Current through Vol. 42, No. 1, September 16, 2024
(a)
Parent receiving or applying for State Supplemental Payment (SSP) for the
aged, blind, or disabled. A person must not concurrently be included in
a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) assistance unit and SSP for
the same month. The person may be included in the TANF assistance unit while an
application is pending for SSP or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) when all
eligibility requirements are met.
(1) When a
parent lives in the home, receives SSP, and is not included in the TANF
benefit, the worker does not consider the parent's income or resources as
available to the TANF assistance unit.
(2) When a parent becomes ineligible for SSP
and does not receive SSI, the worker considers the parent's income, resources,
and deprivation status in determining TANF eligibility for the assistance unit
and the parent.
(A) When adding the parent
and his or her income causes the TANF assistance unit to be over income per
Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS) Appendix C-1, Maximum Income, Resource, and
Payment Standards, Schedule IX, the worker closes the TANF and medical
benefit.
(B) When the parent's SSP
benefit closed because of an overall Social Security increase and the parent
cannot be added to the TANF benefit, the worker places the SSP benefit in
Special Medical Status.
(3) When a parent becomes ineligible to
receive SSP but continues to receive SSI, the worker does not consider the
parent's income or resources as available to the TANF assistance unit. The
parent must complete a separate SoonerCare (Medicaid) application to continue
receiving medical benefits.
(b)
Concurrent receipt of TANF and
SSI. A person must not concurrently be included in a TANF benefit and
receive an SSI payment for the same month. When a person included in a TANF
application or an active TANF benefit meets the eligibility conditions for TANF
and SSI, the person may choose to have eligibility determined for TANF or SSI
benefits. The payee must inform OKDHS Adult and Family Services (AFS) worker
when any member of the assistance unit makes application for, or becomes
eligible to receive, SSI. When the payee or a member of the assistance unit
makes an application for SSI, the payee must inform the Social Security
Administration (SSA) of TANF receipt.
(1) When
the only dependent child(ren) receives SSI, the natural or adoptive parent(s)
or needy caretaker relative may receive an adult-only TANF benefit when all
other eligibility factors are met.
(2) When a TANF applicant is also an SSI
applicant, he or she may be included in the TANF benefit, when eligible, until
notified of SSI eligibility.
(3)
When a TANF recipient is an SSI applicant, SSA notifies OKDHS of SSI
eligibility to coordinate closure of the person's TANF benefit and approval of
SSI and requests the amount of TANF benefits paid for each month of SSI
eligibility. When the actual closure date is later than the date given orally
to SSA, TANF payments to SSI recipients are TANF overpayments and must be
recouped per Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:65-9.
(4) When a TANF recipient is determined
ineligible for SSI, the person may continue to be included in the TANF
assistance unit when all other conditions of eligibility are met.
(5) When a TANF recipient is determined
ineligible for SSI for reasons other than a disability determination, the
person may be included in a SSP cash assistance benefit instead of TANF, when
determined disabled by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) Level of Care
Evaluation Unit (LOCEU) per OAC
317:35-5-4(1)(D).
(c)
Concurrent receipt of state and
tribal TANF. A person must not be concurrently included in a tribal TANF
payment and a state approved TANF benefit in the same month. When the person
meets the criteria of a tribal TANF service area and population, the entire
assistance unit must be served by tribal TANF. When the household moves out of
the tribe's service area, the worker coordinates certification of state TANF
benefits.
(d)
Concurrent
receipt of TANF in more than one state. A person must not be included in
a TANF benefit in Oklahoma and another state for the same month.
(e)
Stepparent, needy caretaker's
spouse, person acting in the role of a spouse, or parent(s) of a minor
parent. The natural or adoptive parent's income is available to the TANF
assistance unit, and the worker does not divert income to meet the needs of the
stepparent or other dependents in the home. The worker does not count any
income when the stepparent, needy caretaker's spouse, person acting in the role
of a spouse, parent(s) of a minor parent, or his or her dependent is an SSI
recipient.
(1)
Stepparent or spouse of
needy caretaker income. When a stepparent or the needy caretaker's
spouse lives in the home with the child(ren) applying for or receiving TANF,
the worker counts a portion of his or her verified gross earned and unearned
income, after all applicable TANF income disregards and work-related expenses
are subtracted, as income available to the assistance unit. To determine the
amount to consider, the worker:
(A) subtracts
the work-related expense, one-half of the remaining gross earned income, and
any dependent care expense from the stepparent's or spouse of a needy
caretaker's earned income per OAC
340:10-3-33;
(B) adds the net earned income to the gross
unearned income of the stepparent or the spouse of a needy caretaker;
(C) subtracts the need standard for the
appropriate number of persons per OKDHS Appendix C-1, Maximum Income, Resource,
and Payment Standards, Schedule IX.A. The need standard includes:
(i) the stepparent or needy caretaker's
spouse; and
(ii) any dependents not
included in the assistance unit but who:
(I)
live in the home; and
(II) can be
claimed on the personal income taxes of the stepparent or needy caretaker's
spouse; and
(D)
subtracts the verified alimony and child support payments to persons outside of
the household to arrive at the stepparent's contribution to the assistance
unit; and
(E) adds the contribution
of the stepparent or spouse of a needy caretaker's to all other gross income of
persons included in the TANF assistance unit to determine
eligibility.
(2)
Stepparent or spouse of a needy caretaker resources. The worker
does not consider resources owned exclusively by the stepparent or spouse of a
needy caretaker to determine the assistance unit's resource eligibility but
does consider the assistance unit's share of resources owned jointly with the
stepparent or spouse of a needy caretaker.
(3)
Person acting in the role of a
spouse. The worker must count the income of a person acting in the role
of a spouse who lives in the home with the natural or adoptive parent who does
not receive a TANF benefit on another case.
(A) For the purpose of this rule, a person is
acting in the role of a spouse when one or both of these factors exist:
(i) the parent and the person represent
themselves to be a couple; or
(ii)
have a physical relationship with each other.
(B) When the client states the conditions in
(A) of this paragraph do not exist, factors that may indicate the person is
acting in the role of a spouse include, when he or she:
(i) assists in parenting the child(ren), such
as exercising responsibility for the child(ren), providing day-to-day care,
physical care, and guidance for the child(ren);
(ii) provides financial support for the
family beyond his or her own pro rata share of the household
expenses;
(iii) shares joint bank
accounts or real property ownership with the parent; or
(iv) files a joint tax return with the
parent.
(C) The worker
computes the income of this person the same as stepparent income, per (1) of
this Subsection. The person acting in the role of spouse is not eligible to
receive the exemption of one-half of the remainder or a dependent care expense
deduction in determining this person's countable earned income.
(D) When the parent or the person acting in
the role of a spouse fails to provide information necessary to determine income
eligibility, the worker denies the application or closes the cash assistance.
The income of non-relative adults may be excluded when the adults have separate
living quarters and demonstrate no characteristics of a person acting in the
role of spouse.
(4)
Parent(s) of a minor parent. When a minor parent lives with his or
her natural or adoptive parent(s) and the needs of the parent(s) are not
included in the assistance unit, the:
(A)
parent's income is available to the assistance unit and computed the same as
stepparent income, per (1) of this Subsection. The parent of the minor parent
may or may not be designated as the substitute payee for the assistance unit;
and
(B) income of a minor parent's
stepparent is not considered.
(f)
Allocating or diverting
income. When family members are not included in the assistance unit, the
worker follows these rules to determine the income available to the assistance
unit.
(1) Income received by a person included
in the assistance unit is not allocated or diverted to persons who are not in
the assistance unit. All countable unearned and earned income of the person is
considered available to the assistance unit.
(2) The net income of an alien parent
excluded from the benefit because the citizenship or alienage requirement is
not met is considered the same as stepparent income, per (e)(1) of this
Section. The income of disqualified alien siblings is not considered when
determining eligibility of an otherwise eligible child(ren).
(3) The net income of a fugitive felon
excluded from the benefit is considered the same as stepparent income, per
(e)(1) of this Section.
(g)
Benefit reduction as a result of
program violation. The TANF benefit is reduced by 25 percent of the
payment standard when a determination of program violation is made. The 25
percent penalty is removed the next effective date when compliance is
documented or the penalty time period ends. When multiple types of program
violations occur, a 25 percent penalty of the payment standard is imposed for
each type of violation. When the benefit reduction causes existing income to be
in excess of the benefit amount, the case is closed using the reason for the
benefit reduction. The amount of the payment standard reduction applies as Food
Stamp Penalty Income (FSPI) in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP) per OAC
340:50-7-29(c)(1)(A).
Reasons for benefit reduction are:
(1)
refusal to cooperate in an effort to obtain child support per OAC
340:10-10-5(c);
(2) failure to apply for or provide a Social
Security number per OAC
340:10-12-1;
(3) failure of a child(ren) in kindergarten
to 18 years of age to attend school per OAC
340:10-13-1;
(4) failure to provide verification of
child(ren) immunizations per OAC
340:10-14-1; and
(5) intentional program violations determined
as fraud by court action or an administrative disqualification hearing or
administrative hearing waiver per OAC
340:65-9-2(d)
and 340:65-9-4.
(h)
Benefit reduction penalty resulting
from use of the TANF benefit in a prohibited business. Per Section
608(a)(12) of Title 42 of the United States Code and Section
241.4 of Title 56 of Oklahoma
Statutes, TANF recipients must not use a debit or electronic benefit transfer
(EBT) card containing TANF cash assistance in prohibited businesses. Refer to
OAC 340:10-1-3(13)
for a list of prohibited businesses and the definition of an EBT transaction.
(1) When the parent or caretaker has violated
provisions per OAC
340:10-1-3(13),
the worker reduces the TANF cash assistance payment standard by:
(A) 25 percent for three months for the first
violation;
(B) 35 percent for six
months for the second violation;
(C) 50 percent for 12 months for the third
violation; and
(D) permanently by
deeming the parent or needy caretaker ineligible for TANF benefits for
subsequent violations.
(2) When the parent or needy caretaker is
permanently deemed ineligible to receive TANF cash assistance for this reason
and all other factors of eligibility are met, he or she may receive child-only
benefits. The ineligible parent's earned and unearned income is considered in
its entirety.
(3) The amount of the
penalty reduction applies as FSPI for SNAP per OAC
340:50-7-29(c)(1)(A).
(i)
TANF eligibility when the
child(ren) is placed in out-of-home care. When Child Welfare Services
(CWS) staff removes the child(ren) from the home and reasonably anticipates the
child(ren) will return home within four months, the natural or adoptive parent
or needy caretaker relative may continue to be eligible to receive an
adult-only TANF benefit per OAC
340:10-3-56(a)(2)(B)(ii).
The adult remains eligible when all other conditions of eligibility are met
unless the child(ren) is placed with a relative requesting needy caretaker
benefits. The child(ren) must be removed from the TANF benefit effective the
next advance notice deadline date per Appendix B-2, Deadlines for Case Actions.
(1) A team consisting of the worker, CWS
specialist, natural or adoptive parent or needy caretaker relative, and any
other appropriate partner must meet to develop a mutually agreed upon plan of
action. The plan must include the parent or needy caretaker's employability
plan and strategies to correct the conditions that caused the child(ren) to be
removed from the home.
(2) At the
end of the four-month period when the child(ren) is not returned to the home,
the adult-only TANF benefit is closed.
(j)
Strikers. The assistance
unit is not eligible for TANF for any month the natural or adoptive parent
living in the home participates in a strike on the last day of that month. A
caretaker relative is not included in the benefit for any month when that
person is participating in a strike on the last day of the month.
Amended at 8 Ok Reg 1225, eff 4-15-91 (emergency);
Amended at 9 Ok Reg 1543, eff 4-27-92 ; Amended at 10 Ok Reg 527, eff 12-8-92
(emergency); Amended at 10 Ok Reg 2813, eff 6-25-93 ; Amended at 11 Ok Reg
1023, eff 1-1-94 (preemptive); Amended at 12 Ok Reg 373, eff 12-1-94
(emergency); Amended at 12 Ok Reg 1159, eff 5-11-95 ; Amended at 13 Ok Reg
281, eff 5-18-95 (emergency); Amended at 13 Ok Reg 619, eff 9-1-95 (emergency)
; Amended at 13 Ok Reg 2167, eff 6-14-96 ; Amended at 14 Ok Reg 947, eff 2-1-97
(emergency); Amended at 14 Ok Reg 1310, eff 5-12-97 ; Amended at 15 Ok Reg
145, eff 11-1-97 (emergency); Amended at 15 Ok Reg 1602, eff 5-11-98 ; Amended
at 16 Ok Reg 3371, eff 7-1-99 (emergency); Amended at 17 Ok Reg 2271, eff
5-1-00 (preemptive); Amended at 18 Ok Reg 149, eff 12-1-00 (emergency);
Amended at 18 Ok Reg 1222, eff 5-11-01 ; Amended at 22 Ok Reg 764, eff 5-12-05
; Amended at 23 Ok Reg 980, eff 6-1-06 ; Amended at 25 Ok Reg 903, eff 6-1-08 ;
Amended at 26 Ok Reg 1223, eff 6-1-09 ; Amended at 28 Ok Reg 781, eff 6-1-11 ;
Amended at 29 Ok Reg 748, eff 7-1-12 ; Amended at 30 Ok Reg 338, eff 12-5-12
(emergency); Amended at 30 Ok Reg 1347, eff
7-1-13
