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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, subject to the availability of child
2 25 day care for a minor parent's children, that a minor parent
2 26 must either have graduated from high school or have received a
2 27 high school equivalency diploma, or be engaged full-time in
2 28 completing high school graduation or equivalency requirements.
2 29 c. To encourage the development of a strong work ethic, in
2 30 calculating public assistance eligibility and the amount of
2 31 assistance, the department shall disregard earnings of an
2 32 applicant or a recipient who is 19 years of age or younger who
2 33 is engaged full-time in completing high school graduation or
2 34 equivalency requirements.
2 35 d. To strengthen measures addressing welfare fraud, the
3 1 department shall strengthen sanctions to disqualify recipients
3 2 who commit fraud relating to public assistance. In
3 3 establishing sanctions pursuant to this paragraph, the
3 4 department shall establish the same or similar penalties for
3 5 the family investment program and for the food stamp program.
3 6 e. To make expectations of recipients consistent with
3 7 practices in the private sector, contingent upon the
3 8 availability of funding to provide child day care for the
3 9 children of recipients who would not be exempt, the department
3 10 shall revise the JOBS program exemption for recipient parents
3 11 with young children to be limited to parents with children who
3 12 are less than three months of age.
3 13 f. To remove incentives for parent and caretaker relative
3 14 applicants who received public assistance in another state and
3 15 move to Iowa to seek public assistance, the department shall
3 16 limit public assistance payment amounts to the lesser of
3 17 Iowa's standard of payment or the standard of payment of the
3 18 person's previous state of residence. If such an applicant
3 19 received aid to families with dependent children in another
3 20 state within one year of applying for public assistance in
3 21 this state, the requirements of this paragraph shall apply for
3 22 the period of six months from the date of applying for public
3 23 assistance in this state. The department shall determine the
3 24 applicant's eligibility for public assistance in this state
3 25 using the eligibility requirements of this state. If eligible
3 26 in this state, based upon the family size used to determine
3 27 eligibility, the department shall compare the standard grant
3 28 amount the applicant would receive in this state with the
3 29 standard grant amount in the other state. For the six-month
3 30 period, the applicant's standard grant amount when receiving
3 31 public assistance shall be the lesser of the two amounts. The
3 32 department shall apply this state's policies in determining
3 33 the applicant's amount of net income and the resulting amount
3 34 shall be subtracted from the applicant's applicable standard
3 35 grant.
4 1 g. To encourage responsible decision making by families
4 2 receiving public assistance, the department shall do all of
4 3 the following with newly eligible and existing recipient
4 4 parents:
4 5 (1) Discuss orally and in writing the financial
4 6 implications of newly born children on the recipient's family.
4 7 (2) Discuss orally and in writing the available family
4 8 planning resources.
4 9 (3) Include family planning counseling as an optional
4 10 component of the job opportunities and basic skills program.
4 11 (4) Include the recipient's family planning objectives in
4 12 the family investment agreement.
4 13 Sec. 2. CONTINGENCY PROVISION &endash; TRANSFER. The waiver
4 14 request or requests submitted by the department of human
4 15 services pursuant to section 1 of this Act to the United
4 16 States department of health and human services shall be to
4 17 apply the provisions of section 1 statewide. If federal
4 18 waiver approval of a provision of section 1 of this Act is
4 19 granted, the department of human services shall implement the
4 20 provision in accordance with the federal approval. If a
4 21 provision of this Act is in conflict with a provision of
4 22 chapter 239 or 249C, notwithstanding that provision in chapter
4 23 239 or 249C, the provision of this Act shall be implemented
4 24 and the department shall propose an amendment to chapter 239
4 25 or 249C to resolve the conflict. The department may transfer
4 26 moneys appropriated for a waiver provision to another
4 27 appropriation as deemed necessary by the department if the
4 28 waiver provision is denied by the federal government.
4 29 Sec. 3. RULES. The department of human services shall
4 30 adopt administrative rules pursuant to chapter 17A to
4 31 implement the provisions of section 1 of this Act. If
4 32 necessary to conform with federal waiver terms and conditions
4 33 or to efficiently administer the provisions, the rules may
4 34 apply additional policies and procedures which are consistent
4 35 with the provisions of section 1 of this Act.
5 1 Sec. 4. APPLICABILITY. The effective date of each waiver
5 2 provision in section 1 of this Act granted by the federal
5 3 government shall be set by rule. However, none of the waiver
5 4 provisions of section 1 of this Act shall be implemented
5 5 before July 1, 1996. If federal law is amended to permit this
5 6 state to initiate any of the provisions of section 1 of this
5 7 Act without a federal waiver, the department of human services
5 8 shall proceed to implement the provisions within the time
5 9 period required by this section.
5 10 EXPLANATION
5 11 This bill relates to the family investment program and
5 12 related human services programs by requiring the department of
5 13 human services to apply for certain federal waivers and
5 14 providing applicability provisions.
5 15 The bill describes provisions of waivers involving the
5 16 family investment program (formerly aid to families with
5 17 dependent children now referred to as FIP) and the federal-
5 18 state job opportunities and basic skills (JOBS) program (a
5 19 work and training program for recipients under FIP). In
5 20 addition, the department may apply for federal waivers under
5 21 the federal food stamp program and medical assistance program
5 22 for any changes to coordinate with waivers approved for FIP
5 23 and JOBS.
5 24 The bill requires the department to apply for waivers to
5 25 implement the following provisions: require minor parents to
5 26 live with their parent or guardian except under certain
5 27 exceptions, require those who do not live with their parent or
5 28 guardian to participate in a family development program, and
5 29 require any recipient parent who is 19 years of age or less to
5 30 attend parenting classes; require, subject to the availability
5 31 of child day care, that a minor parent must either have
5 32 graduated from high school or have completed an equivalent, or
5 33 be engaged full-time in completing high school graduation or
5 34 equivalency requirements; for a family with a recipient who is
5 35 less than 20 years of age and engaged full-time in completing
6 1 high school graduation or equivalency requirements, the
6 2 department is required to disregard that recipient's earnings
6 3 in calculating eligibility and amount of assistance for the
6 4 family; adopt measures to strengthen sanctions to disqualify
6 5 recipients who commit fraud relating to public assistance;
6 6 contingent upon the availability of funding to provide child
6 7 day care for the children of recipients who would not be
6 8 exempt, revise the JOBS program participation exemption for
6 9 recipients with young children to only apply the exemption to
6 10 parents with children who are less than three months of age;
6 11 require reduction of the FIP grant amount for a period of six
6 12 months for those recipients who received aid to families with
6 13 dependent children in another state which is less than paid in
6 14 this state; and incorporate various family planning provisions
6 15 in the FIP and JOBS programs to encourage responsible decision
6 16 making.
6 17 A contingency provision requires the department to request
6 18 approval of the waiver provisions statewide and authorize
6 19 implementation of a federally approved waiver in accordance
6 20 with the approval. In addition, if any of the waiver
6 21 provisions are in conflict with a state law in the FIP or JOBS
6 22 chapters, the provision is still to be implemented and the
6 23 department is directed to propose an amendment to resolve the
6 24 conflict. If moneys are appropriated for a waiver provision
6 25 that is later denied, the department may transfer the
6 26 appropriation to another appropriation, as deemed necessary by
6 27 the department.
6 28 The department is directed to adopt rules through the
6 29 regular rulemaking procedures to implement approved waiver
6 30 provisions. All of the waiver provisions are not to be
6 31 implemented before July 1, 1996. If federal law changes so
6 32 that a waiver is not necessary to implement any of the
6 33 provisions in the bill, the same start date restriction
6 34 applies.
6 35 LSB 2373SV 76
7 1 jp/sc/14
Text: SF00351 Text: SF00353 Text: SF00300 - SF00399 Text: SF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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