134.01 FANF Hardship Extension General Requirements (FAM)

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To qualify for a hardship extension to the Financial Assistance to Needy Families (FANF) 60-month state lifetime limit, an assistance group must:

• make an official request for a hardship extension on BFA Form 785, FANF Hardship Extension Request, and participate in a Hardship Review Interview (see FAM 134.09, Requesting a FANF Hardship Extension);

• provide all required verification of the hardship condition within required timeframes;

• be approved for an extension due to the hardship by the Department;

• have no adult member of the AG under sanction for failure to comply with NHEP work requirements at the time of applying for the extension, any time while eligibility for the extension is being processed, or at the time the FANF cash case was closed due to reaching the 60-month limit;

• not have voluntarily quit or refused suitable employment without good cause within 60 days of the request for extension;

• have no adult member of the AG disqualified from receiving FANF due to committing an Intentional Program Violation at the time of applying for the extension, any time while eligibility for the extension is being processed, at the time the FANF cash case was closed due to reaching the 60-month limit, or any time after an extension to the 60-month lifetime limit has been approved; and

• meet all general, technical, categorical, and financial requirements for FANF financial assistance on the day an extension begins and for the duration of the extension period.

Whether or not the above general requirements have been met, if on two occasions the AG failed to meet NHEP work program requirements and the AG’s FANF hardship extension was terminated for this reason, the AG is not eligible for additional FANF hardship extensions for any reason. Terminations for this reason that occurred prior to October 1, 2010 do not count toward the two occasions.

FAP Households

FAP assistance groups are permanently exempt from the 60-month state lifetime limit and are not required to meet the Specified Hardship Criteria and participate in the Hardship Review Interview process.

Exception: A FAP case must be reviewed if circumstances in the case change.

If a FAP casehead is a non-parent specified relative and the child’s parent moves into the household, the parent of the child must be included in the AG (See Section 207.05, Living With a Specified Relative, and Section 211.01, Who Must Be Members). The result of the addition of the parent into the FAP AG is as follows:

• If the non-parent specified relative does not have legal custody of the child, the FAP case closes and eligibility for cash assistance is redetermined for the parent and the child.

• If the non-parent specified relative has legal custody of the child and the parent is mandatory NHEP, the FAP case reverts to mandatory NHEP with the non-parent specified relative as the casehead. The entire household is then subject to the FANF 60-month lifetime limit. If the parent is at the 60-month lifetime limit when he/she moves into the household, the AG will close at 60 months unless the parent:

- meets the Specified FANF Hardship Extension Criteria (See Section 134.03, Specified FANF Hardship Extension Criteria); or

- becomes permanently exempt from the NHEP work program requirements (See Section 808.05, Exemptions from Participation in NHEP).

Example 1: Gloria and her grandson Sam are open for FAP cash, payee relative not included (PRNI). Gloria does not have legal custody of Sam. Sam’s dad moves in with Gloria and Sam. The FAP-PRNI case must close and eligibility for cash assistance is redetermined with Sam and Sam’s dad making up the AG.

Example 2: Gloria and her grandson Sam are open for FAP-PRNI cash. Gloria has legal custody of Sam. Sam’s dad moves in with Gloria and Sam. Sam’s dad must be added into the AG but because Gloria has custody of Sam, she remains in the AG as the casehead. If Sam’s dad is mandatory NHEP, the FAP case reverts to NHEP, and the entire household is now subject to the 60-month state lifetime limit.

In both examples above, if Sam’s dad is mandatory NHEP and at the 60-month state lifetime limit when he moves in, the financial assistance case closes unless Sam’s dad meets the Specified Hardship Extension Criteria or becomes permanently exempt from the NHEP work program requirements, which would make the case FAP. Otherwise, the case must close.

References: He-W 602.08; He-W 602.09; He-W 630.01