Alaska Administrative Code › Title 7 - Health and Social Services › Part 3 - Public Assistance and Medical Assistance › Chapter 45 - Alaska Temporary Assistance Program › 7 AAC 45.610 - Sixty-month time limit; extension

Current through May 31, 2024
(a) When
				implementing the provisions of
				AS
				47.27.015(a)(1) regarding
				application of the 60-month time limit on assistance under ATAP, the department
				will extend the period of eligibility in accordance with the procedures and
				criteria in this section and will regularly review all relevant circumstances
				of each family for which the department has granted an extension, to determine
				the family's eligibility for continuing the extension.
(b) If a family includes more than one
				parent, the family is considered to have reached the 60-month limit if any of
				the adult parents has received cash assistance for that period under ATAP or
				another state's program, under a tribal family assistance program, or under a
				combination of those programs, where the program or programs were operated
				under the federal TANF grant program. In such a family that has reached the
				60-month limit, each adult parent must meet at least one of the extension
				criteria stated in
				AS
				47.27.015(a)(1) in order to
				continue receiving ATAP benefits.
(c) Upon a family's request, the department
				will conduct an extension review to determine the eligibility of the family for
				an extension of the 60-month limit in
				AS
				47.27.015(a). This review
				will be conducted by a staffing team that will include the family's case
				manager and other persons the department determines appropriate. The team shall
				document issues that are keeping the family from becoming self-sufficient,
				recommend activities to address those issues, determine whether the family
				meets the criteria for an extension, and, if the family does, recommend the
				length of time until the next extension review. The department will develop or
				modify an FSSP to incorporate the team's recommendations.
(d) The department will extend, under
				AS
				47.27.015(a)(1)(A), the
				60-month limit for a caretaker relative or pregnant woman if the department
				determines (1) that the caretaker relative or pregnant woman is or recently has
				been a victim of domestic violence; and (2) as a result of domestic violence,
				the victim's physical, mental, or emotional well-being would be endangered by a
				strict application of the 60-month limit, as evidenced by the person's
				inability to participate in work activities as defined in
				AS
				47.27.900 or to accept or retain employment
				at a level that allows the family to be self-sufficient. The written or oral
				statement of the caretaker relative or pregnant woman is sufficient to
				establish that the individual is a victim of domestic violence. If appropriate,
				the department will make the extension determination in consultation with a
				domestic violence program.
(e) The
				department will extend, under
				AS
				47.27.015(a)(1)(B), the
				60-month limit for an individual who is physically or mentally unable to
				perform gainful activity. For the purpose of applying
				AS
				47.27.015(a)(1)(B), the
				individual must meet the criteria in
				7 AAC 45.235.
(f) The department will extend, under
				AS
				47.27.015(a)(1)(C), the
				60-month limit for an individual who is providing care for a child who is
				living in the home and experiencing a disability. For the purpose of applying
				AS
				47.27.015(a)(1)(C), "parent"
				in that provision means caretaker relative; and "child who is experiencing a
				disability" means a dependent child who has a medical disability, either
				physical or mental, as verified by a written statement of a physician or
				psychiatrist or by other relevant documentation such as receipt of social
				security disability benefits or supplemental security income for the child. The
				child's disability must, in the written opinion of a physician or other
				licensed medical or health care practitioner, require a level of care that
				interferes with the parent's ability to participate in work activities as
				defined in
				AS
				47.27.900 or to accept or retain employment
				at a level that allows the family to be self-sufficient.
(g) The department will extend, under
				AS
				47.27.015(a)(1)(D), the
				60-month time limit for a family experiencing "hardship," as defined in
				7 AAC 45.990(c). For the purpose of
				applying AS
				47.27.015(a)(1)(D), the
				department will grant an extension when circumstances outside the family's
				control prevent the caretaker relative from participating in work activities or
				becoming self-sufficient and the loss of ATAP benefits would result in
				conditions that threaten the family's health or safety. As used in this
				subsection,
(1) "circumstances outside the
				family's control" includes
(A) a specific
				catastrophic event meeting the criteria for a formal disaster declaration under
				state or federal law that affects the family in a way that reasonably prevents
				self-sufficiency;
(B) an adult in
				the family who has a documented functional impairment that interferes with the
				individual's ability to earn a wage sufficient to support the family;
				and
(C) an adult living in the
				family's home who is related within the fifth degree of consanguinity to the
				caretaker relative and who has a medical disability, either physical or mental,
				as verified by a written statement of a physician or psychiatrist or by other
				relevant documentation such as receipt of social security disability benefits
				or supplemental security income for the adult; that adult's disability must, in
				the written opinion of a physician or other licensed medical or health care
				practitioner, require a level of care that interferes with the caretaker
				relative's ability to participate in work activities as defined in
				AS
				47.27.900 or to accept or retain employment
				at a level that allows the family to be self-sufficient;