Date of Adoption: January 26, 2001.

Purpose: Amend rule to explain how the TANF lifetime limit of sixty months of cash assistance will affect clients. Promulgate new rule explaining how time limits affect Indian clients residing in Indian country where at least 50% of Indian adults are not employed.

Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 388-484-0005.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 74.04.005, 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057, 74.08.090, 74.08A.010, and 42 U.S.C. 608 (a)(7).

Adopted under notice filed as WSR 00-24-039 on November 29, 2000.

Changes Other than Editing from Proposed to Adopted Version: Substituted "parent or other relative as defined by WAC 388-454-0010" for term "adult needy caretaker relative." Clarified that cash assistance will be continued during the course of "initial administrative appeal" rather than "appeal." Minor editing changes for clarity and grammar.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 1, Amended 1, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 1, Amended 1, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Other Findings Required by Other Provisions of Law as Precondition to Adoption or Effectiveness of Rule: Federal and state law prohibits the department from providing more than sixty months of TANF cash assistance. The department is on a short time frame to develop policies and systems to implement this provision.Effective Date of Rule: February 1, 2001.

January 26, 2001

Bonita H. Jacques, Chief

Office of Legal Affairs

((The sixty-month time limit is a lifetime limit of cash benefits))

(a) You can receive cash assistance for temporary assistance for needy families (TANF), state family assistance (SFA), and general assistance for pregnant women (GA-S) for a lifetime limit of sixty months. The time limit applies to cash assistance provided by any combination of these ((cash benefits)) programs, and whether or not it was received in consecutive months.

(b) If you receive cash assistance for part of the month, it counts as a whole month against the time limit.

(c) If you have received cash assistance from another state on or after August 1, 1997, and it was paid for with federal TANF funds, those months will count against your time limit.

(d) The time limit does not apply to diversion cash assistance, support services, food assistance or Medicaid.

(2) When ((does)) did the sixty-month time limit ((start)) go into effect?

The sixty-month time limit ((starts)) applies to cash assistance received on or after August 1, 1997 for TANF and SFA ((and May 1, 1999 for GA-S)). Although the GA-S program no longer exists, the time limit applies to GA-S cash assistance received from May 1, 1999 through July 31, 1999.

(3) ((Who)) Does ((this)) the time limit apply to me?

The sixty-month time limit applies to ((any needy caretaker)) you for any month in which you are a parent or other relative(((s))) as defined in WAC 388-454-0010, or a minor parent emancipated through court order or marriage.

(4) ((Are there)) Do any exceptions to the time limits apply to me?

((A month)) The department does not count months of assistance towards the sixty-month time limit ((when)) if you are:

(a) ((Unmarried)) A nonneedy adult caretaker relative who is not a member of the assistance unit and you are receiving cash assistance on behalf of a child;

(b) An unemancipated pregnant or parenting ((minors live)) minor living in a department approved living arrangement as defined by WAC 388-486-0005((.

(b))); or

(c) An American Indian or Native Alaskan adult and you are living in Indian country, as defined under 18 U.S.C. 1151, or an Alaskan Native village((, if during the months the needy caretaker relative(s) received)) and you are receiving TANF, SFA, or GA-S cash ((benefits)) assistance during a period when at least fifty percent of the adults living ((on the reservation)) in Indian country or in the village were ((unemployed)) not employed. See WAC 388-484-0010.

(5) What happens if a member of my assistance unit has received sixty months of TANF, SFA, and GA-S cash benefits?

((The entire assistance unit becomes ineligible for TANF, SFA, or GA-S cash benefits)) Once any ((member)) adult or emancipated minor in the assistance unit has received sixty months of ((these benefits)) cash assistance, the entire assistance unit becomes ineligible for TANF or SFA cash assistance. Some people may be eligible for an extended period of cash assistance based on hardship criteria to be developed by the department.

(6) What can I do if I disagree with how the department has counted my months of cash assistance?

(a) If you disagree with how the department has counted your months of cash assistance, you may ask for a hearing within ninety days of receiving notice of the count.

(b) If your cash assistance is terminated after sixty months and you ask for a hearing as provided under chapter 388-02 WAC, your cash assistance will be continued during the course of your initial administrative appeal. You must repay the cash assistance, however, if the department's decision is found to be correct.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 74.04.005, 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057 and 74.08.090. 99-08-050, 388-484-0005, filed 4/1/99, effective 5/2/99. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057 and 74.08.090. 98-16-044, 388-484-0005, filed 7/31/98, effective 9/1/98.]

If you are an American Indian or Alaskan Native parent or other relative as defined by WAC 388-454-0010, months of cash assistance do not count against the sixty-month lifetime limit if you live in Indian country or an Alaskan Native village where at least fifty percent of Indian adults are not employed.

(2) Do time limits on cash assistance apply if I am not an American Indian or Alaskan Native but I am the parent or other relative of an American Indian or Alaskan Native child?

If you are a non-American Indian or non-Alaskan Native parent or other relative, as defined by WAC 388-454-0010, of an American Indian or Alaskan Native child or children living in a qualifying area of Indian country, your months on assistance will count against your lifetime limit. You may, however, receive more than sixty months of assistance under hardship criteria to be developed by the department.

(3) Where must I live to qualify for the Indian country exemption to time limits?

To qualify for this exemption to TANF time limits, you must live in "Indian country." The department uses the "Indian country" definition in federal law at 18 U.S.C. 1151. Indian country is defined as reservations, dependent Indian communities, and allotments. Dependent Indian communities must be set aside by the federal government for the use of Indians and be under federal superintendence. Near reservation areas (areas or communities adjacent or contiguous to reservations) are not considered Indian country for purposes of this exemption.

(4) Can I live on the reservation or Indian country belonging to a tribe other than my own to qualify for this time limit exemption?

Yes. You do not need to be an American Indian or Alaskan Native of the same tribe as the reservation or other area of Indian country on which you reside.

(5) How does the department determine if at least fifty percent of adults living in Indian country are not employed?

The department uses the most current biennial Indian Service Population and Labor Force Estimates Report published by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), or any successor report, as the default data source to determine if the not employed rates for areas of Indian country are at least fifty percent.

(6) What if a tribe disagrees with the not employed rate published in the BIA Indian Service Population and Labor Force Estimates Report?

A tribe may provide alternative data, based on similar periods to the Indian Service Population and Labor Force Estimates Report, to demonstrate that the not employed rate is at least fifty percent.

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Washington State Code Reviser's Office