WSR 97-20-056

PERMANENT RULES

DEPARTMENT OF

SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES

(Economic Services Administration)

(Public Assistance)

[Filed September 24, 1997, 2:10 p.m.]

Date of Adoption: September 24, 1997.

Purpose: To comply with the federal requirement in Public Law 104-193 and state legislation, EHB 3901 (1997), which (1) denies temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) benefits to families that include an adult who has received TANF for sixty months beginning August 1, 1997, and (2) repeals Washington state's success through employment program (STEP) waiver.

Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing chapter 388-201 WAC, Success through employment program (STEP); and amending WAC 388-215-1010 Five year lifetime time limit.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 74.04.050 and 74.04.055.

Other Authority: Public Law 104-193, Section 103 (a)(1), EHB 3901, sections 103 and 105 (1997).

Adopted under notice filed as WSR 97-15-031 on July 9, 1997.

Changes Other than Editing from Proposed to Adopted Version: The term "Indian country" was substituted for "Indian reservation," and the 1,000-person minimum population requirement for reservations and Alaskan Native villages has been eliminated per recent federal legislation. A statement was also added to clarify that an adult who has received the maximum of sixty months of TANF cannot be excluded from the assistance unit. A definition of minor child head of household has been added.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 1, amended 0, repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, amended 0, repealed 1.

Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.

Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.

September 34, 1997

Merry A. Kogut, Manager

Rules and Policies Assistance Unit

NEW SECTION

WAC 388-215-1010 Five year lifetime time limits. (1) The department shall deny TANF to any family that includes an adult who has received TANF for sixty months after August 1, 1997.

(2) An adult, who may be excluded from the family assistance unit for factors not related to need as specified in WAC 388-215-1620, cannot be excluded solely for having received TANF for sixty months.

(3) In calculating the number of months an adult family member has received TANF for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section, the department shall disregard any month in which the adult received TANF:

(a) As a minor child who was not the head of a household or married to the head of a household. For the purposes of this subsection, a minor child is not the head of a household when residing with a parent, legal guardian, or other adult relative, or living in a department-approved living arrangement under the supervision of a non-related adult; or

(b) While living in Indian country or an Alaskan Native village, if during the month the individual received TANF at least fifty percent of the adults living on the reservation or in the village were unemployed.

(4) After an individual has received fifty-two months of TANF, the department may exempt that person from the requirements of subsection (1) of this section for reasons of hardship or family violence, provided the total number of exempted TANF cases does not exceed twenty percent of the average monthly number of cases statewide during a fiscal year.

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REPEALER

The following chapter of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed: