STATE OF ALASKA

Department of Health and Social Services

Division of Public Assistance

TRANSMITTAL NUMBER: MC #65

MANUAL: Alaska Temporary Assistance Program

DATE: April 1, 2020

The self-employment annualization table has been updated based on changes in the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG) for Alaska, effective April 1, 2020.

Highlights of all the policy revisions are described below. If you have any questions, please contact the Policy and Program Development Team at dpapolicy@alaska.gov.

OVERVIEW OF CHANGES

MS 700-3      PRUDENT PERSON JUDGEMENT

• Changed title from "Prudent Person Concept" to "Prudent Person Judgement."
• Rewrote section to align with DPADivision of Public Assistance's other eligibility policy manuals.

MS 701-1      WHAT IS THE 60-MONTH TIME LIMIT?

• Updated subsection 701-1 D to clarify that the Claims Unit will write the CANOCase Notes associated with the "Time Limit Change Request" sent when a full month of ATAPAlaska Temporary Assistance Program benefits have been repaid.

MS 705-2      THE APPLICATION FORM

• Included Senior Benefits as a public assistance program that accepts the GEN 72Eligibility Review Form to determine continued eligibility. This change is effective with the April 2020 form revision.

MS 712-3      PARENTAL RELATIONSHIP

• Updated BVSBureau of Vital Statistics terminology from "Bureau of Vital Statistics" to Health Analytics & Vital Records" throughout the entire section in order to accommodate the agency's name change.
• Updated the name of HAVRHealth Analytics and Vital Records's electronic birth record system from "VITAL" to "EVRSAlaska Electronic Vital Records System" in order to accommodate the agency's system name change.
• Added the form number to the reference of "Affidavit of Paternity."
• Corrected "Affidavit of Paternity" form number from "BVS form 16" to "06-5376 VS form 16" throughout the section.
• Corrected the direction given in subsection 712-3 B from providing the client a "BVS form 16" to advising the client to request the form from Health Analytics and Vital Records.
• Updated subsection 712-3 D title from "The Bureau of Vital Statistics Affidavit of Paternity" to "The Health Analytics and VItal Records Affidavit of Paternity" in order to accommodate the agency's name change.
• Updated subsection 712-3 E title from "Contacting the Bureau of Vital Statistics (BVS) Office" to "Contacting the Health Analytics and Vital Records (HAVR) Office" in order to accommodate the agency's name change.

MS 722      JOB REFUSAL OR JOB QUIT

• Rephrased subsection titles to match phrasing used in section title.

MS 722-6      BEGINNING A JOB QUIT/REFUSAL OF WORK DISQUALIFICATION

• Incorporated guidance from subsection 722-9 on how to code disqualification MFUMandatory Filing Unit members and Non-MFUMandatory Filing Unit members in EISEligibility Information System as it does not require its own subsection.

MS 750      FINANCIAL NEED

• Added the term "parent" when referencing the term "caretaker relative" to mirror how these terms are referenced throughout the manual.

MS 754-5      RESOURCES OF STEPPARENTS

• Removed information about stepparent resource deeming as it has been incorporated into subsection 770-8.
• Marked section as "Reserved."

MS 754-6      DEEMING RESOURCES OF ALIEN SPONSORS

• Removed information about alien sponsor resource deeming as it has been incorporated into subsection 770-8.
• Marked section as "Reserved."

MS 756-5      AVAILABILITY OF INCOME

• Identified the type of sponsors who must have their income and resources deemed to an alien in order to comply with federal requirements.

MS 756-7      DEEMED INCOME

• Removed information about deemed income as it has been incorporated into subsection 770-8.
• Marked section as "Reserved."

MS 758      UNEARNED INCOME

• Added Form I-864 signatories as countable deemed income to a sponsored alien, in order to comply with federal requirements.

MS 759-6      INCOME FROM SELF-EMPLOYMENT

• Updated subsection 759-6 E with the Self Employment Standards due to FPLFederal Poverty Limit changes effective April 2020.

MS 770-3      MINOR PARENTS

• Corrected subsection 770-3 J by removing "SP" coding from minor 2P coding as married teenagers are not considered minors per federal regulation.

MS 770-4      SPONSORED ALIENS

• Changed title of subsection from "Reserved" to "Sponsored Aliens," added brief description of topic, and added hyperlink to new deeming section 770-8 to align with SNAP MS 605-2 A.

MS 770-8      DEEMING INCOME AND RESOURCES

• Added subsection "Deeming Income and Resources" and added deeming information from multiple manual sections.

MS 775-1      COMPUTING ELIGIBILITY TEST INCOME

• Added Form I-864 signatories as countable deemed income to a sponsored alien, in order to comply with federal requirements.
• Added link to new deeming section 770-8.

MS 780-1      DEFINITIONS

• Removed subsection 780-1 I "Shelter Allowance" and renumbered subsections accordingly, as it was duplicative of subsection 780-2 C.

MS 780-16      SUSPENDING PAYMENTS

• Included in subsection 780-16 C increased income from Form I-864 signatories as cause for benefit suspension, in order to comply with federal requirements.
• Added hyperlink to new deeming section 770-8.

MS 780-19      SHELTER ALLOWANCE

• Updated subsection 780-19 G with increased homeless shelter deduction of $152.

MS 792-3      OVERPAYMENTS

• Reassigned subsection 792-3 C "Alien Sponsor Recoupment" to subsection 792-4 to better align the topic of collecting claims against sponsors and aliens with SNAP MS 607-5 A.

MS 792-4      CLAIMS AGAINST SPONSORS AND SPONSORED ALIENS

• Reassigned subsection 792-4 "When Corrective Payments are Not Done" to newly created manual section 792-5 and replaced subsection 792-4 with the content of subsection 792-3 C "Alien Sponsor Recoupment" and changed title of former subsection 792-3 C to "Claims Against Sponsors and Sponsored Aliens" in order to better align the topic of collecting claims against sponsors and aliens with SNAPSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program MS 607-5.
• Added Form I-864 signatories as jointly and separately liable for overpayments caused when the sponsor fails to provide correct information, in order to comply with federal requirements.
• Created subsection 792-4 A titled "Collecting Claims Against Sponsors" to similarly align with SNAPSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program MS 607-5 A and to adhere to federal requirements.

MS 792-5      WHEN NOT TO PROCESS A CORRECTIVE PAYMENT

• Created subsection 792-5 and added the content of former subsection 792-4 "When Corrective Payments are Not Done" and changed title of former subsection 792-4 to "When Not to Process a Corrective Payment" for better understanding of the subsection's content.