Current through September 24, 2024
(1) Filing Unit
Defined. The filing unit is the group of individuals for whom assistance is
sought.
(a) Any individual has the right to
file an application for assistance.
(b) An application filed on behalf of a
dependent child must include the following:
1.
Any blood related or adoptive brother or sister living in the home including
half siblings, who meet the age, deprivation and relationship requirements of
Families First eligibility; and
2.
Any natural or adoptive parent(s) including an incapacitated or an unemployed
parent living in the home.
(2) Assistance Group Defined. The assistance
group is the group of individuals for whom assistance is authorized.
(a) The assistance group must include the
following persons, unless excluded under subparagraph (c) of this rule:
1. A dependent child; and
2. Any blood related, or adoptive brother or
sister living in the home, including half siblings; and
3. Any natural or adoptive parent(s)
including an incapacitated or an unemployed parent living in the home, except
that this requirement shall not apply to the natural or legal parent whose
income is within the limits specified in 1240-1-47-.23, who marries the other
natural or legal parent who is a recipient of Families First benefits and the
marriage took place during the receipt of Families First benefits; provided,
however, that this exception no longer applies if Families First assistance is
terminated, even though the family may subsequently reapply and be found
eligible.
(b) The
following persons will be included in the assistance group if an application is
filed on their behalf and they are eligible:
1. Parent of a minor parent;
2. Stepbrothers/sisters with no natural or
adoptive parent living in the home (or they can have a separate
filing/assistance unit);
3.
Stepparent living in the home with the child, when a natural/adoptive parent is
incapacitated;
4. Parent(s) or
other caretaker relative of an SSI child(ren), when there are no other eligible
children. Both parents are eligible if one is incapacitated or
unemployed;
5. Grantee relative
other than a parent;
6. The natural
parent or stepparent of a child who marries the child's parent during the
period of receipt of Families First benefits, unless the new spouse falls under
the exception found in 1240-1-47-.23(5).
(c) The following persons must be excluded
from the assistance unit:
1. Individuals who
receive SSI benefits;
2. Aliens who
would be included but for the citizenship and alienage requirements in rule
1240-1-47-.06;
3. Aliens who would
be included, but are ineligible due to the deemed income or resources of their
sponsors or due to sponsorship by an agency or organization;
4. An unmarried minor parent who is
sanctioned for failure to meet the school attendance requirement at
1240-1-47-.15(2);
5. An individual
who is ineligible for a period of 10 years because he/she has been convicted in
a federal or state court of having made a fraudulent statement or
misrepresentation with respect to residence in order to receive AFDC, Families
First, Food Stamps, Medicaid/TennCare or Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
benefits from two States simultaneously.
6. Fleeing felons and probation/parole
violators. No member of an aid group who is otherwise eligible to participate
in the Families First Program shall be eligible to participate in the program
as a member of that or any other aid group during which the individual is:
(i) fleeing to avoid prosecution, or custody
or confinement after conviction, under the law of the place from which the
individual is fleeing, for a crime, or attempt to commit a crime, that is a
felony under the law of the place from which the individual is fleeing or that,
in the case of New Jersey, is a high misdemeanor under the law of New Jersey;
or
(ii) violating a condition of
probation or parole under a federal or state law.
7. An individual convicted of a felony
offense that occurred after August 22, 1996 under federal or state law which
involved the possession, use or distribution of a controlled substance, unless
the individual is complying with or has already complied with all obligations
(including any substance abuse treatment requirements) imposed by the criminal
court, and
(i) the conviction was not
classified as a Class A felony, or its equivalent if the offense occurred
outside of Tennessee, and
(ii) is
currently participating in a substance abuse treatment program approved by the
Department of Human Services; or
(iii) if not actively participating in a
substance abuse treatment program approved by the Department of Human Services,
is currently enrolled in such a program, but is on a waiting list for
participation, and enters the treatment program at the first opportunity;
or
(iv) has satisfactorily
completed a substance abuse program approved by the Department of Human
Services; or
(v) a treatment
provider licensed by the Department of Health, Division of Alcohol and Drug
Abuse Services, has determined that the individual does not need substance
abuse treatment according to TennCare guidelines.
(3) Dependent Child
Defined. A dependent child is a needy child under the age of eighteen (18) who
is deprived of parental support or care because one or both parents are absent
from the home, deceased, physically/mentally incapacitated, or unemployed.
(a) In order to be eligible for assistance,
the child must also live with a relative within one of the following degrees of
kinship:
1. Any blood relative, i.e., father,
mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece or first
cousin once removed. This includes relationships to persons of the preceding
generations as denoted by prefixes of grand, great or great-great and those of
half blood;
2. Stepfather,
stepmother, stepbrother and stepsister;
3. Legally adoptive parents of the child or
of the child's parents, the natural and other legally adopted children of such
person and the blood relatives of such persons, including first cousins, first
cousins once removed, nephews and nieces; and
4. Legal spouses of any of the persons named
in the three above groups. This may apply even though the marriage has been
terminated by death or divorce.
(b) Any relative filing an application on
behalf of a child must meet all of the following criteria:
1. Provide a home for the child;
2. Exercise primary responsibility for the
care and control of the child.
(4) Grantee Relative Defined. A grantee
relative is a relative other than the natural or adoptive parent who files an
application on behalf of a child. He/she may or may not request to be included
in the assistance group, but is the payee.
(5) Legal Conservator/Guardian Defined. A
legal conservator is an individual named by a court of competent jurisdiction
to manage the affairs of an adult who has been adjudicated mentally or
physically incapacitated; a legal guardian is a person who has been named to
manage the affairs and/or person of a minor.
(a) A guardian is not eligible to be included
in the assistance group unless he/she is a relative within the degree
specified.
(b) A guardian may file
an application in behalf of a dependent child and be appointed payee for the
grant. The child must, however, live in the home of a relative to be
eligible.
(c) If the child lives
with a relative who has a legally appointed conservator, the conservator must
file the application and be named payee for the grant.
(6) Half Brothers/Sisters Defined. Half
brothers/sisters are siblings who share a natural or adoptive parent. These
must be included in the same assistance group.
(7) Stepbrothers And Stepsisters Defined.
Stepbrothers/sisters are siblings who do not share a natural or adoptive
parent, but their respective parents are married to each other. Sets of
children who are stepsiblings to each other, with no common parent or sibling,
should be included in separate AGs.
(8) Stepparent Defined. The spouse of the
natural or adoptive parent. The income of a stepparent is deemed available to
the dependent child except when the stepparent marries the child's natural or
adoptive parent during the receipt of assistance. If assistance is terminated
and later resumed, this income exemption no longer applies.
(9) Minor Child Defined. A minor child is any
individual under eighteen (18) years of age.
(a) Minor Applicant. A minor applying for
assistance for his/her child must be included in the assistance group with said
child.
1. Parent(s) of a minor parent. The
income of a parent(s) living with a minor applicant is deemed available to the
assistance group. The parent of the minor parent may be added to the assistance
group if application is made and he/she is eligible. In such case, the minor
parent is the "dependent child."
(10) Pregnant Woman As An Applicant. An
assistance group may consist of one person, a pregnant woman if it has been
medically verified that the expected child is to be born within four months,
and the woman and expected child (if born) would meet all other eligibility
criteria.
(a) Abortion, Miscarriage or
Surrender for Adoption. Assistance to a pregnant woman is terminated at the
time the pregnant woman aborts the pregnancy, miscarries, or surrenders the
child for adoption.
(11)
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Recipients. An SSI recipient is any person
receiving Supplemental Security Income benefits from the Social Security
Administration.
(a) SSI recipients are
ineligible to be included in the assistance group. Their income/resources are
excluded for all other filing/assistance group members.
(b) The caretaker of an eligible SSI child
may be approved as the only assistance group member, if there are no other
eligible children in the home and the parent meets all other eligibility
criteria.
(12) Minor
Parents.
(a) A Families First applicant under
age 18, who has never been married and is pregnant or has a dependent child in
his/her care, must live in the home with his/her parent, legal guardian, or
other adult relative, or in a foster home, maternity home or other supportive
living arrangement supervised by an adult as a condition of eligibility for
herself or himself and the child.
(b) This requirement does not apply if:
1. The Department determines after
investigation that there is good cause for the separate living arrangement and
the health or safety of the applicant or the dependent child(ren) would be
jeopardized if they were required to live in one of the arrangements specified;
or
2. The person applying for
assistance has no parent, other adult relative or legal guardian whose
whereabouts are known; or
3. No
parent, other adult relative or legal guardian of the applicant allows the
applicant to live in his/her home; or
4. There is good cause not to require the
minor to comply with subparagraph (a). Good cause reasons may include, but are
not limited to such situations as illegal substance abuse, abuse of alcohol,
physical or mental abuse of the applicant or child, serious overcrowding in the
home, or dangerous or potentially dangerous physical environment in the home of
the adult relative, guardian, or other living arrangement.
(c) Failure to meet this requirement or to
have a good cause for failing to meet it results in ineligibility for the minor
parent and the child(ren).
(d) When
the minor parent meets the requirement or is found to have good cause for
failing to meet it:
1. Include the minor
parent in any existing Families First AG with his/her siblings, if she/he lives
in the home with a parent. The minor parent's child may be included in the AG,
as well, but cannot receive a separate grant.
2. Include only the minor and his/her
child(ren) in the AG when the minor's parent in the home does not receive
Families First or when the minor has been determined to meet the criteria for
maintaining a separate residence.
3. Deem the income of the non-recipient
parent living with a minor parent applicant/recipient as available to the
AG.
4. Name a payee to receive the
minor parent's grant when:
(i) The minor is
age 14 or under; or
(ii) The minor
parent lives with a parent, other adult relative or a legal guardian;
or
(iii) The services of a payee
are needed to assist the minor parent in managing the grant.
(e) Marriage does not
emancipate a minor for purposes of eligibility for Families First. However, a
married minor or a minor who has ever been married does not have to meet the
requirement to live with a parent, other adult relative, or legal guardian to
be eligible for Families First.
Authority: T.C.A. §§
4-5-201 et seq., 4-5-202, 4-5-209,
71-1-105, 71-1-105(12), 71-3-152, 71-3-153, 71-3-154, 71-3-154(k), and
71-3-158(d)(2)(D); 21 USC § 862a(d), 42 U.S.C. §§ 601 et seq.,
42 U.S.C.
603, 42 USC § 1315(a), Acts of 1996,
Chapter 950, Acts of 2002, Chapter 715, §§1, 2(July 1, 2002),
45 CFR
206.10 and
233.107, § 1115 of the Social
Security Act, and PL
104-193
§821(k), 45 C.F.R. § 233.90;
Deficit Reduction Act 2005 (
Pub. L.
109-171
§§ 7101 and 7102, February 8,
2006); 71 Federal Register 37454 (June 29, 2006); and Acts 2007, Chapter
31.
