WSR 01-23-044

PERMANENT RULES

DEPARTMENT OF

SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES
(Economic Services Administration)

[ Filed November 15, 2001, 4:31 p.m. , effective January 1, 2002 ]

Date of Adoption: November 13, 2001.

Purpose: WAC 388-450-0050 How are your cash assistance and food assistance benefits determined when you are participating in the community jobs (CJ) program? To amend the community jobs income rules to reflect the department's policy to not count the months the TANF/SFA grant is in suspense [suspension] toward the sixty-month lifetime limit.

Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 388-450-0050.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 74.04.050, 74.04.057, 74.04.510.

Adopted under notice filed as WSR 01-20-076 on October 1, 2001.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Effective Date of Rule: January 1, 2002.

November 13, 2001

Brian H. Lindgren, Manager

Rules and Policies Assistance Unit

2998.2
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 99-09-054, filed 4/19/99, effective 6/1/99)

WAC 388-450-0050   How are your cash assistance and food assistance benefits determined when you are participating in the community jobs (CJ) program?   (1) When you work in the community jobs (CJ) program, you get part of your money from the job and part as a TANF grant. The department estimates your total monthly income from your ((community jobs ())CJ(())) position based on the number of hours you, your case manager and the CJ contractor expect you to work for the month ((multiplied)). We multiply the number of hours by the federal or state minimum wage, whichever is higher, to get your monthly income.

(2) Once ((the department)) we determine((s)) what your total monthly income is expected to be ((the department will not redetermine your cash benefit amount even if you do not work the number of hours you were expected to work)) , we do not change your TANF grant if your actual hours are more or less than anticipated.

(3) ((The department considers)) We treat the total income ((it)) we expect((s)) you to get each month from your CJ position as:

(a) Earned income for ((determining your)) cash assistance ((benefits)).

(b) Unearned income for ((determining your)) food assistance ((benefits)).

(4) ((When determining your benefits the department will use:

(a) One-half of your CJ income for figuring cash assistance benefits for the second and following months of your CJ participation. The department will not use any of the CJ income you receive in your first month of CJ participation to determine your cash assistance benefit amount for that month.

(b) All of your CJ income for figuring food assistance benefits.

(5) Monthly reports are not required for CJ participants.

(6))) For cash assistance, we do not count any of the CJ income that you get in the first month that you work in the CJ position.

(5) If your anticipated CJ income is more than your grant amount((:

(a))), your cash grant ((will be )) is suspended((, see WAC 388-450-0245(1). The grant suspension can be up to a maximum of nine months; and

(b) Each month your cash grant is suspended will count toward your assistance unit's sixty month lifetime time limit, see WAC 388-484-0005.

(7) You, your case manager and the CJ contractor will review your CJ position every ninety days during your nine-month placement. During this review they will look at:

(a) Your continued TANF/SFA eligibility; and

(b) Any earned or unearned income received by you or another member of your assistance unit)). This means that you are considered to be a TANF/SFA recipient, but you do not get a grant.

(a) The grant suspension can be up to a maximum of nine months.

(b) As long as you would be eligible for a grant if we did not count your CJ income, you can keep participating in CJ even though your grant is suspended.

(c) The months your grant is suspended do not count toward your sixty month lifetime limit.

(6) If your income from other sources alone not counting CJ income makes you ineligible for a cash grant, we terminate your grant and end your participation in CJ.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057 and 74.08.090. 99-09-054, 388-450-0050, filed 4/19/99, effective 6/1/99; 98-16-044, 388-450-0050, filed 7/31/98, effective 9/1/98.]

Washington State Code Reviser's Office