Current through Vol. 42, No. 1, September 16, 2024
(a)
National or state emergency. In the event of a national or state
emergency declaration by The President of United States or Governor of the
State of Oklahoma resulting in a hardship for Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) recipients, the State may opt to provide additional services
using non-recurring short term benefits (NRST). The State may, at its
discretion, implement one or more of the NRST benefits, per (b) of this
Section. The Oklahoma Human Services Director issues, by memo, activation of
this policy and lists the approved NRST benefits to be implemented during the
designated emergency. The approved NRST benefits may not exceed four months and
are based on availability of funding.
(b)
NRST benefits. NRST benefits
may include:
(1) TANF Child Care eligibility
rules relaxed to an amount up to, but not exceeding, 300 percent of the federal
poverty level $0 copay to allow families not receiving cash assistance four
months of child care at no cost.
(2) providing an additional Emergency TANF
(ETANF) cash assistance payment to current TANF recipients to offset disaster
or emergency expenses in an amount to be determined per emergency;
(3) housing search and placement
services;
(4) clothing
allowances;
(5) short-term rental
or mortgage assistance;
(6) utility
or energy assistance;
(7) legal
services for TANF recipients who are pursing Supplemental Security benefits
from pre-filing through the administrative appeals process or to help resolve
personal or family legal problems when such problems are a threat to family
stability or undermine employment;
(8) family support services to deal with
stressful events;
(9) financial and
credit counseling; or
(10)
Diversion Assistance.
(c)
TANF application process. TANF applications may be submitted
online or, with applicant permission, the worker may submit the online
application by proxy for the applicant. The in-person face-to-face interview
requirement may be waived and the interview may be conducted by phone or video
conferencing technology. The TANF cash assistance benefit may be certified
after all eligibility factors are determined to be met during the
emergency.
(d)
TANF
eligibility requirements waived during emergency declaration. Depending
on the nature of the national or state emergency, certain TANF eligibility
requirements may be waived.
(1) The substance
abuse screening requirement, per Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC)
340:10-4-1
and education assessments, per OAC
340:10-2-3,
may be waived when assessment providers are unable to provide assessment
testing due to the emergency. TANF recipients are required to complete all
required assessments when testing resumes. If the TANF recipient tests positive
for the illegal use of a controlled substance or substances, the worker follows
normal procedures, per OAC
340:10-4-1.
(2) When TANF recipients are unable to
participate in assigned TANF Work activities, per OAC
340:10-2-1, due
to no fault of their own, such as when a medical pandemic occurs or another
disaster causes all businesses and school campuses to close or residents to
receive shelter in place orders, the recipient is granted good cause.
(3) When a person's TANF cash
assistance benefit closed for non-compliance with his or her assigned TANF Work
activity within 30-calendar days of the date an emergency was declared, and he
or she was unable to participate in a TANF Work activity due to the emergency,
the worker may reopen the TANF cash assistance benefit during the crisis. When
this occurs, the TANF recipient is expected to resume TANF Work participation
when the national or state emergency ends.
(e)
TANF supplement. When TANF
recipients experience a job loss or reduction in wages and incur an income loss
due to the national or state emergency, the worker supplements the TANF cash
assistance benefit up to the maximum payment standard for the household's size,
per Oklahoma Human Services Appendix C-1, Maximum Income, Resource, and Payment
Standards, Schedule IX, effective the month the emergency is
declared.
(f)
Economic impact
payments. Economic impact payments received as a result of a national or
state emergency are:
(1) considered as a
rebate or advance payment of a credit; and
(2) excluded as income and from resource
consideration for a period of 12 months from the receipt date for the purpose
of determining eligibility for benefits or assistance under any federal program
or under any state or local program, financed in whole or in part with federal
funds, per Section 103(d) of the American Taxpayer Relief Act, as amended in
Section 6409 of Title 26 of the United States Code.
