: a
reporting requirement for households that receive GA benefits in accordance
with 8.106.431 NMAC.
(6)
Single-parent benefit group: means a benefit group that does not
include both parents of a child who is included in the benefit group and thus
includes families in which there is only one parent or in which there are no
parents.
(7)
Sponsor:
means a person who executed an affidavit of support or similar agreement on
behalf of an alien as a condition of the alien's entry or admission into the
United States as a permanent resident.
(8)
Sponsored alien: means an
alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States as an
immigrant, as defined in Sections 101(a)(15) and 101(a)(2) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act.
(9)
Spouse: means an individual legally bound by marriage.
(10)
Stale: means EBT accounts
which have not been accessed (no withdrawal activity) by the household in the
last 90 days from the most recent date of withdrawal.
(11)
Standard of need: means the
amount provided to each GA cash assistance benefit group on a monthly basis and
is based on legislative funding, the number of individuals included in the
benefit group, number of cases, number of applications processed and approved,
application approval rate, number of case closures, IAR case number and
expenditures, and number of pending applications.
(12)
Supplemental nutrition assistance
program (SNAP): The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 changed the federal
name of the food stamp program to the supplemental nutrition assistance
program. SNAP is synonymous with the food stamp program.
(13)
Supplemental security income
(SSI): means monthly cash payments made under the authority of:
(a) Title XVI of the Social Security Act, as
amended, to the aged, blind and disabled;
(b) Section 1616(a) of the Social Security
Act; or
(c) Section 1382 of the
Social Security Act.
T. Definitions beginning with "T": [RESERVED]
U. Definitions beginning with "U":
(1)
Unavailable state funds:
means the funds are not sufficient to provide all GA benefit groups with a one
dollar monthly cash payment.
(2)
Unearned income: Means old age, survivors and disability insurance
payments (social security); railroad retirement benefits; veterans
administration compensation or pension payments; military retirement and
allotments; pensions, annuities and retirement benefits; lodge or fraternal
benefits; other public or private disability or retirement benefits or pension;
shared shelter payments; individual Indian money (IIM); royalty or lease
payments for land or property owned by a benefit group member; settlement
payments resulting from insurance or litigation; worker's compensation
benefits; child support; unemployment compensation benefits; union benefits
paid in cash; gifts and contributions; and real property income.
(3)
Universal basic income:
Universal basic income is a government-guaranteed program that provides a
modest cash income at regular intervals (e.g., each month or year) to
citizen.
(4)
Unrelated
caretaker: means an individual who is not a specified relative within
the fifth degree of relationship of a dependent child and has assumed
responsibility for care, support and supervision of an unrelated child and for
meeting the child's physical and emotional needs.
(5)
Unrelated child: means a
minor, under 18 years of age, residing with a caretaker who is not a specified
relative within the fifth degree of relationship.
V. Definitions beginning with "V":
(1)
Variable term
GA: The certification period shall be set for a length of time, not to
exceed 12 months, beginning from the month of approval and is subject to
review.
(2)
Verification: means the use of third-party information or
documentation to establish the accuracy of statements on the application or
recertification.
W. Definitions beginning with "W": Work related factors means factors taken into account in the disability determination process such as age, education, training, work experience, language ability, appearance, marital status, living situation, as well as relevant social history and minimal employment and activities that would be required in a work setting such as sitting, standing, walking, lifting, carrying, handling, seeing, hearing, communicating and understanding and following directions.
X. Definitions beginning with "X": [RESERVED]
Y. Definitions beginning with "Y": [RESERVED]
Z. Definitions beginning with "Z": [RESERVED]
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