FINAL BILL REPORT

SSB 6624

                             C 6 L 90 E1

BYSenate Committee on Ways & Means (originally sponsored by Senators McDonald and Stratton; by request of Office of Financial Management)

Changing provisions relating to the family independence program.

Senate Committee on Ways & Means

House Committe on Appropriations

SYNOPSIS AS ENACTED

BACKGROUND:

All persons with dependent children who apply for public assistance whose income, assets and resources do not exceed eligibility limits are entitled to enroll in and receive any enhanced income and medical benefits wherever the Family Independence Program (FIP) is implemented.  Subject to the availability of funds, DSHS may authorize benefits for additional categories of public assistance clients.  There are no provisions which permit the department to restrict the availability of enhanced program benefits by slowing or halting new enrollment in the event that projected operating costs exceed budget appropriations.  Concern has been expressed that the administration lacks the necessary tools to control caseload and expenditure growth attributed to the availability of the Family Independence Program in 15 community social service areas statewide.

The FIP Executive Committee is the administrative body charged by the Legislature with program oversight.  After consulting with advisory boards, the FIP Executive Committee may authorize select program changes as deemed necessary to manage within existing resources.  Current discretionary powers include the authority to:

(1) revise the level and type of enhanced program benefits, including cash incentives available for training, education or employment participants provided that no recipient receives less financial assistance than would otherwise be available under the federal Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) Program and Food Stamp Program;

(2) allow (or disallow) cash incentives paid to participants attending higher education or vocational institutions;

(3) establish rules for the treatment of earned and unearned income provided such regulations do not violate federal and state resource exclusions as outlined in federal code or state statute;

(4) condition enhanced program benefits upon mandatory participation by select clients as prescribed in statute and to impose administrative sanctions thereto;

(5) establish conditions under which child care and other related social services will be provided;

(6) establish copayment requirements for non-cash benefits;

(7) establish the frequency and method for redetermining eligibility.

SUMMARY:

The Family Independence Program (FIP) is a demonstration project subject to periodic review and modification by the FIP Executive Committee as necessary to further state policy and to manage the program within available funds.

Treatment sites are those five community social service delivery areas selected by the federal government for data collection to draw program and fiscal comparisons between the federal Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and welfare reform provisions of the Family Independence Program.

The participation of caretaker relatives in the Family Independence Program is restricted.  Caretaker relatives are those guardians whose personal resources and earnings disqualify them for AFDC benefits.  Such relatives may, under federal law, receive income assistance grants but only in recognition of qualifying dependent children in their household.  For the purpose of federal cost neutrality, caretaker relatives who reside in a community where FIP is offered are classified as AFDC rather than FIP.

The FIP Executive Committee's powers are expanded.  New discretionary powers would include the authority to:

(1) periodically review administrative data and evaluation reports;

(2) modify program operations so long as changes do not conflict with prior agreements reached between state and federal governments.  These waivers condition the state's operation of a welfare demonstration project.  Consultation with the FIP independent evaluator (the Urban Institute) must precede any program modifications;

(3) periodically stop enrollments in family independence program sites, except for the five treatment sites, until such time as sufficient funds become available to reopen enrollments;

(4) prescribe rules by which conversion to FIP from AFDC is allowed;

(5) transfer cases from the Family Independence Program to the Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program when only the children are eligible for benefits because they reside with a caretaker relative who is not also eligible for income assistance.

FIP enrollees who are employed on a fulltime basis and who earn less than 135 percent of the benchmark standard (equivalent to the AFDC payment standard, adjusted for family size plus the cash equivalent of food stamps) are reassessed to determine if current employment is likely to move the family into noncash benefit status within one year.  These suspended cases lose enhanced FIP benefits after one year unless a new self-sufficiency plan is developed and progress towards revised goals commence.  In the event that nothing changes, termination of FIP benefits after one year may not result in less financial assistance than the family is entitled to under AFDC.

The Executive Committee shall consult with the Legislative Budget Committee before implementing program modifications. 

State amendments accomplished by this act which later prove to be a violation of federal and state agreements shall not be implemented.

VOTES ON FINAL PASSAGE:

     Senate   30   19

First Special Session

     Senate   46    0

     House 94  1

EFFECTIVE:April 2, 1990