Title 45—Public Welfare--Volume 1
PART 234—FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO INDIVIDUALS
§ 234.11   Assistance in the form of money payments.
(a) Federal financial participation is available in money payments made under a State plan under title I, IV-A, X, XIV, or XVI of the Social Security Act to eligible families and individuals. Money payments are payments in cash, checks, or warrants immediately redeemable at par, made to the grantee or his legal representative with no restrictions imposed by the agency on the use of funds by the individual.
(b) [Reserved]
§ 234.60   Protective, vendor and two-party payments for dependent children.
(a) State plan requirements. (1) If a State plan for AFDC under title IV-A of the Social Security Act provides for protective, vendor and two-party payments for cases other than failure to participate in the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) Program under § 250.34(d), or failure by the caretaker relative to meet the eligibility requirements of § 232.11, § 232.12, or § 232.13 of this chapter. It must meet the requirements in paragraphs (a) (2) through (11) of this section. In addition, the plan may provide for protective, vendor, and two-party payments at the request of recipients as provided in paragraph (a)(14) of this section.
(2)(i) Methods will be in effect to identify children whose relatives have demonstrated such an inability to manage funds that payments to the relative have not been or are not currently used in the best interest of the child. This means that the relative has misused funds to such an extent that allowing him or her to manage the AFDC grant is a threat to the health or safety of the child.
(ii) States will establish criteria to determine if mismanagement exists. Under this provision, States may elect to use as one criterion a presumption of mismanagement based on a recipient's nonpayment of rent.
(iii) Under State agency procedures, the recipient shall be notified whenever a creditor requests a protective, vendor, or two-party payment for mismanagement on the basis of non-payment of bills.
(iv) The recipient shall be notified by the agency of a decision not to use a protective, vendor, or two-party payment if such payment has been requested by a creditor.
(v) A statement of the specific reasons that demonstrate the need for making protective, vendor, and two-party payments must be placed in the file of the child involved.
(3) Criteria will be established to identify the circumstances under which protective, vendor, or two-party payments will be made in whole or in part to:
(i) Another individual who is interested in or concerned with the welfare of the child or relative; or
(ii) A person or persons furnishing food, living accommodations or other goods, services, or items to or for the child, relative, or essential person.
(4) Procedures will be established for making protective, vendor, or two-party payments. Under this provision, part of the payment may be made to the family and part may be made to a protective payee or to a vendor, or part may be made in the form of two-party payments, i.e., checks which are drawn jointly to the order of the recipient and the person furnishing goods, services, or items and negotiable only upon endorsement by both the recipient and the other person.
(5)-(6) [Reserved]
(7) Standards will be established for selection:
(i) Of protective payees, who are interested in or concerned with the recepient's welfare, to act for the recipient in receiving and managing assistance, with the selection of a protective payee being made by the recipient, or with his participation and consent, to the extent possible. If it is in the best interest of the recipient for a staff member of a private agency, of the public welfare department, or of any other appropriate organization to serve as a protective payee, such selection will be made preferably from the staff of an agency or that part of the agency providing protective services for families; and the public welfare department will employ such additional staff as may be necessary to provide protective payees. The selection will not include: The executive head of the agency administering public assistance; the person determining financial eligibility for the family; special investigative or resource staff; or staff handling fiscal processes related to the recipient; or landlords, grocers, or other vendors of goods, services, or items dealing directly with the recipient.
(ii) Of such persons providing goods, services, or items with the selection of such persons being made by the recipient, or with his participation and consent, to the extent possible.
(8) The agency will undertake and continue special efforts to develop greater ability on the part of the relative to manage funds in such manner as to protect the welfare of the family.
(9) Review will be made as frequently as indicated by the individual's circumstances, and at least once every 12 months, of:
(i) The need for protective, vendor, and two-party payments; and
(ii) The way in which a protective payee's responsibilities are carried out.
(10) Provision will be made for termination of protective payments, or payments to a person furnishing goods or services, as follows:
(i) When relatives are considered able to manage funds in the best interest of the child, there will be a return to money payment status.
(ii) When it appears that need for protective, vendor, or two-party payments will continue or is likely to continue beyond 2 years because all efforts have not resulted in sufficiently improved use of assistance in behalf of the child, judicial appointment of a guardian or other legal representative will be sought and such payments will terminate when the appointment has been made.
(11)(i) Opportunity for a fair hearing pursuant to § 205.10 will be given to any individual claiming assistance in relation to the determination:
(A) That a protective, vendor, and two-party payment should be made or continued.
(B) As to the payee selected.
(ii) In cases where the agency has elected the option to presume mismanagement based on a recipient's nonpayment of rent pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)(ii), the agency may also elect the option to provide the opportunity for a fair hearing pursuant to § 205.10 either before or after the manner or form of payment has been changed for these cases.
(12) In cases where an individual is sanctioned for failure to participate in WIN, employment search, CWEP, or JOBS, the State plan must provide that when protective or vendor payments are made pursuant to §§ 224.52(a)(1), 238.22, 240.22(a)(1), 240.22(b)(1) and 250.34(d) of this chapter, only paragraphs (a)(7), (a)(9)(ii), and (a)(11)(i) and (ii) of this section will be applicable. Under these circumstances, when protective payments are made, the entire payment will be made to the protective payee; and when vendor payments are made, at least the greater part of the payment will be through this method. However, if after making all reasonable efforts, the State agency is unable to locate an appropriate individual to whom protective payments can be made, the State may continue to make payments on behalf of the remaining members of the assistance unit to the sanctioned caretaker relative. Provision will be made for termination of protective payments, or payments to a person furnishing goods or services, with return to money payment status when adults who refused training, employment, or participation in employment search without good cause either accept training, employment, or employment search or agree to do so. In the case of continuing refusal of the relative to participate, payments will be continued for the children in the home in accordance with this paragraph.
(13) For cases in which a caretaker relative fails to meet the eligibility requirements of § 232.11, § 232.12, or § 232.13 of this chapter by failing to assign rights to support or cooperate in determining paternity, securing support, or identifying and providing information to assist the State in pursuing third party liability for medical services, the State plan must provide that only the requirements of paragraphs (a)(7) and (9)(ii) of this section will be applicable. For such cases, the entire amount of the assistance payment will be in the form of protective or vendor payments. These protective or vendor payments will be terminated, with return to money payment status, only upon compliance by the caretaker relative with the eligibility requirements of §§ 232.11, 232.12, and 232.13 of this chapter. However, if after making reasonable efforts, the State agency is unable to locate an appropriate individual to whom protective payments can be made, the State may continue to make payments to the sanctioned caretaker relative on behalf of the remaining members of the assistance unit.
(14) If the plan provides for protective, vendor, or two-party payments:
(i) The State may use any combination of protective, vendor, or two-party payments (at the request of the recipient),
(ii) The request must be in writing from the recipient to whom payment would otherwise be made in an unrestricted manner and must be recorded or retained in the case file, and
(iii) The restriction will be discontinued promptly upon the written request of the recipient who initiated it.
(b) Federal financial participation. Federal financial participation is available in payments which otherwise qualify as money payments with respect to an eligible dependent child, but which are made as protective, vendor or two-party payments under this section. Payrolls must identify protective, vendor, or two-party payments either by use of a separate payroll for these cases or by using a special identifying code or symbol on the regular payroll. The payment must be supported by an authorization of award through amendment of an existing authorization document for each case or by preparation of a separate authorization document. In either instance, the authorization document must be a formal agency record signed by a responsible agency official, showing the name of each eligible child and relative, the amount of payment authorized and the name of the protective, vendor or two-party payee.
§ 234.70   Protective payments for the aged, blind, or disabled.
(a) State plan requirements. If a State plan for OAA, AB, APTD, or AABD under the Social Security Act includes provisions for protective payments, the State plan must provide that:
(1) Methods will be in effect to determine that needy individuals have, by reason of physical or mental condition, such inability to manage funds that making payment to them would be contrary to their welfare; such methods to include medical or psychological evaluations, or other reports of physical or mental conditions including observation of gross conditions such as extensive paralysis, serious mental retardation, continued disorientation, or severe memory loss.
(2) There will be responsibility to assure referral to social services for appropriate action to protect recipients where problems and needs for services and care of the recipients are manifestly beyond the ability of the protective payee to handle. (See paragraph (a)(5) of this section.)
(3) Standards will be established for selection of protective payees who are interested in or concerned with the individual's welfare, to act for the individual in receiving and managing assistance, with the selection of a protective payee being made by the individual, or with his participation and consent, to the extent possible. If it is in the best interest of the individual for a staff member of a private agency, of the public welfare department, or of any other appropriate organization to serve as a protective payee, such selection will be made preferably from the staff of an agency or that part of the agency providing protective services for families or for the disabled or aged group of which the recipient is a member; and such staff of the public welfare department will be utilized only to the extent that the department has adequate staff for this purpose. The selection will not include: The executive head of the agency administering public assistance; the person determining financial eligibility for the individual; special investigative or resource staff, or staff handling fiscal processes related to the recipient; or landlords, grocers, or other vendors of goods or services dealing directly with the recipient—such as the proprietor, administrator or fiscal agent of a nursing home, or social care, medical or nonmedical institution, except for the superintendent of a public institution for mental diseases or a public institution for the mentally retarded, or the designee of such superintendent, when no other suitable protective payee can be found and there are appropriate staff available to assist the superintendent in carrying out the protective payment function.
(4) Protective payments will be made only in cases in which the assistance payment, with other available income, meets all the needs of the individual, using the State's standards for assistance for the pertinent program, not standards for protective payment cases only.
(5) The agency will undertake and continue special efforts to protect the welfare of such individuals and to improve, to the extent possible, their capacity for self-care and to manage funds.
(6) Reconsideration of the need for protective payments and the way in which a protective payee's responsibilities are carried out will be as frequent as indicated by the individual's circumstances and at least every 6 months.
(7) Provision will be made for appropriate termination of protective payments as follows:
(i) When individuals are considered able to manage funds in their best interest, there will be a return to money payment status.
(ii) When a judicial appointment of a guardian or other legal representative appears to serve the best interest of the individual, such appointment will be sought and the protective payment will terminate when the appointment has been made.
(8) Opportunity for a fair hearing will be given to any individual claiming assistance in relation to the determination that a protective payment should be made or continued, and in relation to the payee selected.
(b) Federal financial participation. Federal financial participation is available for payments, which otherwise qualify as money payments with respect to a needy individual, but which are made to a protective payee under paragraph (a)(3) of this section. The payment must be supported by an authorization of award through amendment of an existing authorization document for such case or by preparation of a separate authorization document. In either instance, the authorization document must be a formal agency record signed by a responsible agency official showing the name of each eligible individual, the amount of payment authorized and the name of the protective payee. Payrolls must identify protective payment cases either by use of a separate payroll for these cases or by using a special identifying code or symbol on the regular payroll.
§ 234.75   Rent payments to public housing agencies.
At the option of a State, if its plan approved under title I, X, XIV, or XVI of the Social Security Act so provides, Federal financial participation under such title is available in rent payments made directly to a public housing agency on behalf of a recipient or a group or groups of recipients of OAA, AB, APTD, or AABD. Such Federal financial participation is available in rent payments only to the extent that they do not exceed the amount included for rent under the State's standard of assistance or the amount of rent due under applicable law, whichever is less.
§ 234.120   Federal financial participation.
Federal financial participation is available in assistance payments made under a State plan under title I, IV-A, X, XIV, or XVI of the Social Security Act to any family or individual for periods beginning with the month in which they meet all eligibility conditions under the plan and in which an application has been received by the agency. Such assistance payments include:
(a) Money payments (titles I, IV-A, X, XIV, and XVI, see § 234.11 of this chapter);
(b) Protective and vendor payments for dependent children (title IV-A, see § 234.60 of this chapter);
(c) Protective payments for the aged, blind, or disabled (titles I, X, XIV, and XVI, see § 234.70 of this chapter);
(d) AFDC foster care payments (title IV-A, see § 233.110 of this chapter);
(e) Vendor payments for institutional services in intermediate care facilities (titles I, X, XIV, and XVI), but only in a State that did not, as of January 1, 1972, have an approved plan under title XIX of the act, and only until such State has such a plan in effect (see § 234.130 of this chapter);
(f) Emergency assistance to needy families with children (title IV-A, see § 233.120 of this chapter);
(g) Vendor payments for home repairs (titles I, IV-A, X, XIV, and XVI, see § 233.20(c) of this chapter); and
(h) Rent payments to public housing agencies (titles I, X, XIV, and XVI, see § 234.75 of this chapter).
§ 234.130   Assistance in the form of institutional services in intermediate care facilities.
(a) Applicability and State plan requirements. A State which, on January 1, 1972, did not have in effect a State plan approved under title XIX of the Social Security Act may provide assistance under title I, X, XIV, or XVI of the Act in the form of institutional services in intermediate care facilities as authorized under title XI of the Act, until the first day of the first month (occurring after January 1, 1972) that such State does have in effect a State plan approved under title XIX of the Act. In any State which may provide such assistance as authorized under title XI of the Act, a State plan under title I, X, XIV, or XVI of the Act which includes such assistance must:
(1) Provide that such benefits will be provided only to individuals who:
(i) Are entitled (or would, if not receiving institutional services in intermediate care facilities, be entitled) to receive assistance, under the State plan, in the form of money payments; and
(ii) Because of their physical or mental condition (or both) require living accommodations and care which, as a practical matter, can be made available to them only through institutional facilities; and
(iii) Do not have such an illness, disease, injury, or other condition as to require the degree of care and treatment which a hospital or skilled nursing home (as that term is employed in title XIX) is designed to provide.
(2) Provide that, in determining financial eligibility for benefits in the form of institutional services in intermediate care facilities, available income will be applied, first for personal and incidental needs including clothing, and that any remaining income will be applied to the costs of care in the intermediate care facility.
(3) Provide methods of administration that include:
(i) Placing of responsibility, within the State agency, with one or more staff members with sufficient staff time exclusive of other duties to direct and guide the agency's activities with respect to services in intermediate care facilities, including arrangements for consultation and working relationships with the State standard-setting authority and State agencies responsible for mental health and for mental retardation;
(ii) In relation to authorization of benefits, provisions for evaluation by a physician of the individual's physical and mental condition and the kinds and amounts of care he requires; evaluation by the agency worker of the resources available in the home, family and community; and participation by the recipient in determining where he is to receive care, except that in the case of services being provided in a Christian Science Sanatorium, certification by a qualified Christian Science practitioner that the individual meets the requirements specified in paragraphs (a)(1) (ii) and (iii) of this section may be substituted for the evaluation by a physician;
(iii) Provisions for redetermination at least semiannually that the individual is properly a recipient of intermediate care.
(4) Provide for regular, periodic review and reevaluation no less often than annually (by or on behalf of the State agency administering the plan and in addition to the activities described in paragraph (a)(3) of this section) of recipients in intermediate care facilities to determine whether their current physical and mental conditions are such as to indicate continued placement in the intermediate care facility, whether the services actually rendered are adequate and responsive to the conditions and needs identified, and whether a change to other living arrangements, or other institutional facilities (including skilled nursing homes) is indicated. Such reviews must be followed by appropriate action on the part of the State agency administering the plan. They must be conducted by or under the supervision of a physician with participation by a registered professional nurse and other appropriate medical and social service personnel not employed by or having a financial interest in the facility, except that, in the case of recipients who have elected care in a Christian Science sanatorium, review by a physician or other medical personnel is not required.
(5) Provide that all services with respect to social and related problems which the agency makes available to applicants and recipients of assistance under the plan will be equally available to all applicants for and recipients of benefits in the form of institutional services in intermediate care facilities.
(6) Specify the types of facilities, however described, that will qualify under the State plan for participation as intermediate care facilities, and provide for availability to the Department of Health and Human Services, upon request of (i) copies of the State's requirements for licensing of such facilities, (ii) any requirements imposed by the State in addition to licensing and to definition of intermediate care facilities, and (iii) a description of the manner in which such requirements are applied and enforced including copies of agreements or contracts, if any, with the licensing authority for this purpose.
(7) Provide for and describe methods of determining amounts of vendor payments to intermediate care facilities which systematically relate amounts of the payment to the kinds, levels, and quantities of services provided to the recipients by the institutions and to the cost of providing such services.
(b) Other requirements. Except when inconsistent with purposes of section 1121 of the Act or contrary to any provision therein, any modification, pursuant thereto, of an approved State plan shall be subject to the same conditions, limitations, rights, and obligations as obtained with respect to such approved State plan. Included specifically among such conditions and limitations are the provisions of titles I, X, XIV, and XVI relating to payments to or care in behalf of any individual who is an inmate of a public institution (except as a patient in a medical institution).
(c) Federal financial participation. (1) Federal financial participation is available under section 1121 of the Act in vendor payments for institutional services provided to individuals who are eligible under the respective State plan and who are residents in intermediate care facilities. The rate of participation is the same as for money payments under the respective title or, if the State so elects, at the rate of the Federal medical assistance percentage as defined in section 1905(b) of the Act. Such Federal financial participation ends on the date specified in paragraph (c)(2) of this section, or 12 months after the date when the State first has in effect a State plan approved under title XIX of the Act, whichever is later.
(2) For the period from January 1, 1972, to the date on which a determination is made under the provisions of 42 CFR 449.33 as to a facility's eligibility to receive payments for intermediate care facility services under the medical assistance program, title XIX of the Act, but not later than 12 months following the effective date of these regulations, Federal financial participation in payments for such services under title XIX is governed by the provisions of this section, applied to State plans under title XIX.
(d) Definition of terms. For purposes of section 1121 of the Social Security Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) Institutional services. The term, institutional services, means those items and services provided by or under the auspices of the institution which contribute to the health, comfort, and well-being of the residents thereof; except that the term, institutional services, does not include allowances for clothing and incidental expenses for which money payments to recipients are made under the plan, nor does it include medical care, in a form identifiable as such and separable from the routine services of the facility, for which vendor payments may be made under a State plan approved under title XIX.
(2) Distinct part of an institution. A distinct part of an institution is defined as a part which meets the definition of an intermediate care facility and the following conditions:
(i) Identifiable unit. The distinct part of the institution is an entire unit such as an entire ward or contiguous wards, wing, floor, or building. It consists of all beds and related facilities in the unit and houses all residents, except as hereafter provided, for whom payment is being made for intermediate care. It is clearly identified and is approved, in writing, by the agency applying the definition of intermediate care facility herein.
(ii) Staff. Appropriate personnel are assigned and work regularly in the unit. Immediate supervision of staff is provided in the unit at all time by qualified personnel.
(iii) Shared facilities and services. The distinct part may share such central services and facilities as management services, building maintenance and laundry, with other units.
(iv) Transfers between distinct parts. In a facility having distinct parts devoted to skilled nursing home care and intermediate care, which facility has been determined by the appropriate State agency to be organized and staffed to provide services according to individual needs throughout the institution, nothing herein shall be construed to require transfer of an individual within the institution when in the opinion of the individual's physician such transfer might be harmful to the physical or mental health of the individual.
(3) Intermediate care facility. An intermediate care facility is an institution or a distinct part thereof which:
(i) Is licensed, under State law to provide the residents thereof, on a regular basis, the range or level of care and services as defined in paragraph (d)(4) of this section, which is suitable to the needs of individuals who:
( a ) Because of their physical or mental limitations or both, require living accommodations and care which, as a practical matter, can be made available to them only through institutional facilities, and
( b ) Do not have such an illness, disease, injury, or other condition as to require the degree of care and treatment which a hospital or skilled nursing home (as that term is employed in title XIX) is designed to provide:
(ii) Does not provide the degree of care required to be provided by a skilled nursing home furnishing services under a State plan approved under title XIX:
(iii) Meets such standards of safety and sanitation as are applicable to nursing homes under State law; and
(iv) Regularly provides a level of care and service beyond board and room.
(4) Range or level of care and services. The range or level of care and services suitable to the needs of individuals described in paragraph (d)(3)(i) of this section is to be defined by the State agency. The following items are recommended as a minimum.
(i) Admission, transfer, and discharge of residents. The admission, transfer, and discharge of residents of the facility are conducted in accordance with written policies of the institution that include at least the following provisions.
( a ) Only those persons are accepted into the facility whose needs can be met within the accommodations and services the facility provides;
( b ) As changes occur in their physical or mental condition, necessitating service or care not regularly provided by the facility, residents are transferred promptly to hospitals, skilled nursing homes, or other appropriate facilities;
( c ) The resident, his next of kin, and the responsible agency if any, are consulted in advance of the discharge of any resident, and casework services or other means are utilized to assure that adequate arrangements exist for meeting his needs through other resources.
(ii) Personal care and protective services. The types and amounts of protection and personal service needed by each resident of the facility are a matter of record and are known to all staff members having personal contact with the resident. At least the following services are provided.
( a ) There is, at all times, a responsible staff member actively on duty in the facility, and immediately accessible to all residents, to whom residents can report injuries, symptoms of illness, or emergencies, and who is immediately responsible for assuring that appropriate action is taken promptly.
( b ) Assistance is provided, as needed by individual residents, with routine activities of daily living including such services as help in bathing, dressing, grooming, and management of personal affairs such as shopping.
( c ) Continuous supervision is provided for residents whose mental condition is such that their personal safety requires such supervision.
(iii) Social services. Services to assist residents in dealing with social and related problems are available to all residents through one or more caseworkers on the staff of the facility; and/or, in the case of recipients of assistance, through caseworkers on the staff of the assistance agency; or through other arrangements.
(iv) Activities. Activities are regularly available for all residents, including social and recreational activities involving active participation by the residents, entertainment of appropriate frequency and character, and opportunities for participation in community activities as possible and appropriate.
(v) Food service. At least three meals a day, constituting a nutritionally adequate diet, are served in one or more dining areas separate from sleeping quarters, and tray service is provided for residents temporarily unable to leave their rooms.
(vi) Special diets. If the facility accepts or retains individuals in need of medically prescribed special diets, the menus for such diets are planned by a professionally qualified dietitian, or are reviewed and approved by the attending physician, and the facility provides supervision of the preparation and serving of the meals and their acceptance by the resident.
(vii) Health services. Whether provided by the facility or from other sources, at least the following services are available to all residents:
( a ) Immediate supervision of the facility's health services by a registered professional nurse or a licensed practical nurse employed full-time in the facility and on duty during the day shift except that, where the State recognizes and describes two or more distinct levels of institutions as intermediate care facilities such personnel are not required in any level that serves only individuals who have been determined by their physicians not to be in need of such supervision and whose need for such supervision is reviewed as indicated, and at least quarterly;
( b ) Continuing supervision by a physician who sees the resident as needed and in no case, less often than quarterly;
( c ) Under direction by the resident's physician and (where applicable in accordance with (d)(4)(vii)( a ) of this section), general supervision by the nurse in charge of the facility's health services, guidance, and assistance for each resident in carrying out his personal health program to assure that preventive measures, treatments, and medications prescribed by the physician are properly carried out and recorded;
( d ) Arrangements for services of a physician in the event of an emergency when the resident's own physician cannot be reached;
( e) In the presence of minor illness and for temporary periods, bedside care under direction of the resident's physician including nursing service provided by, or supervised by, a registered professional nurse or a licensed practical nurse;
( f ) An individual health record for each resident including;
( 1 ) The name, address, and telephone number of his physician;
( 2 ) A record of the physician's findings and recommendations in the preadmission evaluation of the individual's condition and in subsequent reevaluations and all orders and recommendations of the physician for care of the resident;
( 3 ) All symptoms and other indications of illness or injury brought to the attention of the staff by the resident, or from other sources, including the date, time, and action taken regarding each.
(viii) Living accommodations. Space and furnishings provide each resident clean, comfortable, and reasonably private living accommodations with no more than four residents occupying a room, with individual storage facilities for clothing and personal articles, and with lounge, recreation and dining areas provided apart from sleeping quarters.
(ix) Administration and management. The direction and management of the facility are such as to assure that the services required by the residents are so organized and administered that they are, in fact, available to the residents on a regular basis and that this is accomplished efficiently and with consideration for the objective of providing necessary care within a homelike atmosphere. Staff are employed by the facility sufficient in number and competence, as determined by the appropriate State agency, to meet the requirements of the residents.