HomeMy WebLinkAbout982333.tiff WELD r1��__ C0UNTY CC STATE OF COLORADO
COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF HUac}01\:ARCkic' r,RC
Office of BSI-Sufficiency ,r
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15]5 Sherman Sneer Ig91 UN 13 AN l3: 57
Denver,Colorado 80203-1014 1 ` 
Phone: (303)866-5981
FAX. O03)866-5488 CLERK ��
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TO THE BOARD
Roy Romer
Governor
Barbara McDonnell
Executive Director
Karen Bryn
Managing Director
November 5, 1998
To Colorado Works Q&A Mailing List Members:
This issue of the Question and Answer forum covers a wide variety of different topics related to the
Colorado Works program. Our responses to your questions are attached.
We continue to encourage you to use this forum to get answers to your broad policy questions. As
always, more specific questions and/or time-sensitive questions should be referred to the appropriate
program specialist.
Thank you for your continued interest in using this communications forum.
Sincerely,
Mark Tandberg, Acting Manager
Office of Self-Sufficiency
t\\�4\ Lte. 55) / � 04 F/ 982333
Colorado Works Program Question and Answer Forum
1. If a recipient lives too far away for a school bus to transport her children to school, and she
receives a monthly mileage cost for transporting her children herself, do we count this as
income for TANF?
No. Reimbursement of an expense is not considered income and does not affect the grant.
2. Must both parents in a two-parent household, be involved in work activities in order to meet the
24-month work requirement at 3.600.15 C and 3.625.1?
No, only one parent in a two-parent family must be involved in a work activity to meet the 24-
month requirement. However, if the county wants this family to count in the work participation
rate, it may be necessary to have both parents involved in work activities.in order for them to be
countable in the numerator.
For example, Fred and Sally Jones are a two-parent household. Fred is undergoing substance
abuse treatment, which is considered a county defined work activity which meets the 24-month
requirement, but is not countable for the work participation rate calculation. The county may
wish to involve Sally in a federally countable activity such as job search/job readiness, work
experience, or employment for an average of 35 hours per week per month. Assuming no
federally funded childcare is provided, and Sally completes at least 151 actual hours in the
countable activity,this family will count in the numerator and denominator of the work
participation rate calculation.
3. It is our understanding that if we issue payments to clients from County Diversion using code
"29"that the system will know when we have made payments for four months or more and
count those months toward the clients time clock. Is this true? And if so, what is the status of
any child support that may be paid to the client for those months?
Effective October 26, 1998, short-term county diversion payments can only be made on a
Category 04 Financial Only case (Grant Code 2) with a retro code of 29. The TANF clock does
not advance for retro code 29. COIN has an edit that will allow retro code 29 to be entered for 3
consecutive months only. The case must be paid using another retro code in the fourth month.
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The TANF Clock will count the 3 months of short-term county diversion plus the fourth month
of payment toward the adult's time limit under the following conditions:
• For those who have been included on a payment for short-term county diversion(grant code
2)for 3 consecutive months; and
• For those who move to another household and are included in the payment, or the current
household tow becomes eligible for long-term county diversion(case must be made
financial/med active (grant code 1)or Cash Assistance, or the current case is paid using
another retro code.
When an individual is ineligible for Colorado Works, but is eligible under a County Diversion
program, there are no requirements that the individual cooperate with Child Support
Enforcement. Child Support received by an individual receiving short-term county diversion is
not turned over to the county department to reimburse the Unreimbursed Public Assistance
(UPA). Once County Diversion becomes long-term county diversion(retro code 31), the case
reverts to basic cash assistance and all conditions of eligibility apply, including the child support
being included in the UPA as defined in the Child Support Enforcement staff manual.
4. I have a participant who is an Americorps Volunteer with a contract for service of at least 900
hours between August 10. 1998& November 30, 1998, extended until December 31, 1998. She
receives a $4,000 stipend,payable in installments of$692/mo. after taxes?? We were wondering
if this income is considered exempt. I cannot tell if it is under Title I,II, or III of the Domestic
Volunteer Services Act.
This income is countable for Colorado Works. It was exempted in the Domestic Volunteer
Services Act for Food Assistance and subsidized housing, but countable for AFDC; therefore, it
is countable for Colorado Works. For further clarification,reference Agency Letter AFDC-95-
14-P, dated 3/20/95.
5. If a family applying for Colorado Works has a relative who shares true 50/50 joint custody with
an absent parent, and the absent parent will not provide information to determine eligibility,
what is the procedure?
The definition of 50/50 joint custody is where care and control of the child is split 50/50 during
the month of application. If one parent does not provide the information to establish eligibility,
the application is denied for failure to provide verification. There is no absent parent in this case.
The children are considered to be living with both parents.
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Colorado Works Program Question and Answer Forum
6. How do we use income of individuals that are fugitives?
Fugitives are considered excluded individuals in a household; however, their income and
resources are used to determine eligibility for the household that is applying for Colorado Works.
7. What does the state use to verify fugitives? Is the report from the Colorado Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) enough verification?
•
The report that is received from the CBI is enough verification to deny or discontinue eligibility
to an individual who is on this list.
8. How do we treat an individual in the household who is receiving Supplemental Security Income
(SSI)?
Recipients who receive SSI are not included in the household. Their SSI income or resources are
not counted towards the assistance unit. This has not changed from the old AFDC rules that
were in effect on July 16, 1996.
9. Is step-parent income still deemed to the assistance unit?
Yes, because of the financial responsibility of spouse-to-spouse. This is not to be confused with
SFU regulations.
The SFU are those persons required to apply for assistance as a unit. The required members are
the dependent child(ren) and their parents, siblings and half siblings. SFU regulations require
that parents, siblings and half-siblings of a dependent child shall be in the same assistance unit
and shall also apply for Colorado Works as one assistance unit. A household who is applying
that has a step-parent in it is required to have their income deemed to the assistance unit because
of his/her financial responsibility to their spouse (financial responsibility is spouse-to-spouse and
parent-to-child).
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10. Are stepsiblings required members of the Standard Filing Unit(SFU)?
No. SFU regulations state that the relationship to the dependent child which are required to be in
the SFU are siblings,half-siblings, and parents. Stepsiblings are not included.
11. If a family fails to immunize a child without good cause, do you discontinue or sanction the
case, the household, or the individual?
Immunizing or attempting to have a child immunized is a condition of eligibility. The household
can be denied, discontinued, or sanctioned based upon county policy.
12. Regarding children immunizations, can we accept the client's declaration without any
documentation? What do we need in the case file?
A client's declaration should still be verified, since immunizations are a condition of eligibility.
There are numerous ways to verify the client's declaration of a child's immunization record.
Once verified, a note on the ROC sheet in a client's case file stating that you have verified a
child's immunization is all that is necessary.
13. Please define what employment disregards are.
An employment disregard is a standard and/or percentage amount of income that is
"disregarded", i.e.,not counted in determining the grant calculation for a particular household.
Employment disregards include the work disregard of$90.00 and the $30 + 1/3 disregard.
14. Do regulations prohibit including a requirement to pursue IV-D in the IRC?
Cooperation with IV-D is an eligibility requirement and, therefore, should not be included in the
IRC. The IRC is limited to matters relating to securing and maintaining training, education,
and/or employment.
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15. Does failure to complete an assessment during initial application or at redetermination result in
discontinuation, denial, or sanctioning?
Counties may discontinue or deny the case during initial application as determined by their
county policy. Counties can not sanction a case that does not have an IRC. There is no
requirement to complete an assessment at redetermination.
16. If a participant cures during the third sanction, is a new application necessary?
No. A new application is not necessary. However, a new assessment and IRC are required.
17. How is income from a child in grade school or Jr. High counted?
Secondary school is considered grades 7 through 12. As long as the dependent child under 18 is
attending school, their income may be exempt for up to 6 months out of a calendar year.
18. With regard to citizenship and alien status, 3.604.2 seems to contradict 3.140.19.
There is no conflict between 3.604.2 and 3.140.19. Staff manual 3.604.2 states, "All immigrants
shall have alien status verified through the SAVE system. Assistance shall not be delayed or
discontinued pending this verification." The SAVE system cannot verify citizenship without
some sort of documentation. Staff manual 3.140.19 talks about having a legal immigrant provide
income and resource verification, not verifying alien status.
19. If an applicant is not able to complete the application forms due to physical or mental
incapacity, why do they have care and control of dependent children?
Parents always have care and control of their child(ren), unless care and control are awarded by a
court of law to another individual.
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20. Staff manual 3.600.12A does not address residence of the county in which the participant must
apply.
Applicants are required to apply in their county of residence as referred to in staff manual
3.110.13 of the general rules.
21. If a 17 year old minor parent and her child live with grandma, can this be considered as living
in an appropriate situation to be eligible? What about minor parents that have no family in this
county,state, or even country?
Based on county policy, counties have the flexibility to approve the living arrangement of a
minor parent not living in the home with their natural or adoptive parents. County departments
must work with the minor parent to locate appropriate living arrangements.
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