96-24207. New and Pending Demonstration Project Proposals Submitted Pursuant to Section 1115(a) of the Social Security Act: August 1996

[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 184 (Friday, September 20, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49464-49470]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-24207]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


New and Pending Demonstration Project Proposals Submitted 
Pursuant to Section 1115(a) of the Social Security Act: August 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 August, 
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 August 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.
    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: [phone]; Phone: [phone].

[[Page 49465]]

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.
    Title I of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), enacted August 22, 1996, created 
the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. TANF 
provides very broad flexibility for States to design programs to 
provide financial assistance to families with children and assist them 
in achieving independence. With very few exceptions, under TANF States 
can implement the policies and activities for which they have 
previously sought title IV-A waivers. Although section 415 of TANF 
provides States with waiver demonstrations approved prior to July 1, 
1997 even greater flexibility, it applies only to waiver requests 
received prior to August 22, 1996. Consequently, we do not expect any 
states to submit additional requests for title IV-A waivers to operate 
welfare reform demonstrations. Thus, as this notice includes 
descriptions of those welfare reform proposals received prior to 
enactment of PRWORA, this will be the final notice in the Federal 
Register announcing new applications for welfare reform waivers 
requiring IV-A waivers.

II. Listing of New and Pending Proposals for the Month of August 
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 August, 1996. All new proposals 
listed below were received prior to enactment of PRWORA.
    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, [phone].

    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, [phone].

    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, [phone].

    Project Title: Florida--Family Transition Program (Amendments).
    Description: Would modify the Family Transition Program 
demonstration, currently operating in nine counties. The modification 
would make the Alchua program a mandatory one, rather than a voluntary 
program, and would make it consistent with the programs operating in 
the other eight counties. The demonstration limits, with some 
exceptions, AFDC benefits to 24 months in any 60-month period followed 
by participation in transitional employment. For families subject to 
the time limit, it replaces current $90 and $30 and one-third 
disregards with a single, non-time-limited disregard of $200 plus one-
half of the remainder; disregards income of a stepparent whose needs 
are not included in the assistance unit for the first 6 months of 
receipt of public assistance; excludes summer earnings of teens and 
interest income; lowers age of child for JOBS exemption to 6 months; 
raises asset limit to $5,000 plus a vehicle of reasonable worth used 
primarily for self-sufficiency purposes; extends transitional Medicaid 
and child care benefits; eliminates 100-hour and required quarters of 
work rules, and (on a case-by-case basis) the 6-month time limit 
requirements in the AFDC-UP program; requires school conferences and 
regular school attendance; offers incentive payments to private 
employers who hire hard-to-place AFDC recipients; and allows non-
custodial parents of AFDC children to participate in JOBS.
    Date Received: 6/24/96.
    Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
    Current Status: New.
    Contact Person: Don Winstead, [phone].

    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-

[[Page 49466]]

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, [phone].

    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, [phone].

    Project Title: Idaho--Temporary Assistance for Families in Idaho 
(Amendments).
    Description: Would amend previously approved demonstration. 
Statewide, would replace the AFDC need standard with an eligibility 
threshold of 33 percent of the FY 1995 FPL with a maximum payment level 
of $276 regardless of family size. The State would disregard 40 percent 
of earned income; change AFDC resource and auto equity limits to 
conform with Food Stamps; exclude interest income and Individual Indian 
Monies; count SSI income, income of family members who are ineligible 
aliens, and educational grants; change stepparent income rules; and 
eliminate the $50 pass through. The State would impose a family cap on 
benefit amount. The State would provide an optional one-time diversion 
payment, the maximum amount of which would be up to three times the 
monthly maximum AFDC payment amount per family size, and would expand 
AFDC-UP eligibility, require unmarried minor parents to reside with 
their parents, and consolidate grants for ``blended'' families. Non-
exempt adult applicants and recipients would be required to sign a 
Personal Responsibility Contract outlining requirements for work and 
training participation up to 40 hours per week, child immunization, 
child support enforcement, school attendance, and substance abuse or 
mental health treatment if necessary. The State would restrict the 
current JOBS exemptions and would eliminate the time limits on job 
search. The State would limit AFDC receipt to 24 months cumulatively, 
counting months of receipt in other states but excepting minor parents. 
The State would allow extensions on a case-by-case basis and would 
provide transitional Medicaid and child care after the time limit. The 
State would provide child care in an integrated, streamlined system, 
and would provide transitional Medicaid and Transitional Child Care for 
families without regard to AFDC receipt in 3 of the 6 months preceding 
ineligibility by reason of earnings or hours of work. The State would 
apply the Food Stamps voluntary quit provisions to AFDC, strengthen 
sanctions for IPVs, eliminate conciliation, and impose progressive 
fiscal sanctions for failure to comply with JOBS and work requirements 
resulting in the removal of the entire family's needs in determining 
the amount of AFDC benefits until the end of the demonstration. The 
State would deny eligibility or terminate AFDC for the entire family 
for failure to cooperate with child support enforcement without good 
cause. AFDC would be reduced by 50 percent and Medicaid denied to the 
custodial parent if paternity cannot be established within 12 months of 
application or birth to a recipient parent.
    Date Received: 8/9/96.
    Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
    Current Status: New.
    Contact Person: Mary Ann Saunders, [phone].

    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 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

[[Page 49467]]

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, [phone].

    Project Title: Minnesota--Families Empowered to Assist Themselves 
(FEAT).
    Description: In Stearns County, for first-time applicants for AFDC: 
Would replace the $30 and \1/3\ income disregard with a disregard 
decreasing from 50% in the first month to zero in the fifth month; 
provide Emergency Assistance during two 30-day periods in any 12 month 
period; give FEAT participants priority for Child Support Enforcement 
services; pay assigned child support arrearages directly to the family; 
increase the hours of job search covered by child care; modify child 
care rate and sliding fee scale; eliminate 3 of 6 months AFDC receipt 
requirements for transitional child care and Medicaid; eliminate JOBS 
exemptions; and use work supplementation to fill any job vacancy.
    Date Received: 7/31/96.
    Type: AFDC/Medicaid.
    Current Status: New.
    Contact Person: Gus Avenido, [phone].

    Project Title: Minnesota--MNJOBS.
    Description: Would implement in selected counties work-focused JOBS 
program strategies and would provide transitional Medicaid and 
Transitional Child Care for families without regard to AFDC receipt in 
3 of the 6 months preceding ineligibility by reason of earnings or 
hours of work.
    Date Received: 8/2/96.
    Type: AFDC/Medicaid.
    Current Status: New.
    Contact Person: Mark Kleczewski, [phone].

    Project Title: Minnesota--Self-Help.
    Description: In 7 counties (St. Louis, Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, 
Itasca, Lake, and Koochiching), for first-time applicants for AFDC: 
Would make entry into a contract for employment a condition of 
eligibility; revise the method of determination of need and amount of 
assistance and of recovery of overpayments; provide job incentive 
bonuses; replace monthly reporting with weekly contacts with the 
worker; pass-through all child support and change the sanction for non-
cooperation; eliminate 3 of 6 months AFDC receipt requirements and 
establish sliding fee scales for AFDC child care; eliminate the 3 of 6 
months AFDC receipt for transitional Medicaid; and substitute Self-Help 
participation for JOBS participation.
    Date Received: 8/6/96.
    Type: AFDC/Medicaid.
    Current Status: New.
    Contact Person: John Morrison, [phone].

    .Project Title: Minnesota--Work Focus for Families.
    Description: In 3 counties (Brown, LeSueur, and Sibley), for first-
time applicants for AFDC: Would eliminate 3 of 6 months AFDC receipt 
requirements for transitional child care and Medicaid; extend 
transitional child care to 24 months; eliminate the copayment; and 
provide case management and other necessary supportive services for 12 
months after leaving AFDC.
    Date Received: 8/20/96.
    Type: AFDC/Medicaid.
    Current Status: New.
    Contact Person: John Morrison, [phone].

    Project Title: Nevada.
    Description: Nevada submitted a Welfare Reform Demonstration 
Special Application Form to require, statewide, JOBS participation of 
minor parents under age 16; individuals working 30 or more hours per 
week; and women who are pregnant, with exceptions. The State also 
requested an AFDC time limit of 24 months within any 60 month period. 
Nevada would also require unemployed/under-employed non-custodial 
parents of AFDC children in Clark County to participate in JOBS.
    Date Received: 8/8/96.
    Type: AFDC.
    Current Status: New.
    Contact Person: Jackie L. Cheney, [phone].

    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

[[Page 49468]]

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: Pending.
    Contact Person: Roberto Salazar, [phone].

    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, [phone].

    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, [phone].

    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, [phone].

    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, [phone].

    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, [phone].

    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 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: Pending.

[[Page 49469]]

    Contact Person: Ed Zogby, [phone].

    Project Title: Rhode Island--Family Independence Act Demonstration 
Project.
    Description: Would require work plans for each parent within 45 
days of eligibility and either extended job search, training or work 
immediately thereafter; impose progressive fiscal sanction on any non-
compliant parent; provide earned income disregard of $170 plus 50% of 
remainder without time limit; deduct $50/month for subsidized housing; 
increase vehicle asset limit to $4,600; eliminate 185% of need test 
from eligibility determination; maintain cash assistance as an 
entitlement for legal residents; require minor parents to live at home, 
with limited exceptions; impose a 5 year lifetime cap on cash 
assistance for adults (not children); eliminate the unemployment and 
connection to the labor force requirements for eligibility for two 
parent families; pay only 70% of normal for the first 12 months a 
family has lived in the State; apply $50 child support pass-through to 
each child; require non-supporting, noncustodial parents to perform 
community service; and increase medicaid eligibility.
    Date Received: 08/20/96.
    Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
    Current Status: New.
    Contact Person: Christine Ferguson, [phone].

    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: 7/2/96.
    Type: AFDC.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Bill Biggs, [phone].

    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, [phone].

    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 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, [phone].

    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

[[Page 49470]]

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, [phone].

    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-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, [phone].

III. Listing of Approved Proposals Since August 1, 1995

    Project Title: California--Work Pays Demonstration Project 
(Amendment).
    Contact Person: Bruce Wagstaff, [phone].

    Project Title: Hawaii--Pursuit Of New Opportunities (PONO).
    Contact Person: Kristine Foster, [phone].

    Project Title: Indiana--Impacting Families Welfare Reform 
Demonstration--Amendments.
    Contact Person: James H. Hmurovich, [phone].

    Project Title: Kansas--Actively Creating Tomorrow for Families 
Demonstration.
    Contact Person: Diane Dystra, [phone].

    Project Title: Maryland--Family Investment Program (Amendments).
    Contact Person: Kathy Cook, [phone].

    Project Title: Minnesota--Work First Program.
    Contact Person: Gus Avenido, [phone].

    Project Title: Minnesota--AFDC Barrier Removal Project.
    Contact Person: Ann Sessoms, [phone].

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: September 17, 1996.
Howard Rolston,
Director, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation.
[FR Doc. 96-24207 Filed 9-19-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P