WSR 19-08-066
PERMANENT RULES
DEPARTMENT OF
SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES
(Economic Services Administration)
[Filed March 29, 2019, 4:10 p.m., effective May 1, 2019]
Effective Date of Rule: May 1, 2019.
Purpose: The department is amending WAC 388-410-0005 Cash assistance overpayment amount and liability, to change which members of a household are and are not responsible for temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) overpayments. Under this change, children will not be responsible for TANF overpayments and circumstances in which overpayments are recovered from nonneedy caretaker relatives or guardians.
Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 388-410-0005.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 19-03-098 on January 15, 2019.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: March 29, 2019.
Katherine I. Vasquez
Rules Coordinator
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 13-18-004, filed 8/22/13, effective 10/1/13)
WAC 388-410-0005Cash assistance overpayment amount and liability.
(1) The amount of overpayment for cash assistance households is determined by the amount of assistance received to which the assistance unit was not entitled.
(2) Cash overpayments are recovered from:
(a) Any individual member of an overpaid assistance unit, whether or not the member is currently a recipient; ((or))
(b) Any assistance unit of which a member of the overpaid assistance unit has subsequently become a member; or
(c) A nonneedy caretaker relative or guardian who received the overpayment on behalf of a child.
(3) A cash assistance overpayment is not recovered from:
(a) A nonneedy caretaker relative or guardian who ((received no financial benefit from the payment of))did not receive the overpayment on behalf of a child;
(b) A child who was in the assistance unit at the time the overpayment was accrued;
(c) A nonneedy caretaker relative or guardian who was assessed an overpayment for a child who is not currently part of the assistance unit; or
(((b)))(d) A person not receiving assistance when an unintentional overpayment of less than thirty-five dollars is discovered ((and/or)), computed, or both.
(4) Overpayments resulting from incorrectly received cash assistance are reduced by:
(a) Cash assistance a household would have been eligible to receive from any other category of cash assistance during the period of ineligibility; and
(b) Child support the department collected for the month of overpayment in excess of the amount specified in (a) of this subsection; or
(c) Any existing grant underpayments.
(5) A cash assistance overpayment cannot be reduced by a food assistance underpayment.
(6) An underpayment from one assistance unit cannot be credited to another assistance unit to offset an overpayment.
(7) All overpayments occurring after January 1, 1982 are required to be repaid by mandatory grant deduction except where recovery is inequitable as specified in WAC 388-410-0010.