Current through August 26, 2024
(1) CRITERIA. The
emergency assistance group shall meet all of the following nonfinancial
eligibility criteria:
(a) The group members
shall live in Wisconsin and intend to reside in Wisconsin, except a migrant
worker is not required to meet the requirement as to intent to reside in
Wisconsin. A never-married child under age 18 is a Wisconsin resident when he
or she is under the legal custody of the department or an agency, regardless of
the state in which he or she is living. Wisconsin residence shall not be lost
when a dependent child or caretaker relative is temporarily absent from
Wisconsin for the purpose of visiting, hospitalization, or education.
(b) The group members are citizens or
qualifying aliens as defined in s.
DCF 101.09(2)
(c).
(c) The child for whom assistance is
requested is or, within 6 months prior to the month of application for
emergency assistance, was living with a qualified caretaker relative in a place
of residence maintained as the caretaker relative's own home and is anticipated
to live with the qualified caretaker relative in the month following the
application date.
(d) Assistance is
needed to avoid destitution of the child or to provide a living arrangement for
the child in a home.
(e) The
child's destitution or need for living arrangements did not result from the
child or a qualified caretaker relative refusing without good cause to accept
employment or training for employment.
(em) An individual under 18 years of age is
ineligible to be a qualified caretaker relative unless:
1. The individual is or has ever been
married.
2. The individual has no
parent, legal guardian, or other appropriate adult relative who would meet
applicable criteria to act as the individual's legal guardian who is living or
whose whereabouts are known.
3. No
living parent, legal guardian, or other appropriate adult relative who would
meet applicable criteria to act as the individual's legal guardian allows the
individual to live in the home of the parent, guardian, or relative.
4. The individual or the child for whom
assistance is requested is being or has been subjected to serious physical or
emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation in the residence of the
individual's own parent or legal guardian.
5. Substantial evidence exists of an act or
failure to act that presents an imminent or serious harm if the individual and
the minor child lived in the same residence with the individual's own parent or
legal guardian.
6. The W-2 agency
otherwise determines that it is in the best interest of the individual's child
to waive the general prohibition on assistance to unmarried caretakers who are
under 18 years of age.
(f) As determined by the agency, the group's
need has resulted from an emergency due to one or more of the following causes:
1. Fire.
2. Flood.
3. A natural disaster such as a tornado,
earthquake, electrical storm, windstorm, hail, sleet, a mud or rock slide, or a
natural explosion such as lightning striking an object that then
explodes.
4. Homelessness as
determined under sub. (2). The cause of the homelessness need not be the result
of a natural disaster.
5. Impending
homelessness as determined under sub. (3).
6. An energy crisis, as determined under sub.
(4).
(2)
ELIGIBILITY DUE TO HOMELESSNESS. An emergency assistance group shall be
considered homeless for purposes of determining nonfinancial eligibility under
sub. (1) if the group needs emergency assistance to obtain a permanent living
accommodation and if any of the following conditions apply:
(a) The group lacks a fixed, regular, and
adequate nighttime residence.
(b)
The group has a current residence that is a shelter designed for temporary
accommodation such as a motel, hotel, or emergency shelter facility.
(c) The group has already left its current
housing because it is uninhabitable as determined by the local building
inspector, the local health department, or other appropriate local
authority.
(d) The group is living
in a place that is not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping
accommodation.
(e) A member of the
group was subject to domestic abuse as defined under s.
968.075(1) (a), Stats.
(3) ELIGIBILITY DUE TO IMPENDING
HOMELESSNESS. An emergency assistance group shall be considered to be facing
impending homelessness for purposes of determining nonfinancial eligibility
under sub. (1) if any of the following apply:
(a) The emergency assistance group is
experiencing a financial crisis that makes it very difficult to make a rent
payment, mortgage payment, or property tax payment and the group has been
notified that it will be required to leave its current housing if it does not
make that payment immediately. The W-2 agency shall verify the following:
1. The emergency assistance group is
experiencing a financial crisis due to reasons that are either beyond the
control of an adult member of the group or that constitute good cause as
determined by the W-2 agency.
2.
The financial crisis was caused by one or more of the following:
a. Loss of employment that does not include
voluntarily leaving appropriate employment without good cause.
b. Substantial loss of wages due to illness
or injury of a group member, domestic violence, lack of child care, a
transportation breakdown, or a reduction of work hours by an
employer.
c. Loss of income due to
a second parent leaving the group.
d. Exceptional, unexpected, and necessary
expenses that are not the responsibility of a third party, such as car repair
expenses necessary for transportation to work or medical expenses required to
be paid.
e. Loss of W-2 benefits
due to a sanction that is subsequently overturned through the dispute
resolution process under s.
49.152,
Stats.
f. Other reasonable
circumstances as determined by the W-2 agency.
3. The emergency assistance group has
received at least one of the following notices:
a. A notice terminating tenancy for failure
to pay rent that meets the minimum requirements of s.
704.17,
Stats.
b. A summons and complaint
for an eviction action which is based on failure to pay rent.
c. A notice of foreclosure for failure to pay
property taxes or a mortgage.
d. A
summons and complaint for a foreclosure action that is based on failure to pay
property taxes or a mortgage.
e. A
writ of assistance, notice of sale, or other verifiable documentation that a
foreclosure judgment has been entered against a member of the emergency
assistance group and the group will be required to vacate the premises
imminently.
Note: Section
799.40(4),
Stats., provides: "The court shall stay the proceedings in a civil action of
eviction if the tenant applies for emergency assistance under s.
49.138,
except that no stay may be granted under this paragraph after a writ of
restitution has been issued in the proceedings. If a stay is granted, the
tenant shall inform the court of the outcome of the determination of
eligibility for emergency assistance. The stay remains in effect until the
tenant's eligibility for emergency assistance is determined and, if the tenant
is determined to be eligible, until the tenant receives the emergency
assistance, except that the stay may not remain in effect for more than 10
working days, as defined in s.
227.01(14)."
(b)
1. The
emergency assistance group has received written or oral notice that the group
will be removed from their rental housing because of a foreclosure action
against the owner.
2. The removal
of the group from the rental housing is scheduled to occur within 30
days.
3. The group needs emergency
assistance to obtain a new permanent living accommodation.
4. The W-2 agency has verified subd. 1. to
3.
(c) The group has to
leave its current housing because it is uninhabitable as determined by the
local building inspector, the local health department, or other appropriate
local authority and the group needs emergency assistance to obtain a new
permanent living accommodation.
(d)
A member of the group was subject to domestic abuse as defined under s.
968.075(1) (a), Stats., and the group needs emergency
assistance to obtain a new permanent living accommodation or retain a current
permanent living accommodation.
(4) ELIGIBILITY DUE TO ENERGY CRISIS. An
emergency assistance group is eligible for assistance due to an energy crisis
if all of the following apply
(a) The group
has exhausted resources available through the Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance
Program, assistance available through a local utility company as required by
the public service commission, and any other available energy resources. In
this paragraph, "exhausted resources" means either that the group has been
denied services from the other sources or other funding sources do not cover
the full cost of the group's energy crisis.
(b) The group needs financial assistance to
obtain or maintain heat, electricity, water, or sewer service provided by a
utility company.
(c) The lack of,
or imminent lack of, utility service providing heat, electricity, water, or
sewer is or is likely to be an immediate threat to the health or safety of the
group.
(d) The energy crisis is due
to reasons beyond the control of adult members of the group or constitute good
cause as determined by the W-2 agency.
For more information on the Wisconsin Home Energy
Assistance Program (WHEAP), call 1-866-HEATWIS (1-866-432-8947) or click on
"where to apply" at http://www.homeenergyplus.wi.gov/. For more information on
utility assistance required by the Public Service Commission, see PSC 113, PSC
134, and PSC 185. For concerns about utility service, contact the Public
Service Commission at 1-800-225-7729 or the "contact us" section of
http://psc.wi.gov.
