Administrative Rules of Montana › Department 37 - PUBLIC HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES › Chapter 37.78 - TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES (TANF) › Subchapter 37.78.1 - TANF General Provisions › Rule 37.78.103 - TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES (TANF): DEFINITIONS

Current through Register Vol. 13, July 5, 2024
The following definitions apply to this chapter:
(1) "Allowable work activities" means all
				activities defined in federal regulation that are countable toward the
				calculation of the TANF work participation rate and used to meet federal
				participation requirements at
				45 CFR
				261.30. These activities are contained in the
				Family Investment Agreement/WoRC Employability Plan (FIA/EP) for individuals
				who are required to negotiate and comply with a FIA/EP as a condition of
				eligibility for TANF cash assistance. These allowable work activities are
				identified in ARM
				37.78.807.
(2) "Assistance unit" means a minor child or
				children and all individuals who live with the child and are related to the
				child by blood, marriage, adoption, or by law if the child was conceived by
				artificial insemination, provided that the relationship is within the fifth
				degree of kinship as specified in the definition of caretaker relative in this
				rule and provided that the individual meets the eligibility requirements to
				have the individual's needs covered by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
				(TANF).
(3) "Benefit month" means
				the calendar month for which benefits are issued.
(4) "Budget month" means the calendar month
				used to determine eligibility for TANF cash assistance and to calculate the
				amount of the cash assistance payment. Under the prospective budgeting method,
				the budget month and the benefit month are the same.
(5) "Caretaker relative" means a specified
				caretaker relative.
(6) "Case
				manager" means the person who provides guidance for a participant in the TANF
				Cash Assistance Employment and Training or Activity Program.
(7) "Case management" means the process of
				formulating and developing and maintaining a Family Investment Agreement/WoRC
				Employability Plan (FIA/EP) for a participant.
(8) "Child support rights" means a child's
				legal entitlement to cash assistance from a parent with whom the child does not
				live.
(9) "Community operating
				plan/annual agreement" means the document developed by the community advisory
				council for a particular county or counties which sets forth local decisions
				made in areas where community flexibility is allowed.
(10) "Community service" means structured
				programs and embedded activities in which TANF participants perform work for
				the direct benefit of the community under the auspices of public or nonprofit
				organizations.
(11) "Deemed income"
				means the portion of the income of a member of the assistance unit considered
				available as unearned income to the assistance unit, whether or not it is
				actually contributed to the assistance unit.
(12) "Department" means the Department of
				Public Health and Human Services.
(13) "Domestic violence" means physical,
				sexual, and/or mental or emotional abuse of a member of the assistance unit by
				a person with whom that member lives or with whom that member has recently
				lived which is sufficiently severe to interfere with the TANF participant's
				ability to become employed or seek alternatives to public assistance.
(14) "Earned income" means all income,
				whether in cash or in kind, earned by an individual through wages, salary,
				commissions, tips, or any other profit from activity in which the individual is
				engaged, including but not limited to all amounts withheld or deducted for
				income or social security taxes, garnishments, attachments, income deductions
				or insurance premiums or any other withholdings.
(15) "Educational activities" means
				activities that include but are not limited to:
(a) independent GED preparation;
(b) basic and remedial education to provide
				participant with brushup skills as needed for employment;
(c) English proficiency for participants
				unable to understand, read, speak, or write well enough to allow employment
				commensurate with participant's employment goal;
(d) attending high school or alternative high
				schools; and
(e) attending GED
				preparation courses.