SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 979
89TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR CURLS.
Read 1st time February 26, 1998, and 1,000 copies ordered printed.
TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.
S4012.01I
AN ACT
To repeal section 208.040, RSMo 1994, relating to eligibility standards for public assistance, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to the same subject.
Section A. Section 208.040, RSMo 1994, is repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 208.040 and 1, to read as follows:
208.040. 1. Aid to families with dependent children shall be granted on behalf of a dependent child or children and may be granted to the parents or other needy eligible relative caring for a dependent child or children who:
(1) Is under the age of eighteen years; or is under the age of nineteen years and a full-time student in a secondary school (or at the equivalent level of vocational or technical training), if before the child attains the age of nineteen the child may reasonably be expected to complete the program of the secondary school (or vocational or technical training);
(2) Has been deprived of parental support or care by reason of the death, continued absence from the home, or physical or mental incapacity of a parent, and who is living with father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, stepsister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew or niece, in a place of residence maintained by one or more of such relatives as the child's own home, and financial aid for such child is necessary to save the child from neglect and to secure for the child proper care in such home. Physical or mental incapacity shall be certified to by competent medical or other appropriate authority designated by the division of family services, and such certificate is hereby declared to be competent evidence in any proceedings concerning the eligibility of such claimant to receive aid to families with dependent children benefits. Benefits may be granted and continued for this reason only while it is the judgment of the division of family services that a physical or mental defect, illness or disability exists which prevents the parent from performing any gainful work;
(3) Is not receiving supplemental aid to the blind, blind pension, supplemental payments, or aid or public relief as an unemployable person;
(4) Is a resident of the state of Missouri.
2. The division of family services shall require as additional conditions of eligibility for benefits that each applicant for or recipient of aid:
(1) Shall furnish to the division the applicant or recipient's social security number or numbers, if the applicant or recipient has more than one such number;
(2) Shall assign to the division of family services in behalf of the state any rights to support from any other person such applicant may have in the applicant's own behalf or in behalf of any other family member for whom the applicant is applying for or receiving aid. An application for benefits made under this section shall constitute an assignment of support rights which shall take effect, by operation of law, upon a determination that the applicant is eligible for assistance under this section. The assignment is effective as to both current and accrued support obligations and authorizes the division of child support enforcement of the department of social services to bring any administrative or judicial action to establish or enforce a current support obligation, to collect support arrearages accrued under an existing order for support, or to seek reimbursement of support provided by the division;
(3) Shall cooperate with the divisions of family services and of child support enforcement unless the division of family services determines in accordance with federally prescribed standards that such cooperation is contrary to the best interests of the child on whose behalf aid is claimed or to the caretaker of such child, in establishing the paternity of a child born out of wedlock with respect to whom aid is claimed, and in obtaining support payments for such applicant and for a child with respect to whom such aid is claimed, or in obtaining any other payments or property due such applicant or such child. The divisions of family services and of child support enforcement shall impose all penalties allowed pursuant to federal participation requirements;
(4) Shall cooperate with the department of social services in identifying and providing information to assist the state in pursuing any third party who may be liable to pay for care and services available under the state's plan for medical assistance as provided in section 208.152, unless such individual has good cause for refusing to cooperate as determined by the department of social services in accordance with federally prescribed standards; and
(5) Shall participate in any program designed to reduce the recipient's dependence on welfare, if requested to do so by the department of social services.
3. The division shall require as a condition of eligibility for AFDC benefits that a minor child under the age of eighteen who has never married and who has a dependent child in his or her care, or who is pregnant and otherwise eligible for AFDC benefits, shall reside in a place of residence maintained by a parent, legal guardian, or other adult relative or in some other adult-supervised supportive living arrangement, as required by section 403 of P.L. 100-485. Exceptions to the requirements of this subsection shall be allowed in accordance with requirements of the federal Family Support Act of 1988 in any of the following circumstances:
(1) The individual has no parent or legal guardian who is living or the whereabouts of the individual's parent or legal guardian is unknown; or
(2) The division of family services determines that the physical health or safety of the individual or the child of the individual would be jeopardized; or
(3) The individual has lived apart from any parent or legal guardian for a period of at least one year prior to the birth of the child or applying for benefits; or
(4) The individual claims to be or to have been the victim of abuse while residing in the home where she would be required to reside and the case has been referred to the child abuse hotline and a "reason to suspect finding" has been made. Households where the individual resides with a parent, legal guardian or other adult relative or in some other adult-supervised supportive living arrangement shall, subject to federal waiver to retain full federal financial participation and appropriation, have earned income disregarded from eligibility determinations up to one hundred percent of the federal poverty level.
4. If the relative with whom a child is living is found to be ineligible because of refusal to cooperate as required in subdivision (3) of subsection 2 of this section, any aid for which such child is eligible will be paid in the manner provided in subsection 2 of section 208.180, without regard to subsections 1 and 2 of this section.
5. The department of social services may implement policies designed to reduce a family's dependence on welfare. The department of social services is authorized to implement these policies by rule promulgated pursuant to section 660.017, RSMo, and chapter 536, RSMo, either statewide or as pilot projects, in certain geographic areas, subject to obtaining necessary federal waivers and appropriation authority, and in compliance with state statutes. These policies may include:
(1) Increasing the earned income and resource disregards allowed recipients to help families achieve a gradual transition to self-sufficiency, including implementing policies to simplify employment-related eligibility standards by increasing the earned income disregard to two-thirds by July 1, 1998;
(2) Supplementing wages for recipients for the lesser of forty-eight months or the length of the recipient's employment by diverting the aid to families with dependent children grant to employers who hire such recipients, provided that the department of social services shall develop a methodology and a process for addressing instances where a regular employee claims job loss because of replacement solely due to the employer's preference for hiring a worker whose wage is supplemented by an aid to families with dependent children grant.
6. [Upon receipt of a federal waiver which allows such,] The work history requirements and definition of "unemployed" shall not apply to any parents [under age twenty-one] in order for these parents to be eligible for assistance [under] pursuant to section 208.041.
Section 1. 1. The department shall continue to apply uniform standards of eligibility and benefits in all political subdivisions of the state.
2. The department shall establish eligibility requirements that are no more restrictive than its July 16, 1996, eligibility requirements in determining eligibility for cash assistance benefits.
3. Unless otherwise provided for by statute, the department shall apply the food stamp program's rule regarding resources when determining eligibility for cash assistance benefits. The receipt of a lump sum payment shall be counted as a resource, rather than income, in determining eligibility for food stamps and cash assistance provided pursuant to the Missouri work first/temporary assistance program.
4. The department shall revise its cash assistance resource limits. The department shall adopt the resource limits previously allowed only for those individuals signing a self-sufficiency pact and participating in the Missouri families mutual responsibility plan. Every recipient of any cash assistance benefits shall receive the benefit of the five thousand dollar resource limit, all other real and personal property exclusions, and vehicle exclusions provided to those recipients who have been participating in the state's waiver program.