Text: HF00501 Text: HF00503 Text: HF00500 - HF00599 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. WELFARE REFORM.
1 2 1. The department of human services shall submit a waiver
1 3 request or requests to the United States department of health
1 4 and human services as necessary to implement the changes in
1 5 the family investment program under chapter 239 and the job
1 6 opportunities and basic skills program under chapter 249C, as
1 7 provided by this section. In addition, the department may
1 8 submit additional waiver requests to the United States
1 9 department of agriculture to make changes in the federal food
1 10 stamp program and to the United States department of health
1 11 and human services to make changes to the medical assistance
1 12 program under chapter 249A, as necessary to revise these
1 13 programs in accordance with any waiver provision implemented
1 14 pursuant to this section.
1 15 2. For the purposes of this section unless the context
1 16 otherwise requires:
1 17 a. "Applicant" means an individual who has applied to be a
1 18 recipient of public assistance.
1 19 b. "Minor parent" means an applicant or recipient parent
1 20 who is less than eighteen years of age and has never been
1 21 married.
1 22 c. "Public assistance" means the family investment program
1 23 under chapter 239 and job opportunities and basic skills or
1 24 JOBS program under chapter 249C.
1 25 d. "Recipient" means the same as provided in chapter 239
1 26 and includes individuals whose income is considered by the
1 27 department.
1 28 3. The department of human services shall apply for
1 29 federal waivers to implement the following provisions for
1 30 applicants for and recipients of public assistance:
1 31 a. To promote responsibility and strengthen family values,
1 32 the department shall require the following of minor parents,
1 33 and recipient parents who are 19 years of age or less, as
1 34 indicated:
1 35 (1) Unless any of the following conditions apply, a minor
2 1 parent shall be required to live with their parent or legal
2 2 guardian:
2 3 (a) The parent or guardian of the minor parent is
2 4 deceased, missing, or living in another state.
2 5 (b) The minor parent's health or safety would be
2 6 jeopardized if the minor parent is required to live with the
2 7 parent or guardian.
2 8 (c) The minor parent is in foster care.
2 9 (d) The minor parent is participating in the job corps
2 10 solo parent program or independent living program.
2 11 (e) Other good cause exists which is identified in rules
2 12 adopted by the department for this purpose for the minor
2 13 parent to receive public assistance while living apart from
2 14 the minor parent's parent or guardian.
2 15 (2) A minor parent who is a recipient and is not required
2 16 to live with the minor parent's parent or guardian pursuant to
2 17 subparagraph (1) shall be required to participate in a family
2 18 development program identified in rules adopted by the
2 19 department.
2 20 (3) Minor parents who are recipients and recipient parents
2 21 who are 19 years of age or less shall be required to attend
2 22 parenting classes.
2 23 b. To focus on the educational needs of minor parents, the
2 24 department shall require that a minor parent must either have
2 25 graduated from high school or have received a high school
2 26 equivalency diploma, or be engaged full-time in completing
2 27 high school graduation or equivalency requirements.
2 28 c. To encourage the development of a strong work ethic, in
2 29 calculating public assistance eligibility and the amount of
2 30 assistance, the department shall disregard earnings of an
2 31 applicant or a recipient who is 19 years of age or younger who
2 32 is engaged full-time in completing high school graduation or
2 33 equivalency requirements.
2 34 d. To strengthen measures addressing welfare fraud and
2 35 abuse, the department shall strengthen sanctions to disqualify
3 1 recipients who defraud or abuse public assistance. In
3 2 establishing sanctions pursuant to this paragraph, the
3 3 department shall establish the same or similar penalties for
3 4 the family investment program and for the food stamp program.
3 5 e. To remove incentives for parent and caretaker relative
3 6 applicants who received public assistance in another state and
3 7 move to Iowa to seek public assistance, the department shall
3 8 limit public assistance payment amounts to the lesser of
3 9 Iowa's standard of payment or the standard of payment of the
3 10 person's previous state of residence. If such an applicant
3 11 received aid to families with dependent children in another
3 12 state within one year of applying for public assistance in
3 13 this state, the requirements of this paragraph shall apply for
3 14 the period of one year from the date of applying for public
3 15 assistance in this state. The department shall determine the
3 16 applicant's eligibility for public assistance in this state
3 17 using the eligibility requirements of this state. If eligible
3 18 in this state, based upon the family size used to determine
3 19 eligibility, the department shall compare the standard grant
3 20 amount the applicant would receive in this state with the
3 21 standard grant amount in the other state. The applicant's
3 22 standard grant amount when receiving public assistance shall
3 23 be the lesser of the two amounts. For the one-year period,
3 24 the department shall apply this state's policies in
3 25 determining the applicant's amount of net income and the
3 26 resulting amount shall be subtracted from the applicant's
3 27 applicable standard grant. The provisions of this paragraph
3 28 shall not apply to an applicant who was previously a resident
3 29 of this state before living in another state and receiving aid
3 30 to families with dependent children or to an applicant who has
3 31 moved to this state to be near the applicant's parent or
3 32 sibling.
3 33 f. To encourage responsible decision making by families
3 34 receiving public assistance, the department shall do all of
3 35 the following with newly eligible and existing recipient
4 1 parents:
4 2 (1) Discuss orally and in writing the financial
4 3 implications of newly born children on the recipient's family.
4 4 (2) Discuss orally and in writing the available family
4 5 planning resources.
4 6 (3) Include family planning counseling as an optional
4 7 component of the job opportunities and basic skills program.
4 8 (4) Include the recipient's family planning objectives in
4 9 the family investment agreement.
4 10 g. To encourage responsible decision making by families
4 11 receiving public assistance, the department shall limit
4 12 eligibility for the family investment program to a certain
4 13 number of children as follows:
4 14 (1) If a family is a recipient on the effective date of
4 15 the waiver, in any period of eligibility on or after the
4 16 waiver's initial effective date the family's eligible children
4 17 shall be limited to those children living in the recipient's
4 18 household on the waiver's initial effective date and children
4 19 born into the recipient's household within ten months of the
4 20 waiver's initial effective date.
4 21 (2) If a family is not a recipient as of the waiver's
4 22 initial effective date, in any period of eligibility following
4 23 the waiver's initial effective date the family's eligible
4 24 children shall be limited to those children living in the
4 25 recipient's household on the date the family's eligibility for
4 26 public assistance is first approved following the waiver's
4 27 initial effective date and to children born within 10 months
4 28 of the date first approved for eligibility.
4 29 (3) For the purposes of this paragraph, children
4 30 considered to be living in the recipient's household shall
4 31 include children for whom the household is the children's
4 32 primary residence and children who are temporarily absent from
4 33 the household but for whom the household would otherwise be
4 34 the children's primary residence.
4 35 Sec. 2. CONTINGENCY PROVISION &endash; TRANSFER. The waiver
5 1 request or requests submitted by the department of human
5 2 services pursuant to section 1 of this Act to the United
5 3 States department of health and human services shall be to
5 4 apply the provisions of section 1 statewide. If federal
5 5 waiver approval of a provision of section 1 of this Act is
5 6 granted, the department of human services shall implement the
5 7 provision in accordance with the federal approval. If a
5 8 provision of this Act is in conflict with a provision of
5 9 chapter 239 or 249C, notwithstanding that provision in chapter
5 10 239 or 249C, the provision of this Act shall be implemented
5 11 and the department shall propose an amendment to chapter 239
5 12 or 249C to resolve the conflict. The department may transfer
5 13 moneys appropriated for a waiver provision to another
5 14 appropriation as deemed necessary by the department if the
5 15 waiver provision is denied by the federal government.
5 16 Sec. 3. RULES. The department of human services shall
5 17 adopt administrative rules pursuant to chapter 17A to
5 18 implement the provisions of section 1 of this Act. If
5 19 necessary to conform with federal waiver terms and conditions
5 20 or to efficiently administer the provisions, the rules may
5 21 apply additional policies and procedures which are consistent
5 22 with the provisions of section 1 of this Act.
5 23 Sec. 4. APPLICABILITY. The effective date of each waiver
5 24 provision in section 1 of this Act granted by the federal
5 25 government shall be set by rule. However, provisions of
5 26 section 1, subsection 3, paragraphs "a" through "f", of this
5 27 Act, shall not be implemented before July 1, 1996, and
5 28 provisions of section 1, subsection 3, paragraph "g", of this
5 29 Act, shall not be implemented before January 1, 1997. If
5 30 federal law is amended to permit this state to initiate any of
5 31 the provisions of section 1 of this Act without a federal
5 32 waiver, the department of human services shall proceed to
5 33 implement the provisions within the time period required by
5 34 this section.
5 35 EXPLANATION
6 1 This bill relates to the family investment program and
6 2 related human services programs by requiring the department of
6 3 human services to apply for certain federal waivers and
6 4 providing applicability provisions.
6 5 The bill describes provisions of waivers involving the
6 6 family investment program (formerly aid to families with
6 7 dependent children now referred to as FIP) and the federal-
6 8 state job opportunities and basic skills (JOBS) program (a
6 9 work and training program for recipients under FIP). In
6 10 addition, the department may apply for federal waivers under
6 11 the federal food stamp program and medical assistance program
6 12 for any changes to coordinate with waivers approved for FIP
6 13 and JOBS.
6 14 The bill requires the department to apply for waivers to
6 15 implement the following provisions: require minor parents to
6 16 live with their parent or guardian except under certain
6 17 exceptions, require those who do not live with their parent or
6 18 guardian to participate in a family development program, and
6 19 require any recipient parent who is 19 years of age or less to
6 20 attend parenting classes; require that a minor parent must
6 21 either have graduated from high school or have completed an
6 22 equivalent, or be engaged full-time in completing high school
6 23 graduation or equivalency requirements; for a family with a
6 24 recipient who is less than 20 years of age and engaged full-
6 25 time in completing high school graduation or equivalency
6 26 requirements, the department is required to disregard that
6 27 recipient's earnings in calculating eligibility and amount of
6 28 assistance for the family; adopt measures to strengthen
6 29 sanctions to disqualify recipients who defraud or abuse public
6 30 assistance; for one year, with certain exceptions for former
6 31 residents of this state or for recipients with family in this
6 32 state, require reduction of the FIP grant amount for those
6 33 recipients who received aid to families with dependent
6 34 children in another state which is less than paid in this
6 35 state; provide for the department to address various family
7 1 planning issues with recipients; and require a limitation in
7 2 the FIP grant amount so that after the implementation date
7 3 specified in the waiver if a recipient's family size
7 4 increases, the children born after that date are not eligible
7 5 for assistance.
7 6 A contingency provision requires the department to request
7 7 approval of the waiver provisions statewide and authorizes
7 8 implementation of a federally approved waiver in accordance
7 9 with the approval. In addition, if any of the waiver
7 10 provisions are in conflict with a state law in the FIP or JOBS
7 11 chapters, the provision is still to be implemented and the
7 12 department is directed to propose an amendment to resolve the
7 13 conflict. If moneys are appropriated for a waiver provision
7 14 that is later denied, the department may transfer the
7 15 appropriation to another appropriation, as deemed necessary by
7 16 the department.
7 17 The department is directed to adopt rules through the
7 18 regular rulemaking procedures to implement approved waiver
7 19 provisions. All of the waiver provisions except for the
7 20 limitation in the family size are not to be implemented until
7 21 July 1, 1996. The family size waiver is not to be implemented
7 22 until January 1, 1997. If federal law changes so that a
7 23 waiver is not necessary to implement any of the provisions in
7 24 the bill, the same start date restrictions apply.
7 25 LSB 1603HV 76
7 26 jp/sc/14
Text: HF00501 Text: HF00503 Text: HF00500 - HF00599 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
Iowa General Assembly
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