[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 160 (Friday, August 16, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42628-42635]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-20938]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
New and Pending Demonstration Project Proposals Submitted
Pursuant to Section 1115(a) of the Social Security Act: July 1996
AGENCY: Administration for Children and Families, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice lists new proposals for welfare reform and
combined welfare reform/Medicaid demonstration projects submitted to
the Department of Health and Human Services for the month of July,
1996. It includes both those proposals being considered under the
standard waiver process and those being considered under the 30 day
process. Federal approval for the proposals has been requested pursuant
to section 1115 of the Social Security Act. This notice also lists
proposals that were previously submitted and are still pending a
decision and projects that have been approved since July 1, 1995. The
Health Care Financing Administration is publishing a separate notice
for Medicaid only demonstration projects.
Comments: We will accept written comments on these proposals. We
will, if feasible, acknowledge receipt of all comments, but we will not
provide written responses to comments. We will, however, neither
approve nor disapprove new proposals under the standard application
process for at least 30 days after the date of this notice to allow
time to receive and consider comments. Direct comments as indicated
below.
ADDRESSES: For specific information or questions on the content of a
project contact the State contact listed for that project.
[[Page 42629]]
Comments on a proposal or requests for copies of a proposal should
be addressed to: Howard Rolston, Administration for Children and
Families, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W., Aerospace Building, 7th Floor
West, Washington DC 20447. Fax: (202) 205-3598; Phone: (202) 401-9220.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Under Section 1115 of the Social Security Act (the Act), the
Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) may approve research and
demonstration project proposals with a broad range of policy
objectives.
In exercising her discretionary authority, the Secretary has
developed a number of policies and procedures for reviewing proposals.
On September 27, 1994, we published a notice in the Federal Register
(59 FR 49249) that specified (1) the principles that we ordinarily will
consider when approving or disapproving demonstration projects under
the authority in section 1115(a) of the Act; (2) the procedures we
expect States to use in involving the public in the development of
proposed demonstration projects under section 1115; and (3) the
procedures we ordinarily will follow in reviewing demonstration
proposals. We are committed to a thorough and expeditious review of
State requests to conduct such demonstrations.
On August 16, 1995, the Secretary published a notice in the Federal
Register (60 FR 42574) exercising her discretion to request proposals
testing welfare reform strategies in five areas. Since such projects
can only incorporate provisions included in that announcement, they are
not subject to the Federal notice procedures. The Secretary proposed a
30 day approval process for those provisions. As previously noted, this
notice lists all new or pending welfare reform demonstration proposals
under section 1115. Where possible, we have identified the proposals
being considered under the 30 day process. However, the Secretary
reserves the right to exercise her discretion to consider any proposal
under the 30 day process if it meets the criteria in the five specified
areas and the State requests it or concurs.
II. Listing of New and Pending Proposals for the Month of July,
1996
As part of our procedures, we are publishing a monthly notice in
the Federal Register of all new and pending proposals. This notice
contains proposals for the month of July, 1996.
Project Title: California--Work Pays Demonstration Project
(Amendment).
Description: Would amend Work Pays Demonstration Project by adding
provisions to: reduce benefit levels by 10% (but retaining the need
level); reduce benefits an additional 15% after 6 months on assistance
for cases with an able-bodied adult; time-limit assistance to able-
bodied adults to 24 months, and not increase benefits for children
conceived while receiving AFDC.
Date Received: 3/14/94.
Type: AFDC.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Glen Brooks, (916) 657-3291.
Project Title: California--Work Pays Demonstration Project
(Amendment).
Description: Would amend the Work Pays Demonstration Project by
adding provisions to not increasing AFDC benefits to families for
additional children conceived while receiving AFDC.
Date Received: 11/9/94.
Type: AFDC.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Bruce Wagstaff, (916) 657-2367.
Project Title: California--Assistance Payments Demonstration
Project/California Work Pays Demonstration Project (Amendment).
Description: Would amend the Assistance Payments Demonstration
Project/California Work Pays Demonstration Project by adding provisions
to California to allow two additional AFDC benefit reductions: (1)
Reduce the Maximum Aid Payment (MAP) by 4.9 percent across-the-board
statewide; and (2) divide California counties into two regions based on
housing costs, and reduce both the Need Standard and the MAP in the
region with the lower costs. In addition, the State is requesting
blanket authority for future reductions in AFDC payment levels in
conjunction with welfare reform state law changes.
Date Received: 3/13/96.
Type: AFDC/Medicaid.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Bruce Wagstaff, (916) 657-2367.
Project Title: California--Assistance Payments Demonstration
Project/California Work Pays Demonstration Project (Amendment).
Description: Would amend the Assistance Payments Demonstration
Project/California Work Pays Demonstration Project by adding provisions
to allow one additional provision: income of a senior parent living in
the same household with a minor parent with a dependent child will not
be deemed to the minor parent's child.
Date Received: 3/13/96.
Type: AFDC.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Bruce Wagstaff, (916) 657-2367.
Project Title: Georgia--Jobs First Project.
Description: In ten pilot counties, would replace AFDC payment with
paid employment; extend transitional Medicaid to 24 months; eliminate
100 hour employment rule for eligibility determination in AFDC-UP
cases.
Date Received: 7/5/94.
Type: AFDC.
Current Status: Pending (not previously published).
Contact Person: Nancy Meszaros, (404) 657-3608.
Project Title: Georgia--Fraud Detection Project.
Description: Would seek to reduce the incidence of fraud in the
AFDC and Food Stamps programs by imposing stronger penalties on
individuals convicted of committing such fraud. Georgia proposes to
change the fraud penalty to one year for the first violation and
permanently for the second violation.
Date Received: 7/1/96.
Type: AFDC.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Betty Williams-Kirby, (404) 657-3604.
Project Title: Hawaii--Pursuit Of New Opportunities (PONO).
Description: Would, limit benefits to 60 months in a lifetime for
all households except those exempt from work requirements; for all non-
exempt households, progressively reduce the grant amount, by 20% after
2 months, then in annual stages to 50% in the fifth year of
eligibility; exclude the income of dependent, minor student recipients
from the 185% Gross Income Test; require all non-high school graduate
or non-GED certified minor parent heads of households to participate in
educational activities; use a Benefit Reduction Rate formula to allow
participants to offset progressive grant reductions by keeping a larger
portion of any earned income; eliminate all of AFDC-UP categorical
requirements; strengthen JOBS participation requirements by eliminating
certain exemptions such as, remoteness due to excessive travel time,
current work activity, the non-principal earner in a two parent
household, or full-time VISTA participants, etc.; allow families to
retain up to $5,000 in resources; disregard one motor vehicle,
regardless of equity value, needed for self-sufficiency purposes;
delete the $50
[[Page 42630]]
child support pass-through; disregard all student loans, grants and
scholarships as income.
Date Received: 05/07/96.
Type: AFDC.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Kristine Foster, (808) 586-5729.
Project Title: Indiana--Impacting Families Welfare Reform
Demonstration--Amendments.
Description: Statewide, proposes expansions and amendments to
current demonstration to impose a lifetime 24-month limit on cash
assistance and categorical Medicaid eligibility (12 months for resident
alien); allow 1 month AFDC credit (to a maximum of 24 at any one time)
for each 6 consecutive months full-time employment; count each month of
AFDC receipt from another state within the previous 3 years as 1 month
against the lifetime limit; restrict permissible ``specified
relatives'' for AFDC children and minor parents; extend AFDC, Medicaid,
and food stamp fraud disqualification penalties; establish 3 unexcused
absences per year as the statewide definition of unacceptable school
attendance; provide a voucher equal to 50% of assistance amount for
family cap child for goods and services related to child care; divert
AFDC grants to subsidize child care costs; establish an option for an
employed AFDC recipient to receive guaranteed child care or an AFDC
payment equal to the family's benefit before employment; require a
child's mother to establish paternity as a condition of eligibility for
the child and the caretaker; establish additional conditions of
eligibility for AFDC; impose penalties for illegal drug use; base CWEP
hours on the combined value of AFDC and Medicaid assistance; make JOBS
volunteers subject to the same sanctions as mandatory participants;
continue eligibility for AFDC recipients until countable income reaches
100% of the federal poverty guidelines; expand voluntary quit
definition and penalties; impose income limits on transitional Medicaid
and child care and limit each to 12 months in a person's lifetime; with
some exceptions, deny Medicaid under all coverage provisions to those
determined ineligible as a result of AFDC welfare reform provisions;
restrict Medicaid payments made to employees with employer's health
care benefits to the lesser of the employee's insurance premium or the
amount the state would otherwise pay; and require minor parents to live
with a legally responsible adult and count the income and resources of
non-parent adults. Additional provisions: Food Stamp recipients could
be required to participate CWEP and job search; increase AFDC and Food
Stamp penalties for non-compliance with CWEP and job search; require
cooperation with child support as condition of eligibility for Food
Stamps.
Date Received: 12/14/95; Amendment received 2/6/96.
Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: James H. Hmurovich, (317) 232-4704.
Project Title: Kansas--Actively Creating Tomorrow for Families
Demonstration.
Description: Amended pending demonstration to provide that the
demonstration would: replace $30 and \1/3\ income disregard with
continuous 40% disregard; disregard lump sum income, income and
resources of children in school and interest income; count income and
resources of adults, and at State option children, who receive SSI;
exempt one vehicle without regard for equity value; eliminate 100-hour
rule and work history requirements for UP cases; expand AFDC
eligibility to pregnant women in 1st and 2nd trimesters; eliminate
eight week job search limitation; allow alcohol and drug screening and
treatment as a JOBS activity; eliminate the 20-hour work requirement
limit for parents with children under 6; delay the effective date of
changes in household composition; make work requirements in the AFDC
and Food Stamp programs more uniform; and increase sanctions for not
cooperating with child support enforcement activities and violations of
employment and JOBS requirements.
Date Received: 7/26/94; amendment received 4/30/96.
Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Diane Dystra, (913) 296-3028.
Project Title: Maryland.
Description: Statewide, would expand, with some modifications,
previously approved Family Investment Program (FIP) pilot county
provisions to be statewide and introduce new provisions: Replace the
current $90 and $30-and-one-third exclusions with a flat 20% earned
income deduction, 50% for self-employed earned income; limit the child
care disregard to $175 in all cases; allow case managers to set AFDC
certification periods up to 1 year and require eligibility to be re-
established before the end of each certification period; modify JOBS
exemption requirements; allow $2,000 in countable resources and exclude
one vehicle per household, life insurance, and certain real property;
count stepparent income only if it is more than 50% of the poverty
level; allow non-custodial parents and stepparents to participate in
JOBS; provide welfare avoidance grants of up to 3 months benefit amount
(up to 12 months in special circumstances); allow IV-A child care funds
in lieu of AFDC for families diverted from cash assistance; impose
immediate full-family sanctions for fraud and for failure to cooperate
with JOBS or child support enforcement requirements; reduce the adverse
notification period to 5 days; eliminate the $50 child support pass-
through; allow only 1 assistance unit per family or payee; eliminate
deprivation as an eligibility factor; change treatment of lump sums;
eliminate JOBS assessment and employability plans; and modify JOBS
program requirements.
Date Received: 4/26/96.
Type: AFDC.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Kathy Cook, (410) 767-7055.
Project Title: To Strengthen Michigan Families (Amendments).
Description: Statewide, would require attendance at a joint
orientation held by the Michigan Jobs Commission and the Family
Independence Agency for all adult AFDC, Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA),
and food stamp applicants and recipients as a condition of eligibility;
during the first 2 months of eligibility for benefits, remove full
family's AFDC, RCA, and food stamp benefits for non-compliance with
JOBS or Food Stamp Program (FSP) employment and training (E&T)
requirements, for a minimum of one month; after the first two months of
eligibility, reduce grant by 25 percent for noncompliance with work
requirements and after 4 months of noncompliance close the case for a
minimum of one month or until compliance; after 4 months non-compliance
with child support enforcement requirements close the case until
compliance; increase the asset limit to $3,000, count only liquid
assets, and treat all lump sums as liquid assets rather than income for
AFDC and FSP; modify redetermination requirements for AFDC and FSP;
deny AFDC benefits to persons who have entered the State for employment
purposes but do not intend to remain in Michigan; provide for the
immediate effect of negative actions, allow specific case changes to be
reflected in the month following the month of change, and create an
agency overpayment standard for recovery purposes of $1,000 for AFDC
and FSP; modify existing AFDC assistance unit
[[Page 42631]]
composition rules to include stepparents, stepsiblings, spouses and
certain children age 18-19, and to exclude non-parent caretakers when
the parent (except a minor parent) is in the home; allow a dependent
child to live with an unrelated caretaker; eliminate the 185 percent of
need test and apply the same earned income disregards to applicants and
recipients; budget income of mandatory ineligibles; replace the
dependent care disregard with vendor payments based on the Child Day
Care Services program eligibility requirements; replace the 75th
percentile rule for child care costs with reimbursement rates that
represent reasonable child care market rates; eliminate deprivation as
an eligibility criterion; modify QC review requirements; provide AFDC
benefits to a pregnant woman starting at any point in the pregnancy
rather than just the last trimester; use 100 percent title IV-A funds
to provide advance EITC payments to eligible, employed AFDC recipients;
budget the actual sponsor's contribution to a sponsored alien when
determining the client's AFDC and food stamp eligibility and treat
contribution as unearned income of the sponsored alien when budgeting
against the needs of the group; extend AFDC eligibility only to U.S.
citizens, legal permanent resident aliens, and certain other legal
entrants; apply additional income exclusions for AFDC and FSP for a
variety of income types, including inconsequential income, donations
based on need, dependent child earnings, adoption subsidies, child
support refunds, training payments, etc.; require reporting of gross
income changes for AFDC and FSP only if $100 or more; define dependent
child as a child who is unemancipated according to state law; provide
law enforcement officers with the address of an AFDC or food stamps
recipient who is a fugitive felon or who the law enforcement office
believes has a fugitive felon living in the home; deny assistance to
any AFDC or food stamp applicant or recipient who is identified as a
fugitive felon; pay current monthly child support collections directly
to the family and budget them against the AFDC grant, after the $50
disregard is applied; revise child support distribution cycle; extend
transitional child care to 24 months and eliminate the requirement that
a family receive AFDC in at least 3 of the 6 months immediately
preceding the first month of AFDC ineligibility; place title IV-E
funding (except for adoption subsidy payments) in a block grant; use
JOBS funds to pay for transportation and other employment-related
expenses; assign an individual to CWEP for 20 hours per week
irrespective of the family's AFDC benefit level or receipt of child
support; count all mandatory and optional JOBS components toward the
AFDC-UP participation rate; expand the JOBS target population; waive
employment and training exemptions for RCA participants to match the
AFDC waiver granted to Michigan in October 1994; adopt the current AFDC
waiver proposal regarding earned income disregards for RCA; limit the
groups eligible for Medicaid; provide 12 months transitional Medicaid
for AFDC cases that close due to child support payments and eliminate
the requirement that a family receive AFDC in at least 3 or the 6
months before ineligibility; allow an age test for children's Medicaid
eligibility rather than a birth date test; limit automatic Medicaid
coverage to newborns of Medicaid recipients; include blind individuals
in the definition of disability for Medicaid eligibility; determine a
family's Medicaid eligibility recognizing that it operates as a single
economic unit and use income and resource standards based on family
composition rather than separate standards for individual members;
define countable income and distinguish income from resources for
Medicaid to be consistent with AFDC proposal; eliminate the burial fund
and burial space exclusions for Medicaid; provide for long-term care
through a combination of private insurance and Medicaid; modify
Medicaid policy regarding trusts; allow State agency's disability or
blindness determination for non-cash Medicaid clients to be final;
eliminate advance notice requirement for Medicaid negative actions; and
allow Medicaid Buy-In for persons with no employer-based coverage whose
transitional Medicaid coverage ends.
Date Received: 6/27/96.
Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Dan Cleary, (517) 335-0015.
Project Title: Minnesota--Work First Program.
Description: In pilot counties, would provide vendor payments in
lieu of regular AFDC benefits for applicants' rent and utilities for up
to six months; sanction for at least six months job-ready applicants
who fail to comply with job search and other applicants who fail to
participate in JOBS orientation; and require part-time CWEP of
unemployed, nonexempt job-ready individuals who fail to participate in
job search for 32 hours/week or who after eight weeks of job search are
not employed for at least 32 hours/week or not self-employed with a net
income equal to the family's AFDC benefit. Individuals who refuse to
participate in CWEP or are terminated from a CWEP job would incur a
whole family sanction and become ineligible for AFDC for at least six
months. Non-job-ready participants would be assigned appropriate
education and training. Post-placement services would be provided for
up to 180 days and Transitional Child Care and Medicaid without regard
to AFDC receipt in 3 of the 6 months preceding ineligibility.
Date Received: 4/4/96.
Type: AFDC/Medicaid.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Gus Avenido, (612) 296-1884.
Project Title: Minnesota--AFDC Barrier Removal Project.
Description: Statewide, would expand AFDC-UP eligibility; treat
minor parents living with a caretaker parent on AFDC as a separate
filing unit and disregard the caretaker parents' earned income up to
200 percent of the federal poverty guideline; disregard earned income
of dependent children who are at least half-time students as well as
all their savings deposited into an individual development account;
increase the auto-equity limit to $4,500; cease recovering overpayments
(once every two years per case) due to an individual's new employment
resulting in ineligibility; and determine AFDC benefit amount for a
family in which all members have resided in the State for less than 12
months based on the payment standard of the state of immediate prior
residence if less than Minnesota's.
Minnesota has amended this application to include a proposed
provision in which families who have resided in the State of Minnesota
for less than 30 days would not be eligible for AFDC with the following
exceptions: (1) Either the child or caretaker relative was born in
Minnesota; (2) either the child or caretaker relative has resided in
the State for 365 consecutive days in the past; (3) either the child or
the caretaker relative went to Minnesota to join a close relative who
has resided in the State for at least one year; or (4) the caretaker
relative went to Minnesota to accept a bona fide offer of employment
for which he or she was eligible. For purposes of the exemption close
relative is defined as a parent, grandparent, brother, sister, spouse,
or child. The State would allow county agencies to waive the 30 day
requirement in cases of emergency or where unusual hardship would
result from denial of benefits.
Date Received: 4/4/96; amendment received 5/28/96.
[[Page 42632]]
Type: AFDC.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Ann Sessoms, (612) 296-0978.
Project Title: New Mexico:Work First.
Description: Statewide would emphasize work by requiring job search
prior to case approval; expand mandatory JOBS participation by
exempting caretakers (1) over 65 years or (2) with children up to 1
year old; expand Transitional Child Care eligibility by eliminating the
three-in-six rule and providing it for up to 36 months after
ineligibility for AFDC due to earnings; provide special one-time
payments needed by recipient to accept or retain employment; eliminate
separate JOBS participation rates for AFDC-UP cases; change AFDC earned
income disregard to 20 percent plus $134 per month standard deduction;
increase resource limits to $1,500 for cash and exclude one vehicle
regardless of value. Other provisions to encourage self sufficiency and
personal responsibility are increased progressive sanctions for JOBS
and paternity establishment cooperation, resulting in case closure for
successive non-compliance; requiring minor parents to live in a
supervised setting; eliminate the parental deprivation provisions;
expand two-parent eligibility by eliminating the 100-hour rule and the
work history requirement; make AFDC a closed-ended program which
requires recipients to recertify their eligibility on a periodic basis,
or have their case closed with proration of both food stamps and AFDC
from date of application; eliminate reconciliation requirement so that
over and under payments would not be reported or collected; and require
AFDC and food stamp income change reporting and processing only at the
time of periodic review and re-certification.
Date Received: 8/6/95.
Title: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
Current Status: New.
Contact Person: Roberto Salazar (502) 827-7280.
Project Title: New York--Learnfare Program.
Description: Would phase in statewide a provision that would
require AFDC children in grades 1 through 6 to attend school regularly
by mandating a sanction of removal of the child's needs from the budget
group for three months in those cases, where after counseling, the
child has 5 or more unexcused absences in a quarter. Benefits for
parents will be terminated, for failure without good cause, to sign the
release form for educational records.
Date Received: 5/31/96.
Type: AFDC.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Jeff Gaskell, (518) 486-3415.
Project Title: New York--Intentional Program Violation
Demonstration.
Description: Statewide would change the sanction for Intentional
Program Violations making the period of ineligibility of the person
committing the violation dependant on both the number of offenses and
the amount of the overpayment incurred as a result of the violation.
Date Received: 5/31/96.
Type: AFDC.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Jeff Gaskell, (518) 486-3415.
Project Title: Oklahoma--Welfare Self-Sufficiency Initiative.
Description: In four pilots conducted in five counties each, would
(1) extend transitional child care to up to 24 months; (2) require that
all children through age 18 be immunized and require that responsible
adults with preschool age children participate in parent education or
enroll the children in Head Start or other preschool program; (3) not
increase AFDC benefits after birth of additional children, but provide
voucher payment for the increment of cash benefits that would have been
received until the child is two years old; and (4) pay lesser of AFDC
benefit or previous state of residence or Oklahoma's for 12 months for
new residents.
Date Received: 10/27/95.
Type: AFDC.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Raymond Haddock, (405) 521-3076.
Project Title: Pennsylvania--School Attendance Improvement Program.
Description: In 7 sites, would require school attendance as
condition of eligibility.
Date Received: 9/12/94.
Type: AFDC.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Patricia H. O'Neal, (717) 787-4081.
Project Title: Pennsylvania--Savings for Education Program.
Description: Statewide, would exempt as resources college savings
bonds and funds in savings accounts earmarked for vocational or
secondary education and disregard interest income earned from such
accounts.
Date Received: 12/29/94.
Type: AFDC.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Patricia H. O'Neal, (717) 787-4081.
Project Title: Pennsylvania--Common Sense Welfare to Work Program.
Description: Statewide, would impose 24 month time limit on receipt
of AFDC after which individuals would be required to work or
participate in subsidized employment, work experience, on-the-job
training, community service or workfare for at least 20 hours per week;
require adult applicants and recipients, pregnant/parenting minors, and
minors without high school diplomas or equivalent who are not attending
school to sign an Agreement of Mutual Responsibility (AMR) as a
condition of eligibility for AFDC and impose a $40 per month penalty
for failure to comply with the agreements in the AMR; impose sanctions
for failing to comply with employment-related AMR provisions which
would be progressive and could lead to permanent disqualification for
the adult in the first 24 months and for the family after that period;
provide the lesser of the Pennsylvania benefit or the former state
benefit during the first 12 months of residency; deny AFDC to an
individual serving a disqualification for either Food Stamp program or
PA's General Assistance program fraud or who has been sentenced for a
criminal offense but has not satisfied the penalty imposed by a court
and to exchange information with the State Police and Board of
Probation and Parole to identify such persons; deny AFDC and Medicaid
to those who fail to appear, as a defendant, at a criminal court
proceeding; require nonexempt applicants and recipients who are not
employed an average of 20 hours/week to participate in an eight-week
job search period and additional activities if employment is not found;
after 24 months of AFDC receipt, require work or participate in
subsidized employment, work experience, on-the-job training, community
service or workfare for an average of 20 hours/week as a condition of
receipt of cash assistance; limit exemptions from JOBS and work
requirements; eliminate priority for volunteers under JOBS, limitations
on periods of job search, and requirement to consider preferences of
participant to the maximum extent possible in employability plan;
eliminate workers' compensation coverage under community service
activity; allow the filling of established unfilled vacancies under the
Work Supplementation component, allow participation for 12 months, and
cash out food stamp benefits for Work Supplementation participants;
eliminate gross income test (i.e., 185 percent of need standard);
disregard 50 percent of earned income without time limit; exclude one
vehicle for AFDC and food
[[Page 42633]]
stamps; disregard all earned income of dependent children for AFDC and
food stamps, and increase age limit for dependent children to 21 years
of age; require recipients under 18 to attend high school or GED;
extend Transitional Child Care (TCC) beyond 12 months, establish co-
payments as a percentage of cost of care, expand eligibility to include
cases which have received AFDC for one month and which close for any
reason other than sanction if the individual is employed; extend
transitional Medicaid to 12 months for cases which close as a result of
child support collections; require cooperation with Child Support
Enforcement for AFDC recipients and Medicaid-only applicants and
recipients prior to authorization of assistance for applicants;
redefine what constitutes noncooperation for child support; allow IV-D
workers to determine cooperation rather than IV-A workers; provide AFDC
to needy child who resides with non-relative if in the best interest of
the child; expand two-parent eligibility by eliminating 100-hour
definition of employment, 30-day waiting period, and work history
requirements; expand eligibility to pregnant women in the first
trimester of pregnancy; for AFDC and Medicaid, exclude value of life
insurance and nonresident property, and in-kind income; for AFDC,
Medicaid, and food stamps revise lump sum policy and exclude student
financial aid; for AFDC and food stamps change budgeting methods and
recovery of over/underpayments.
Date Received: 7/31/96.
Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
Current Status: New.
Contact Person: Ed Zogby, (717) 772-7829.
Project Title: Utah--Single Parent Employment Demonstration
(Amendments).
Description: Would amend the current Single Parent Employment
Demonstration, establishing a 36 month lifetime limit on a family's
receipt of AFDC, with exceptions; and count toward the time limit
months of AFDC receipt in another state.
Date Received: July 2, 1996.
Type: AFDC.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Bill Biggs, (801) 538-4337.
Project Title: Virginia--Virginia Independence Program
(Amendments).
Description: Would amend the Virginia Independence Program to
require AFDC applicants and recipients (including specified relatives
other than a parent) to provide information sufficient to identify the
non-custodial parent. Failure to provide the required information would
result in sanctions. In any case where an applicant/recipient does not
claim good cause or good cause does not exist, an affidavit from the
custodial parent attesting to the lack of information about the non-
custodial parent/putative father, in and of itself, would not meet the
definition of cooperation. If the first two genetic tests exclude the
named putative fathers, the State will impose a sanction until
paternity is established. If a relative other than the parent maintains
the he does not know the identity of the child's parent and has no way
to help identify the parent, the sanction would not be imposed.
Date Received: 5/24/96.
Type: AFDC.
Current Status: Pending (amended provisions not previously
published) .
Contact Person: Barbara Cotter, (804) 692-1811.
Project Title: West Virginia--West Virginia Works.
Description: Statewide, would extend transitional child care to 24
months for families who are employed and otherwise eligible. In
selected counties, provide a one-time diversion payment in lieu of
AFDC; require development of a personal responsibility contract for
AFDC applicants and recipients, and non-public assistance cases
eligible for Food Stamps, as a condition of eligibility which will
outline the assessed needs of the participant; require at least 20
hours of work participation per week by non-exempt parents over age 20,
and require parents under age 20 to remain in school until they
graduate or obtain a GED, with limited exemptions; work requirements
for parents over 20 without a high school diploma or GED would not have
to be coupled with education; require child immunization, school
attendance and satisfactory progress and community service activities;
time limit AFDC benefits based on a time frame for achieving goals not
to exceed a 60 month lifetime limit on cash assistance for non-exempt
families, with some extensions; impose fiscal sanctions if the adults
fail to meet the terms of their personal responsibility contract
without good cause or through fraud equal to a one third reduction in
AFDC benefits for 3 months for the first sanction, a two thirds
reduction in AFDC benefits for 3 months for the second sanction, and
case closure until participation occurs for the third sanction;
eliminate the JOBS conciliation requirement; increase by 10% the AFDC
monthly cash benefit to families where both the husband and wife are
living together and caring for her/his children; reduce to 75% the AFDC
monthly cash benefit to families where there is another adult present
in the household but not eligible for inclusion in the AFDC
calculation; eliminate many JOBS exemptions, and make most remaining
exemptions temporary, including allowing only a one-time exemption for
children under 2 years of age (only 6 month exemptions will be provided
for additional children); require minor parents to live at home or in
an adult-supervised setting, attend and maintain satisfactory progress
in an educational activity to complete high school, GED or vocational
training; increase the allowable asset level to $5,000 and exempt one
vehicle regardless of value; expand eligibility for transitional child
care; allow a family to be eligible for transitional child care for up
to 30 days for job search purposes, if they lose a job with good cause;
for AFDC/UP, eliminate the requirement that the unemployed parent have
a recent attachment to the labor force, and not work more than 100
hours per month; count all income received by any member of the family
which can be used at the discretion of the household, including the
first $50 of child support and SSI payments; increase earned income
disregards to enable families to retain benefits up to 50% of the
Federal poverty level; eliminate the 8 week limitation on job search
activities; allow the State to extend transitional medical coverage to
24 months; and transfer the cash value of Food Stamp benefits for AFDC
recipients to a wage pool for a voluntary subsidized employment
activity.
Date Received: 7/1/96.
Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Sue Buster, (304) 558-3186.
Project Title: Wisconsin--Work Not Welfare and Pay for Performance
Projects (Amendments).
Description: Statewide, would lower the JOBS exemption from a
parent whose youngest child is one year old or younger to a parent
whose youngest child is 12 weeks old or younger; require up to 40 hours
a week in CWEP regardless of the amount of the family's AFDC grant and
require participation in substance abuse and mental health treatment,
as appropriate; include intentional failure or voluntary quit in a work
component as a failure to cooperate with JOBS and apply JOBS program
sanctions to the entire family; and limit AFDC receipt to 60 months in
a lifetime, with exemptions and case-by-case extensions. The state
would extend
[[Page 42634]]
child care to families earning up to 165 percent of poverty with
graduated co-payments based on the cost of care, and change IV-A cases
headed by a non-needy non-legally responsible relative to IV-E cases
and provide cases headed by an adult SSI recipient a special child-only
grant supplement in lieu of the regular AFDC payment for the child.
Both types of cases would be exempt from the time limit and work
requirements. Further, the state would require minor parents to live
with a parent or in an adult-supervised setting. Also the state would
establish a competitive process for selection of contractors to
administer county programs.
Date Received: 5/8/96; Amendments received 5/17/96.
Type: AFDC.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Jean Sheil, (608) 266-0613.
Project Title: Wisconsin--Wisconsin Works (W2).
Description: Statewide, would establish performance standards for
the administration of Wisconsin Works (W2) along with a competitive
process for selection of contractors to administer county programs. The
State would provide--but not guarantee--work positions, child care and
health care coverage to families, (as defined by the State,) whose
gross income does not exceed 115 percent of the federal poverty level
(FPL), whose resources do not exceed $2,500 (excluding a homestead),
and whose total auto equity assets do not exceed $10,000, with a 60-day
State residency requirement for eligibility. The State would count all
earned and unearned income, including child support (which will be paid
directly to the custodial parent), except for EITC when determining W2
eligibility. The State would require participation in substance abuse
and mental health treatment, as appropriate; exempt from a work
requirement parents with a child less than 12 weeks old; and provide
for an appeal process for W2 eligibility and benefit decisions. The
State would review an individual W2 agency's financial eligibility
decision only if the applicant petitions the State within 15 days of
the decision and would not pay benefits pending a decision. Applicants
would be required to search for unsubsidized employment during
eligibility determination, and would be denied eligibility if they
refused a bona fide offer of employment in the 180 days prior to
application. The State would automatically refer all W2 participants to
child support for services. The State would require minor parents to
live with a parent or in an adult-supervised setting to receive W2 non-
employment/non-cash benefits, e.g., financial planning assistance, case
management; but minor parents would not be eligible for W2 employment/
cash benefits. Teen children must attend school regularly. The state
would provide children whose parents are SSI recipients a payment of
$77.
The W2 payment amount would be determined according to job
placement: Unsubsidized job, trial job (including up to $300 per month
wage subsidy to employer), community service job (benefit of $555 per
month), and transitional placement (benefit of $518 per month).
Community service jobs would require 30 hours per week of work plus 10
hours per week of education and training; transitional placement jobs
would require 28 hours per week of work plus 12 hours of education and
training. In addition CWEP participation would be increased up to 40
hours per week. The State would sanction individuals $4.25 per each
hour of non-participation in work requirements. In addition sanctions
would be imposed upon the entire family for refusal to participate,
without good cause, in a W2 employment position. Three refusals to
participate in any W2 employment category would result in permanent
ineligibility for that category. To assist families with one-time
expenses, the State would provide Job Access Loans for employment
support needs, e.g., car repair, uniforms, etc.; and would extend child
care to families earning up to 165 percent of poverty with graduated
co-payments based on family income and the category of care used. Child
care would only be provided to children under 13.
The State would limit participation to 24 months in any one W2
employment position and would limit lifetime eligibility for benefits
to 60 months, with extensions on a case-by-case basis; the 60-month
limit would apply to certain JOBS participants beginning July 1, 1996.
The State would change AFDC cases headed by a non-legally responsible
relative to a IV-E case; provide job search assistance and case
management to non-custodial parents with a child support order; impose
stricter sanctions for non-cooperation with child support; and
permanently deny W2 employment after three Intentional Program
Violations. Benefit overpayments will be recouped for intentional
violations at a rate set by the State. Corrective payments would not be
made for underpayments. Eligibility for Emergency Assistance for
certain homeless persons would be limited to once in a 36-month period
unless the homelessness was caused by domestic abuse, and the State
would allow displacement of regular employees by W2 participants in
certain cases: i.e., partial displacement (reduction in hours);
impairment of existing contracts; infringement upon promotional
opportunities; and filling of any established unfilled position.
The State would eliminate transitional Medicaid and expand Medicaid
(i.e., the W2 Health Plan) to families with gross income up to 165 of
FPL, who would then remain eligible until their income increases to 200
percent of FPL; and would incorporate a mandatory HMO enrollment or
primary provider program for W2 participants. Participants would be
required to pay a share of W2 Health Plan premiums according to a
sliding scale, and the State would impose stricter Medicaid sanctions
for non-cooperation with child support. The State would merge the Food
Stamps E&T program with the W2 Work Program; modify the Food Stamps
work program exemptions; eliminate the Food Stamps gross income test;
require nutrition education for Food Stamps recipients; and cash out
food stamps.
Date Received: 5/29/96.
Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Jean Sheil, (608) 266-0613.
Project Title: Wyoming--New Opportunities and New
Responsibilities--Phase II (Amendments).
Description: Proposes expansion of demonstration provisions
currently limited to a pilot site statewide and further amendments to
the current demonstration to establish a 5-year lifetime limit on cash
assistance for adults, beginning with time on AFDC from July 1, 1987
(with limited exemptions and extensions); pursue child support from the
absent minor parent's parents; freeze benefits based on household size
10 months after initial qualification; replace existing earnings
disregards for recipients (except no disregard will apply for
recipients disqualified due to fraud, education time limits, illegal
alien) with a maximum earned income disregard of $200 for recipients;
expand pay-for-performance from AFDC-UP to the regular AFDC population,
with limited exemptions, where failure to perform any item in the self-
sufficiency plan would cause disqualification of the parent for AFDC,
Food Stamps, and Medicaid; reduce the grant by $40 when a nonexempt
child fails to meet the performance requirements; require able-
[[Page 42635]]
bodied applicants and recipients to do job search for up to 16 weeks
unless otherwise exempted; terminate the case when there is loss of
contact with the client for 1 month after nonpayment for failure to
meet the performance requirements; exclude the earned income and
resources of a dependent child who is a full-time high school student;
allow payment of the supplied shelter grant for households with a SSI
recipient, unmarried minor parents, or recipients disqualified for
other reasons (fraud, education time limits, illegal aliens); exclude
one licensed vehicle with a fair market value of less than $12,000;
increase the resource limit to $2,500 for those in compliance with, or
exempted from, the performance requirements; and exclude veteran's
service connected disability compensation if the annual income is less
than the poverty level.
Date Received: 5/13/96.
Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
Current Status: Pending.
Contact Person: Marianne Lee, (307) 777-6849.
III. Listing of Approved Proposals Since July 1, 1995
Project Title: Tennessee--Families First.
Contact Person: Glenda Shearon, (615) 313-5652.
Project Title: Utah--Single-Parent Employment Demonstration
(Amendments).
Contact Person: Bill Biggs, (801) 538-4337.
IV. Requests for Copies of a Proposal
Requests for copies of an AFDC or combined AFDC/Medicaid proposal
should be directed to the Administration for Children and Families
(ACF) at the address listed above. Questions concerning the content of
a proposal should be directed to the State contact listed for the
proposal.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program, No. 93562;
Assistance Payments--Research)
Dated: August 12, 1996.
Howard Rolston,
Director, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation.
[FR Doc. 96-20938 Filed 8-15-96; 8:45am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P
