New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 10 - HUMAN SERVICES › Chapter 90 - WORK FIRST NEW JERSEY PROGRAM › Subchapter 3 - FINANCIAL ELIGIBILITY-INCOME, RESOURCES, BENEFITS › Section 10:90-3.20 - Exempt resources

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) Exempt resources are not subject to any
				requirement for liquidation and are not considered in determining WFNJ
				eligibility or in determining the cash assistance benefit. In addition to the
				exempt income set forth at
				N.J.A.C.
				10:90-3.19, the following resources shall be
				exempt for each assistance unit:
1. Benefits
				available through the WFNJ program which are over and above the cash assistance
				allowance, such as, but not limited to, child care and transportation
				payments;
2. Aid/assistance from
				other agencies or organizations, whether public or private, as exempt from
				Federal and/or State law such as, but not limited to, Federal Emergency
				Management Assistance (FEMA), which supplements but does not supplant WFNJ
				benefits;
3. Up to a total of $
				2,000 in resources (including savings);
i. An
				exception to the $ 2,000 limit may be made for minor parents living in
				alternate adult supervised living arrangements only. For such minor parents,
				the full amount of special minor parent alternate living arrangement savings
				accounts and all interest and/or dividend earnings from such an account shall
				also be exempt;
ii. In addition to
				the above resources, moneys, matching contributions and interest on funds which
				are held in separate approved Individual Development Accounts are totally
				exempt. Funds which are held in approved Individual Development Accounts shall
				not be considered available for the assistance unit's use for emergency
				assistance purposes. The funds in these accounts are controlled by other
				entities and must be designated for one of the following purposes:
(1) Purchase of a home;
(2) Educational/training expenses;
(3) Purchase of a motor vehicle; or
(4) Purchase of a business.
iii. Moneys identified at (a)3 and
				3i above are exempt in determining eligibility for WFNJ. However, in the event
				that a WFNJ assistance unit is in need of emergency assistance, such funds may
				be considered available for the assistance unit's use to meet the emergency
				need prior to the issuance of emergency assistance;
4. All motor vehicle(s) registered in the
				name of a member of the assistance unit;
i.
				Recreational vehicles are not subject to the resource exemption and the value
				of recreational vehicles, registered in the name of an assistance unit member,
				shall be included in the determination of financial eligibility. The fair
				market value of a recreational vehicle shall be determined by the value of
				those vehicles as indicated on the National Automobile Dealers Association
				Internet website
www.nadaguides.com
. The county or
				municipal agency shall not increase the basic value of a vehicle by adding the
				value of low mileage or other factors such as optional or handicap accessible
				equipment. If a new vehicle is not listed on the website, the county or
				municipal agency shall determine the wholesale value by some other means such
				as, but not limited to, contacting a dealer that sells that make of
				recreational vehicle;
5.
				Real property owned by an eligible assistance unit member(s) and used as a home
				by a member(s) of the eligible assistance unit, together with so much of the
				land on which the house stands as is reasonably necessary for the maintenance
				of the house;
i. The property may remain in
				exempt status during temporary absence of the entire assistance unit for a
				period up to four months, at which time the county or municipal agency shall
				review the status and, if so indicated, may allow it to remain in exempt status
				for an additional four months. Continued absence through the entire eight
				months shall be deemed to be permanent and the property shall be removed from
				exempt status;
6.
				Personal property, such as, but not limited to, house furnishings and clothing
				which are used regularly or likely to be used;
i. Furnishings and clothing in storage may be
				deemed to be exempt in the presence of a reasonable plan for their
				use;
ii. Personal effects if
				regularly used or of small intrinsic value;
(1) Items of exceptional value not regularly
				used and not essential to the physical health and safety of the eligible
				assistance unit are not exempt;
7. Livestock, machinery, tools, equipment,
				and stock-in-trade which serve to produce some net income in cash or in kind or
				serve as an incentive for self-help; livestock or property owned or used by a
				child in connection with a group or school activity (such as 4-H); and farm and
				garden products raised by the eligible assistance unit for its own
				use;
8. Any asset, real or
				personal, the liquidation of which would produce no net revenue to the eligible
				assistance unit;
9. Nonrecurring
				gifts and contributions of nominal amount or value, such as those for
				birthdays, graduations or holidays;
10. Bona fide and/or personal loans which are
				held and used for specific purposes in accordance with the conditions of the
				loan and not used to meet day-to-day living costs; and, such loans are
				evidenced by a document signed by the client and the lender which states the
				amount of the loan and terms of repayment;
11. Fees paid in conjunction with the
				collection of a pending claim when the costs were incurred during a period of
				receipt of WFNJ (see N.J.A.C. 10:90-7 );
12. Prepaid burial plots (limited to one for
				each member of the eligible assistance unit) and prepaid bona fide funeral
				agreements up to a total value of $ 4,000 per assistance unit member, to the
				extent that the total equity value of any agreement attributable to each member
				of an eligible assistance unit does not exceed $ 2,430, unless such assistance
				unit member was a recipient of General Assistance prior to July 1, 1997 and the
				exemption at (a)12iii below applies;
i. Burial
				plots mean conventional gravesites, crypts, mausoleums, urns or other
				repositories which are customarily and traditionally used for the remains of
				deceased persons.
ii. Funeral
				agreements mean contractual arrangements to provide for the costs connected
				with burial, cremation, or other funeral arrangements.
iii. Prepaid irrevocably assigned
				funeral/burial arrangements, as noted in (a)12iii(1) through (3) below, for
				WFNJ/GA recipients who were General Assistance recipients and had made such
				arrangements prior to July 1, 1997;
(1)
				Prepaid irrevocable funeral/burial insurance policies;
(2) Prepaid irrevocable funeral/burial
				annuity policies;
(3) Prepaid
				irrevocable funeral/burial trust funds;
13. Life insurance policies;
14. Resources designated for special purposes
				as follow:
i. Relocation adjustment payments
				which are made pursuant to the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property
				Acquisition Policies Act of 1970;
ii. The value of the NJ SNAP allotment for
				any household participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program of
				the U.S. Department of Agriculture;
iii. Allowances for participation in the WFNJ
				program, including payments for transportation and related expenses set forth
				in the supportive services section at N.J.A.C. 10:90-5 and payments for child
				care;
iv. Allowance payments, that
				is, monies paid to offset expenses related to training received by a WFNJ
				parent or parent-person who is participating in the Workforce Investment Act
				(WIA) program;
v. Payments to
				assistance units for child care in situations where special circumstances occur
				within the household (such as emergency illness of the parent(s)) that
				necessitate alternative care for a child on a temporary basis; and
				transportation or the cost of transportation, which is not available from any
				other source, to transport that child to and from the child care site when it
				is essential for the child's physical health and safety;
vi. Supplemental aid by other agencies or
				organizations, whether public or private, provided that:
(1) There is no duplication between such aid
				and the public assistance grant;
(2) Such aid is for a special purpose not
				within the function of the public assistance agency (for example, vocational
				rehabilitation); or
(3) Such aid is
				to any undergraduate student for educational purposes;
vii. Monies received through the Subsidized
				Adoption Program of the Division of Child Protection and Permanency pursuant to
				30:4C-45 through 49 ( P.L. 1973,
				c.81);
viii. Monies received on
				behalf of a child in resource family care, including extra payments received
				for special services; and
ix. Funds
				received by applicants and recipients through certain Federal programs as
				delineated in (a)14ix(1) through (18) below:
(1) Funds distributed or held in trust for
				members of any Indian Tribe under Public Law 92-254 or 93-134;
(2) Funds which are tax-exempt portions of
				payments made pursuant to Public Law 92-03, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement
				Act;
(3) Benefits or assistance
				received through the WIC program (Special Supplemental Food program for Women,
				Infants and Children) and the special food services program for children under
				the National School Lunch Act as amended by Public Laws 92-433 and
				93-150;
(4) Benefits received under
				Title VII, Nutrition Program for the Elderly, of the Older Americans Act of
				1965 (
				42 U.S.C. §§
													3001 et seq.);
(5) Payments made through Service Corps of
				Retired Executives (SCORE), Active Corps of Executives (ACE);
(6) Payments made through the United States
				Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 8, Rental Assistance
				Program (RAP), which provides funds to certain disabled individuals and low
				income families to assist them in meeting shelter costs;
(7) HUD community development block grant
				funds under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of
				1974;
(8) Benefits received by
				eligible households under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981
				pursuant to section 2605(f) of Public Law 97-35;
(9) Allowances and benefits under the
				National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 (NCSTA) which established a
				Corporation for National and Community Service which administers national
				service programs, including the Americorps programs, the Senior Corps and Youth
				Corps programs; the Learn and Serve program and, the Volunteers in Service to
				America (VISTA) program;
(10) All
				student financial assistance received under Title IV of the Higher Education
				Act and under the Bureau of Indian Affairs student assistance
				programs;
(11) Student financial
				assistance made for attendance costs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational
				Education Act Amendments of 1990;
(12) Restitution made, under Section 105 of
				Title I of P.L. 100-383, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, to individuals of
				Japanese ancestry who were interned during World War II;
(13) Restitution made, under Section 206 of
				Title II of P.L. 100-383, the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Restitution Act, to
				Aleuts who were relocated by the U.S. government during World War II;
(14) Major disaster and emergency assistance
				granted under Section 105 of P.L. 100-707, the Disaster Relief and Emergency
				Assistance Amendments of 1988, including FEMA;
(15) Agent Orange payments as provided for
				under Section 1(a) of P.L.
				101-201 and
				Section
				10405 of
				P.L.
				101-239 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
				of 1989;
(16) Amounts paid to
				individuals, under Section 6(h)(2) of
				P.L.
				101-426, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act
				of 1990, for injuries or deaths due to exposure to radiation from nuclear
				testing and uranium mining;
(17)
				Payments made to individuals because of their status as victims of Nazi
				persecution; and
(18) Stipends
				received by individuals who participate in the New Jersey Youth Corps Stipends
				Program.