§ 167:79 — Employment Program; Eligibility

I. (a) For purposes of this subdivision, a person shall be eligible for financial assistance under the employment program who is a needy child deprived of parental support or care by reason of death, continued absence from the home, physical or mental incapacity, and who lives with a parent or an able-bodied specified relative. If the child is living with both parents, one parent shall be able-bodied. The parent or parents of the dependent child or the able-bodied caretaker relative may also be eligible for assistance.
(b) A needy child who is deprived of parental support or care by reason of unemployment or underemployment of a parent may receive assistance under TANF or under the state-funded assistance program in RSA 167:77-e.
II. The following persons shall be included in the assistance group, unless such person receives foster care or adoption assistance, if living in the same household or temporarily absent from the household: any dependent child and all minor blood-related, step, or adoptive brothers and sisters, and all natural, step, or adoptive parents of such children, including cohabitating adults who share a minor child. In the case of a minor parent, the assistance unit may also include all natural, step, or adoptive parents of the minor parent and all minor blood-related, step or adoptive brothers and sisters. If the parents are not residing together a child shall be considered residing with the parent who has physical custody of the child the majority of the time.
III. The following requirements and conditions shall be necessary to establish eligibility for the entire assistance group:
(a) The department has the authority to require appointments necessary for entry into the employment program, including but not limited to the initial orientation interview, as a condition of eligibility for TANF financial assistance in accordance with rules established pursuant to RSA 541-A. The department shall provide an opportunity for an orientation interview within 10 days of the date of application and shall offer referral assistance for child care and transportation.
(b) An applicant whose most recent case closure was the result of sanction for non-compliance in the employment program shall first participate fully in verifiable and approved employment-related activities for a period of 2 consecutive weeks.
(c) The parent or caretaker relative shall comply with the following with regard to any child for whom financial assistance is requested:
(1) Provide information and cooperate in all actions necessary to establish the child's paternity unless good cause exists.
(2) If the father is not identified, participate in an interview with a child support worker for the purpose of understanding the importance of establishing paternity and obtaining child support. Such interview shall be scheduled prior to any action to deny eligibility.
(3) Assign to the department the rights to any child or spousal support payments made by a person outside the assistance group to benefit any family member within the assistance group.
(4) In all other ways cooperate with efforts to obtain child or spousal support and identify and locate liable relatives, unless good cause exists. Good cause exists if the conditions defined in RSA 167:82, III(b) are met.
(d) An applicant who voluntarily quits or refuses a job without good cause, as defined in RSA 167:82, III(c), while receiving financial assistance shall first participate fully in verifiable and approved employment-related activities for a period of 2 consecutive weeks.
(e) The assistance group's net income shall be less than the payment standard for the assistance group size.
(f) The assistance group's countable resources shall be less than the allowable resource limit established by the department pursuant to RSA 167:81, II.
(g) A written application, signed under a penalty of perjury, shall be completed by the person applying for assistance.
(h) A person shall provide such person's social security number, or apply for a social security number if the person does not have one.
(i) The identity of all applicants for assistance shall be verified.
(j) A parent or caretaker relative shall appear for an interview.
(k) Each person in the assistance group shall develop all potential sources of income for which such person may be eligible. Each person shall apply for such income, cooperate in applying for such income, and accept the income if eligible.
(l) No person in the assistance group shall be on strike, unless the person establishes to the satisfaction of the commissioner that:
(1) The unemployment results solely from a lockout; or
(2) That to attempt to or to cross the picket line would place the person in physical danger.
(m) An unwed minor parent shall reside with such person's parent, legal guardian, other adult relative, or in another adult supervised supported arrangement, unless:
(1) The minor parent resided separately from such person's parent or legal guardian for a period of at least one year before either the birth of the dependent child or the parent's application for assistance;
(2) The physical or emotional health or safety of the minor parent or dependent child would be jeopardized; or
(3) There is otherwise good cause for the minor parent and dependent child to receive assistance while residing separate from the minor parent's parent, legal guardian, or other adult relative; or outside of an adult supervised living arrangement.
(n) Any other requirements established by the department by rules adopted pursuant to RSA 541-A as necessary to promote the purpose and goals of this subdivision.
IV. Failure to meet the following requirements shall result in that person being ineligible for assistance:
(a) A person shall be a current resident of the state of New Hampshire.
(b) A person shall not be an inmate of a public or private institution.
(c) A person shall be a United States citizen, or shall meet the citizenship requirements established in PRWORA, as amended.
(d) Any other requirements established by the department by rules adopted pursuant to RSA 541-A as necessary to promote the purpose and goals of this subdivision.
V. (a) The following persons are not eligible for assistance:
(1) A person who is not a United States citizen and does not meet the citizenship requirements established in PRWORA, as amended.
(2) A spouse of a caretaker relative.
(3) Other persons as determined by the department by rules adopted pursuant to RSA 541-A as necessary to promote the purpose and goals of this subdivision.
(b) The treatment of needs, income, and resources of such persons in the determination of eligibility and the amount of the financial assistance payment to other persons in the assistance group shall be determined by the department by rules adopted in accordance with RSA 541-A.
VI. Failure to meet the following requirements shall result in the imposition of sanctions and the reduction of benefits or case closure for the assistance group:
(a) A parent or caretaker relative shall comply with all of the following for any child for whom financial assistance is requested:
(1) Provide information and cooperate in all action necessary to establish the child's paternity unless good cause exists. If the father is not identified, the parent or caretaker shall participate in an interview with a child support worker for the purpose of understanding the importance of establishing paternity and obtaining child support. The interview shall take place prior to any action to reduce assistance.
(2) Assign to the department the rights to any child or spousal support payments made by a person outside the assistance group to benefit any family member within the assistance group.
(3) In all other ways cooperate with efforts to obtain child or spousal support and identify and locate liable relatives, unless good cause exists. Good cause exists if the conditions defined in RSA 167:82, III(b) are met.
(b) A parent or caretaker relative shall not voluntarily quit a job or refuse a job unless there is good cause as defined in RSA 167:82, III(c).
(c) A parent or caretaker relative and case members shall attend and cooperate with all required appointments and activities for entry into and participation in the employment program.
(d) Applicants and participants of the employment program shall participate in the development of an employment contract pursuant to RSA 167:88, shall agree to the terms of the employment contract, and shall cooperate fully with the steps established in the employment contract.
(e) Any other requirements established by the department by rules adopted pursuant to RSA 541-A as necessary to promote the purpose and goals of this subdivision.

Legislative History

1995, 310:62. 1996, 170:1, 3, I. 2006, 325:7. 2007, 349:5-8. 2011, 224:287, eff. July 1, 2011; 272:2, eff. Jan. 13, 2012.