The definitions described in this rule are contained in federal
regulations related to the temporary assistance for needy families (TANF)
program. There are also definitions included in this rule that are set forth in
the Revised Code.
(A) "Adult"
is defined in 45 C.F.R. 260.30 (10/1999) as an individual who is not a minor
child, as defined in this rule.
(B) "Assistance"
is defined in 45 C.F.R. 260.31 (10/1999) as described below:
(1) Assistance
includes cash, payments, vouchers, and other forms of benefits designed to meet
a family's ongoing basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, utilities,
household goods, personal care items and general incidental items. Except as
provided in paragraph (B)(2) of this rule, assistance includes supportive
services such as transportation and child care provided to families who are not
employed. It includes such benefits even when they are:
(a) Provided in the
form of payments by a TANF agency or other agency on its behalf, to individual
recipients; and
(b) Conditioned on
participation in work experience or community service, or any other activity
under 45 C.F.R. 261.30 (10/1999), that defines work activities as: unsubsidized
employment, subsidized private-sector employment; subsidized public-sector
employment; work experience when sufficient private-sector employment is not
available; on-the-job training (OJT); job search and job readiness assistance;
community service programs; vocational educational training; job skills
training directly related to employment; education directly related to
employment, in the case of a recipient who has not received a high school
diploma or a certificate of high school equivalency; satisfactory attendance at
secondary school or in a course of study leading to a certificate of general
equivalence, in the case of a recipient who has not completed secondary school
or received such a certificate; and providing child care services to an
individual who is participating in a community service program.
(2) Assistance
excludes:
(a) Nonrecurrent,
short-term benefits that:
(i) Are designed
to deal with a specific crisis situation or episode of need;
(ii) Are not
intended to meet recurrent or ongoing needs; and
(iii) Will not
extend beyond four months.
(b) Work subsidies
- payments to employers or third parties to help cover the costs of employee
wages, benefits, supervision and training;
(c) Supportive
services such as child care and transportation provided to families who are
employed;
(d) Refundable
earned income tax credits;
(e) Contributions
to, and distributions from individual development accounts (IDA);
(f) Services such
as counseling, case management, peer support, child care information and
referral, transitional services, job retention, job advancement, and other
employment-related services that do not provide basic income support; and
(g) Transportation
benefits provided under a job access or reverse commute project to an
individual who is not otherwise receiving assistance.
(C) "Assistance
group" means those persons potentially eligible or determined eligible to
receive benefits together under one assistance group name. This was formerly
referred to as the food assistance household. The assistance group is also
known as the standard filing unit (SFU) in the statewide automated eligibility
system.
(D) "Case"
means all assistance groups who live in the same household.
(E) "Cash
assistance", when provided to Ohio works first (OWF) participants has the
meaning described in paragraph (B) of this rule and in rule 5101:1-23-01 of the
Administrative Code.
(F) "Commingled
State TANF expenditures" means expenditures of state funds that are made
within the TANF program and commingled with federal TANF funds.
(G) "Custodian"
as defined in section 5107.02 of the Revised Code means, an individual who has
legal custody, as defined in section 2151.011 of the Revised Code, of a minor
child or comparable status over a minor child created by a court of competent
jurisdiction in another state.
(H) "Erroneous
payment" as defined in section 5107.76 of the Revised Code and rule
5101:1-23-70 of the Administrative Code, means payments of cash assistance
under OWF to assistance groups not eligible to receive the assistance,
including assistance paid as a result of misrepresentation or fraud and
assistance paid due to an error by a member of an assistance group or a county
agency.
(I) "Fraudulent
assistance" as defined in section 5101.83 of the Revised Code and rule
5101:1-23-75 of the Administrative Code, means assistance and services,
including cash assistance provided under OWF established under Chapter 5107. of
the Revised Code, or benefits and services provided under prevention, retention
and contingency (PRC) as provided in Chapter 5108. of the Revised Code, to or
on behalf of an assistance group that is provided as a result of fraud by a
member of the assistance group, including an intentional violation of the
program's requirement. Fraudulent assistance does not include assistance or
services to or on behalf of an assistance group that is provided as a result of
an error that is the fault of the county agency or the Ohio department of job
and family services (ODJFS).
(J) "Guardian"
as defined in section 5107.02 of the Revised Code means, an individual that is
granted authority by a probate court pursuant to Chapter 2111. of the Revised
Code, or a court of competent jurisdiction in another state, to exercise
parental rights over a minor child to the extent provided in the court's order
and subject to residual parental rights of the minor child's parents.
(K) "Indian"
as defined in 25 U.S.C. 450b (12/2000)5304 (10/1994) of the United States Code, means a person who
is a member of an Indian tribe.
(L) "Indian
country", as defined in 18 U.S.C. 1151 (5/1976) of the United States Code,
means:
(1) All land within
the limits of any Indian reservation under the jurisdiction of the United
States government, notwithstanding the issuance of any patent and, including
rights-of-way running through the reservation;
(2) All dependent
Indian communities within the borders of the United States whether within the
original or subsequently acquired territory thereof, and whether within or
without the limits of a state; and
(3) All Indian
allotments, the Indian titles that have not been extinguished, including rights-of-way
running through the same.
(M) "Indian
tribe", as defined in 25 U.S.C. 450b5304, means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other
organized group or community, including any Alaska native village or regional
or village corporation as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska
Native Claims Settlement Act (12/2004) that is recognized as eligible for the
special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because
of their status as Indians; except that the term "Indian tribe" means,
with respect to the state of Alaska, only the Metlakatla Indian community of
the Annette islands reserve and the following Alaska native regional nonprofit
corporations:
(1) Arctic slope
native association;
(2) Kawerak, inc.;
(3) Maniilaq
association;
(4) Association of
village council presidents;
(5) Tanana chiefs
council;
(6) Cook inlet
tribal council;
(7) Bristol bay
native association;
(8) Aleutian and
Pribilof island association;
(9) Chugachmuit;
(10) Tlingit Haida
central council;
(11) Kodiak area
native association; and
(12) Copper river
native association.
(N) "Indian
Tribal Organization" or "tribal organization" as defined in 25
U.S.C. 405b 5304 means,
the recognized governing body of any Indian tribe; any legally established
organization of Indians that is controlled, sanctioned, or chartered by such
governing body or that is democratically elected by the adult members of the
Indian community to be served by such organization and that includes the
maximum participation of Indians in all phases of its activities provided that
in any case where a contract is let or grant made to an organization to perform
services benefiting more than one Indian tribe, the approval of each such
Indian tribe shall be the prerequisite to the letting or making of such
contract or grant.
(O) "Individual
Development Account (IDA)" as defined in 45 C.F.R. 263.20 (10/1999) means
an account established by or for an individual who is eligible for assistance
under the TANF program, to allow the individual to accumulate funds for
specific purposes. The funds in an IDA account shall be disregarded in
determining eligibility for, or the amount of, assistance in any federal means-tested
programs.
(P) "Minor
child" as defined in 45 C.F.R. 260.30 means an individual who:
(1) Is not eighteen
years of age; or
(2) Who has not
turned nineteen years of age and is a full-time student in a secondary school
(or the equivalent level of vocational or technical training).
(Q) "Minor head
of household" as defined in section 5107.02 of the Revised Code means a
minor child who is either of the following:
(1) Is married, at
least six months pregnant and a member of an assistance group that does not include
an adult; or
(2) Is married and
is a parent of a child included in the same assistance group that does not
include an adult.
(R) "Ohio Works
First (OWF)" as defined in section 5107.02 of the Revised Code means the
program established by section 5107.03 of the Revised Code. OWF is Ohio's TANF
cash assistance program. OWF is a program that provides time-limited cash
assistance, as defined in paragraph (B)(1) of this rule, to eligible families.
(S) "Payment
standard" as defined in section 5107.02 of the Revised Code means the
amount specified in rules adopted under section 5107.05 of the Revised Code
that is the maximum amount of cash assistance an assistance group may receive
under OWF from state and federal funds.
(T) "Prevention,
Retention and Contingency (PRC)" as defined in Chapter 5108. of the
Revised Code means the program established under Chapter 5108. of the Revised
Code and funded in part with federal TANF funds to provide non-cash benefits
and services, as defined in paragraph (B)(2) of this rule, that individuals
need to overcome immediate barriers to achieving or maintaining self
sufficiency and personal responsibility.
(U) Personal
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) is a
United States federal law as defined in 45 C.F.R. 260.30, or Pub. L. No.
104-193 (8/1996). PRWORA instituted TANF.
(V) "Specified
relative" as defined in section 5107.02 of the Revised Code means the
following individuals who are age eighteen and older:
(1) The following
individuals related by blood or adoption;
(a) Grandparents,
including grandparents with the prefix "great",
"great-great", or "great-great-great";
(b) Siblings;
(c) Aunts, uncles,
nephews, and nieces, including such relatives with the prefix "great",
"great-great", "grand", or "great-grand"; and
(d) First cousins
and first cousins once removed.
(2) Stepparents and
stepsiblings; and
(3) Spouses and
former spouses of individuals named in paragraphs (V)(1) and (V)(2) of this
rule.
(W) "State TANF
expenditures" as defined in 45 C.F.R. 260.30 means the expenditure of
state funds within the TANF program.
(X) "Statewide
automated eligibility system" means the centralized statewide automated
system that supports all eighty-eight county agencies.
(Y) "Supplemental
security income (SSI)" means cash payments made under the authority of
Title XVI of the Social Security Act (8/1997), to the aged, blind, and
disabled; or section 1616(a) of the Social Security Act.
(Z) "Supplemental
security income (SSI) recipient" means a person who receives SSI payments.
(AA) "Temporary
assistance for needy families (TANF)" as defined in 45 C.F.R. 260.30 is a
block grant program to help move recipients into work and turn welfare into a
program of temporary assistance. Under the welfare reform legislation of 1996,
TANF replaced the old welfare programs known as the aid to families with
dependent children (AFDC) program, the job opportunities and basic skills
training (JOBS) program, and the emergency assistance (EA) program.
(BB) "TANF
Program" as defined in 45 C.F.R. 260.30 means a state program of family
assistance operated by an eligible state under its state TANF plan.
(CC) "Title
IV-A" as defined in 45 C.F.R. 260.30 means the title and part of the
Social Security Act that now includes TANF, but previously included the now
obsolete aid to families with dependent children (AFDC) and emergency
assistance (EA) programs.
(DD) "Title IV-A
program" as defined in section 5101.80 of the Revised Code means all of
the following that are funded in part with funds provided under the TANF block
grant:
(1) The OWF program
established under Chapter 5107. of the Revised Code;
(2) The PRC program
established under Chapter 5108. of the Revised Code;
(3) A program
established by the general assembly or an executive order issued by the
governor that is administered or supervised by the ODJFS; and
(4) A component of
a Title IV-A program identified in paragraphs (DD)(1) to (DD)(3) of this rule,
that the Title IV-A state plan identifies as a component.
(5) The kinship
permanency incentive program created under section 5101.802 of the Revised
Code.
(6) The Title IV-A
demonstration program created under section 5101.803 of the Revised Code.
(EE) "Work
eligible individual" as defined in 45 C.F.R. 261.2 (10/1999) means the
following:
(1) An adult (or
minor child head-of-household) receiving assistance under TANF or a separate
state program or a non-recipient parent living with a child receiving such
assistance unless the parent is:
(a) A minor parent
and not the head-of-household;
(b) A non-citizen
who is ineligible to receive assistance due to his or her immigration status;
or
(c) At state option
on a case-by-case basis, a recipient of supplemental security income (SSI)
benefits or aid to the aged, blind or disabled in the territories.
(2) The term
excludes:
(a) A parent
providing care for a disabled family member living in the home, provided that
there is medical documentation to support the need for the parent to remain in
the home to care for the disabled family member;
(b) At state option
on a case-by-case basis, a parent who is a recipient of social security
disability insurance (SSDI) benefits; and
(c) An individual
in a family receiving maintenance-of-effort funded assistance under an approved
tribal TANF program, unless the state includes the tribal family in calculating
work participation rates, as permitted under 45 C.F.R. 261.25 (10/1999).
(FF) "Work
participation rate" means the minimum federal work participation rates
pursuant to 45 C.F.R. 261.21 (10/1999) and 45 C.F.R. 261.23 (10/1999). The
minimum federal work participation rates are ninety per cent for two-parent
assistance groups and fifty per cent for all family assistance groups.
(GG) For purposes of division 5101:1 of the
Administrative Code:
(1) The terms "appraisal" and
"assessment" shall be read to include a comprehensive assessment
conducted in accordance with division 5101:14 of the Administrative Code for
work eligible individuals between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four years of
age.
(2) The terms "self sufficiency
contract" and "self sufficiency contract and plan" shall be read
to include an individual opportunity plan developed in accordance with division
5101:14 of the Administrative Code for work eligible individuals between the
ages of fourteen and twenty-four years of age.
Effective: 10/1/2017
Five Year Review (FYR) Dates: 10/1/2021
Certification: CERTIFIED ELECTRONICALLY
Date: 09/21/2017
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 5116.06, 5107.05
Rule Amplifies: 5107.05, 5116.12, 5116.11, 5116.10, 5116.06
Prior Effective
Dates: 7/1/2002, 8/29/2003 (Emer.), 11/1/2003, 9/29/2006 (Emer.), 12/29/2006,
10/1/2008, 10/1/2011, 10/1/2016