Rules & Regulations of the State of Tennessee
Title 1240 - Human Services
Subtitle 1240-01 - Family Assistance Division
Chapter 1240-01-18 - Authorization of Grants and Allotments
Section 1240-01-18-.06 - AUTHORIZATION OF RETROACTIVE ASSISTANCE - AFDC ONLY

(a) Currently Eligible Applicants. When it is established that an applicant is eligible for assistance in the month the decision is being made, then the worker considers whether the applicant would have been eligible for the month during which he/she applied and for any months between application and approval. If the applicant is currently eligible and would have been eligible during the month he/she applied and subsequent month(s) prior to approval, a single retroactive payment can be made to begin with the date of application and to cover each month from application to the month of approval. If the applicant is currently eligible but would not have been eligible during the month he/she applied, then the retroactive payment can be authorized to begin with the first day of the month in which eligibility was attained.

(b) Currently Ineligible Applicants. If an applicant is not currently eligible because of a change in his/her circumstances which occurred after application and prior to the current month, a retroactive payment may be made for the period from the application date to the month the decision of ineligibility is made. However, if the application and the change in circumstances which caused ineligibility occurred during the same month, payment for that month cannot be made, unless the change was the death of the applicant and he/she would have been eligible for the month had he/she lived.

(a) To correct an agency error which caused a recipient to be deprived of at least $1.00 per month in assistance

(b) To compensate for the time lag between the date of application and the month of initial payment. A single retroactive payment is to be authorized to cover the amount of assistance the applicant should have received from the date of application to the effective month of approval

(c) To compensate for the agency's erroneous exclusion from an aid group of an eligible individual for whom assistance was requested.