Current through all regulations passed and filed through December 16, 2024
This rule describes the process the county agency shall use
when determining eligibility for a dependent child in a shared parenting
arrangement.
(A) What are shared
parenting arrangements?
Shared parenting arrangements
include:
(1)
Formal, court ordered arrangements;
(2)
Informal
arrangements agreed upon mutually by both parents; or
(3)
A combination of
both formal, court ordered arrangements and informal arrangements.
(B)
How does the
county agency verify shared parenting arrangements?
(1)
To verify shared
parenting arrangements, the county agency is to:
(a)
Use the
procedures described in rule
5101:4-2-09 of the
Administrative Code;
(b)
Use the best available information to determine
eligibility;
(c)
Ensure that all supporting documents are located in the
assistance group's case file, as well as documented in the Ohio benefits
integrated eligibility system; and
(d)
Evaluate the
actual circumstances when the parents follow an arrangement that is different
from the formal, court ordered shared parenting arrangement or when there is no
formal, court ordered arrangement.
(2)
When there is a
discrepancy between the parents' statements regarding the child's living
arrangement and a formal, court ordered arrangement exists, the county agency
is to refer to that order to establish which assistance group should include
the child.
(C) Can both parents
receive supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) for the same child in
the same month?
Both parents cannot receive SNAP for
the same child in the same month despite a shared parenting arrangement
permitting the child to live with each parent for part of the
month.
(D) How does the county
agency determine which assistance group should include the child?
(1)
Since shared
parenting arrangements are not the same in each case, assistance group
composition is to be determined on a case-by-case basis.
(2)
When one parent applies for the child
and the child lives with him or her for part of the month, then the child shall
be included in
that parent's assistance group.
(3)
When both parents apply for the child:
For the purposes of determining which
assistance group the child is to be included, "majority" means more than fifty
per cent.
(a) The child shall be
included in the assistance group where he or she lives the majority of the time.
(b) When the child lives with each parent an
equal amount of time, then the county agency shall determine who provides the
majority of the
child's meals:
(i) When one parent provides
the majority of the child's meals, then the county agency shall include the
child in the assistance group with
that
parent .
(ii) When both
parents provide fifty per cent of the child's meals, then the parents are to
agree which parent's assistance group should include the child.
(iii) When both parents provide fifty per
cent of the child's meals but the parents cannot agree which assistance group
should include the child, then the county agency shall include the child with
the parent who applied first.
(E) How often should the shared parenting
arrangement be evaluated?
The child shall remain in the parent's assistance group through
the assigned certification period once the county agency determines the child
should be included in that assistance group based on the process outlined in
paragraph (D) of this rule. Eligibility shall only be
re-evaluated when there is a:
(1)
Change reported in assistance group composition;
(2) Change reported in the shared parenting
arrangement;
(4) The other parent applies for
the same child and:
(a) The county has not
made a determination under paragraph (D)(3) of this
rule for the current certification; or
(b) There has been a change in circumstances
since a determination was last made under paragraph (D)(3) of this
rule.
