Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 218 - Department of Human Services › Chapter 20 - Individual and Family Support Programs › Subchapter 00 - N/A › Part 2 - Rhode Island Works Program Rules and Regulations › Section 218-RICR-20-00-2.2 - Definitions

Current through June 14, 2024
A. As used in this policy, the following
				  terms having the meanings set forth herein, unless the context in which such
				  terms are used clearly indicates to the contrary:
1. "Adult education" means services or
				  instruction below the postsecondary education level for individuals who are not
				  enrolled or required to be enrolled in secondary school under State law and who
				  lack sufficient mastery of basic educational skills to enable individuals to
				  function effectively in society; or do not have a secondary school diploma or
				  its equivalent level of education; or are unable to speak, read, or write the
				  English language.
2. "Applicant"
				  means a person who has filed a written application for assistance for
				  herself/himself and her/his dependent child(ren). An applicant may be a parent
				  or non-parent caretaker relative.
3. "Assistance" means cash and any other
				  benefits provided pursuant to this chapter.
4. "Assistance unit" means the assistance
				  filing unit consisting of the group of persons, including the dependent
				  child(ren), living together in a single household who must be included in the
				  application for assistance and in the assistance payment if eligibility is
				  established. An assistance unit may be the same as a family.
5. "Benefits" means assistance received
				  pursuant to this chapter.
6.
				  "Community service programs" means structured programs and activities in which
				  cash assistance recipients perform work for the direct benefit of the community
				  under the auspices of public or nonprofit organizations. Service programs are
				  designed to improve the employability of recipients not otherwise able to
				  obtain paid employment.
7.
				  "Department" means the Department of Human Services.
8. "Dependent child" means an individual,
				  other than an individual with respect to whom foster care maintenance payments
				  are made, who is:
a. Under the age of eighteen
				  (18); or
b. Under the age of
				  nineteen (19) and a full-time student in a secondary school (or in the
				  equivalent level of vocational or educational training), if before he or she
				  attains age nineteen (19), he or she may reasonably be expected to complete the
				  program of such secondary school (or such training). (B) Under the age of
				  nineteen (19) and a full-time student in a secondary school (or in the
				  equivalent level of vocational or educational training), if before he or she
				  attains age nineteen (19), he or she may reasonably be expected to complete the
				  program of the secondary school (or such training).
9. "Director" means the Director of the
				  Department of Human Services.
10.
				  "Domestic violence" or "individual with a history of domestic violence" means
				  an individual who has been subjected to:
a.
				  Physical acts that resulted in, or threatened to result in, physical injury to
				  that individual;
b. Sexual
				  abuse;
c. Sexual activity involving
				  a dependent child;
d. Being forced
				  as the caretaker relative of a dependent child to engage in nonconsensual
				  sexual acts or activities;
e.
				  Threats of, or attempts at, physical or sexual abuse;
f. Mental or emotional abuse; or
g. Neglect or deprivation of medical
				  care.
11. "Earned
				  income" means income in cash or the equivalent received by a person through the
				  receipt of wages, salary, commissions, or profit from activities in which the
				  person is self-employed or as an employee and before any deductions for
				  taxes.
12. "Earned income tax
				  credit" means the credit against Federal personal income tax liability under
				  the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
				   26 U.S.C. §
												32, or any successor section, the advanced
				  payment of the earned income tax credit or rebate, to an employee under the
				  Internal Revenue Code,  26 U.S.C. §
												3507, or any successor section
				  and any refund received as a result of the earned income tax credit or rebate,
				  as well as any refundable State earned income tax credit or rebate.
13. "Earned income tax rebate" means a tax
				  refund received from the Federal and/or State in the form of a tax credit or
				  tax rebate.
14. "Education directly
				  related to employment" means education, in the case of a participant who has
				  not received a high school diploma or a certificate of high school equivalency,
				  related to a specific occupation, job, or job offer.
15. "Eligible businesses under subsidized
				  employment" means any for-profit, non-profit or public sector entity of any
				  size wherein employee(s) pay State income tax, and wherein an employer may not
				  create a subsidized job slot when an individual (employee) is on layoff from
				  the same or a substantially equivalent job, and that an employer may not create
				  a subsidized job slot when an employer has terminated an individual from
				  employment or caused an involuntary reduction in its workforce in order to fill
				  the vacancy with a subsidized worker.
16. "Family" means:
a. A pregnant woman; or
b. A child and the following eligible persons
				  living in the same household as the child:
(1)
				  Each biological, adoptive or stepparent of the child, or in the absence of a
				  parent, any adult relative who is responsible, in fact, for the care of such
				  child, and
(2) The child's minor
				  siblings (whether of the whole or half-blood); provided, however, that the term
				  "family" shall not include any person receiving benefits under Title XVI of the
				  Social Security Act,  42 U.S.C. §
														1381
et seq
. A
				  family may be the same as the assistance unit.
17. "Foster care" means twenty-four (24) hour
				  substitute care for a child placed away from his/her parent(s) or guardian(s)
				  and for whom the State child welfare agency has placement and care
				  responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, placements in foster
				  family homes, foster homes of relatives, group homes, assessment and
				  stabilization centers, residential facilities, and pre-adoptive
				  homes.
18. "Gross earnings" means
				  income in cash (self-employed) or the equivalent received by a person through
				  the receipt of wages, salary, commissions, or profit from activities in which
				  the person is self-employed or as an employee and before any deductions for
				  taxes. (See Earned Income)
19.
				  "Homelessness" means an Individual and/or family who meets one (1) of the four
				  (4) categories below is considered homeless, as described in
				  Pub. Law
				  111-22, Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of
				  2009, Division B., Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to
				  Housing Act (HEARTH).
a. Lack a fixed, regular
				  and adequate nighttime residence. This includes an individual or family who:
(1) Resides in a shelter or place not meant
				  for human habitation, or
(2) Living
				  in a halfway house or similar institution which provides temporary residence
				  for individuals who would otherwise be institutionalized, or
(3) Living in a hotel/motel or in the
				  residence of another individual for not more than ninety (90) days.
b. Will imminently lose their
				  primary nighttime residence as evidenced through the following:
(1) Subject to a court order to
				  vacate,
(2) Lack the resources to
				  continue staying in a hotel or a motel, or
(3) Are no longer being allowed to stay by
				  the owner or renter of housing with whom the individual or family is
				  staying.
(4) In each of these
				  cases, the individual or family may be considered homeless up to fourteen (14)
				  days before they are to be displaced from their current housing.
c. Are an unaccompanied youth or
				  homeless families with children and youth who are defined as homeless under
				  other Federal statutes who do not otherwise qualify as homeless under the
				  definition, provided that they meet the following three (3) conditions:
(1) Have experienced a long-term period
				  without living independently in permanent housing (living for the ninety-one
				  (91) or more days immediately prior to applying for homeless assistance without
				  a lease or ownership interest in the occupied property in the youth's or head
				  of household's name),
(2) Have
				  experienced persistent instability as measured by frequent moves over such
				  period (three (3) or more moves over the ninety (90) day period immediately
				  prior to applying for homeless assistance),
(3) Is expected to continue in such status
				  for an extended period of time due to a variety of factors, including multiple
				  barriers to employment. Multiple barriers to employment includes: Lack of a
				  high school degree or General Education Development (GED), Illiteracy, Low
				  English proficiency, History of incarceration, or History of unstable
				  employment.
d. Are
				  fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual
				  assault, stalking, or other dangerous or life threatening conditions that
				  relate to violence against the individual or a family member that has either
				  taken place within the individual's or family's primary nighttime residence or
				  has made the individual or family afraid to return to their primary nighttime
				  residence, and who has no other residence and lacks the resources or support
				  networks to obtain other permanent housing. The victimized member of the
				  household is not required to be the owner or renter of the unit.
20. "Housing search" means a
				  family experiencing or at risk of homelessness using time spent searching and
				  applying for stable housing as an approved plan activity.
21. "Individual employment plan" means a
				  written, individualized plan for employment or work opportunities, developed
				  jointly and signed by the applicant and Agency staff (in person or
				  telephonically) that specifies the steps the participant shall take toward
				  long-term economic independence. A participant must comply with the terms of
				  the individual employment plan as a condition of eligibility in accordance with
				  the R.I. Gen. Laws §
											40-5.2-10(e).
22. "Job readiness" and/or "job search" means
				  the mandatory act of seeking or obtaining employment by the participant, or the
				  preparation to seek or obtain employment.
a.
				  In accord with Federal requirements, job search activities must be supervised
				  and reported to the Department of Human Services in accordance with TANF work
				  verification requirements. DHS contract and State staff are responsible to
				  adhere to this Federal requirement.
b. Except in the context of rehabilitation
				  employment plans, job search and job readiness activities are limited for Work
				  Participation Rate (WPR) to four (4) consecutive weeks and six (6) weeks total
				  within a twelve (12) month period; twelve (12) weeks within a twelve (12) month
				  period if the unemployment rate of the State is fifty percent (50%) greater
				  than US total unemployment rate or the State meets the definition of a needy
				  State under the contingency fund provisions of Federal law.
c. Preparation to seek employment, or job
				  readiness, may include, but may not be limited to, the participant obtaining
				  life skills training, homelessness services, domestic violence services,
				  special services for families provided by Department of Children, Youth and
				  Families, substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, or rehabilitation
				  activities as appropriate for those who are otherwise employable. Such
				  services, treatment or therapy must be determined to be necessary and certified
				  by a qualified medical or mental health professional.
23. "Job skills training directly related to
				  employment" means training or education for job skills required by an employer
				  to provide an individual with the ability to obtain employment or to advance or
				  adapt to the changing demands of the workplace. Job skills training directly
				  related to employment must be supervised on an ongoing basis.
24. "Legal permanent resident" means those
				  applicants/recipients who were lawfully admitted for permanent residence (LPR)
				  in the United States (holders of green cards). This category also includes
				  "Amerasian immigrants" as defined under the Foreign Operations, Export
				  Financing and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 1988 (Pub. Law 100-202
											§584).
25. "Low-income families" means members of
				  low-income families with child(ren) below the age of eighteen (18), or youth
				  between the ages of
				  18-20 who are members of
				  low-income families or a pregnant woman, or a non-custodial parent of a child
				  for whom the custodial parent is receiving public support, wherein family
				  income is below two hundred twenty-five percent (225%) of poverty.
26. "Minor parent" means a parent under the
				  age of eighteen (18), and under the age of twenty (20) for the purpose of
				  developing appropriate employment plan activities. All unmarried parents with
				  children, or women who are pregnant, who are under eighteen (18), are minor
				  parents, especially for the purposes of determining if a living arrangement is
				  appropriate. All such pregnant women and parents must be referred to the Teen
				  and Family Development (TFD) Program. The TFD case manager should make a
				  referral to the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) Family Visiting
				  Program.
a. For the purposes of employment
				  planning, any married or unmarried parent under the age of twenty (20) who has
				  not obtained a high school diploma or GED certificate is a minor parent, for
				  whom the first (1st) employment plan goal must be completion of high school or
				  of a course of study leading to obtaining a general equivalency diploma. This
				  planning also includes a mandatory referral to the TFD Program.
b. If a pregnant woman or parent has
				  completed high school or a GED program before or while age eighteen (18), for
				  employment plan purposes that participant is an adult for employment planning
				  and is eligible for all employment plan activities available to adults. A
				  referral to the TFD Program is done to provide support, but compliance with the
				  program is voluntary.
c. A minor
				  parent may be an applicant or recipient with his or her dependent child(ren) in
				  his/her own case or a member of an assistance unit with his or her dependent
				  child(ren) in a case established by the minor parent's parent.
27. "Net income" means the total
				  gross income of the assistance unit less allowable disregards and deductions as
				  described in R.I. Gen. Laws §
											40-5.2-10.
28. "On-the-job-training" means training in
				  the public or private sector that is given to a paid employee while he or she
				  is engaged in productive work and that provides knowledge and skills essential
				  to the full and adequate performance of the job. On-the-job training must be
				  supervised by an employer, work site sponsor, or other designee of the
				  Department of Human Services on an ongoing basis.
29. "Overpayment" means a cash benefit issued
				  to or for an assistance unit for a payment month in an amount exceeding the
				  amount for which that unit was eligible.
30. "Participant" means a person who has been
				  found eligible for assistance in accordance with R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter
				  40-5.2 and who must comply with
				  all requirements of this RI Works Program, and has entered into an individual
				  employment plan. A participant may be a parent or non-parent caretaker relative
				  included in the cash assistance payment.
31. "Recipient" means a person who has been
				  found eligible and receives cash assistance in accordance with this
				  regulation.
32. "Relative" means a
				  parent, stepparent, grandparent, great grandparent, great-great grandparent,
				  aunt, great aunt, great-great aunt, uncle, great-uncle, great-great uncle,
				  sister, brother, stepbrother, stepsister, half-brother, half-sister, first
				  cousin, first cousin once removed, niece, great niece, great-great niece,
				  nephew, great nephew, or great-great nephew.
33. "Resident" means a person who maintains
				  residence by his or her continuous physical presence in the State. There is no
				  durational residence requirement and an individual does not need to have a
				  permanent address.
34.
				  "Self-employment income" means the total profit from a business enterprise,
				  farming, etc., resulting from a comparison of the gross receipts with the
				  business expenses, i.e., expenses directly related to producing the goods or
				  services and without which the goods or services could not be produced.
				  However, items such as depreciation, personal business and entertainment
				  expenses, and personal transportation are not considered business expenses for
				  the purposes of determining eligibility for cash assistance in accordance with
				  this chapter.
35. "State" means the
				  State of Rhode Island.
36.
				  "Subsidized employment" means employment in the private or public sectors for
				  which the employer receives a subsidy from TANF or other public funds to offset
				  some or all of the wages and costs of employing a recipient. It includes work
				  in which all or a portion of the wages paid to the recipient are provided to
				  the employer either as a reimbursement for the extra costs of training or as an
				  incentive to hire the recipient, including, but not limited to, grant
				  diversion.
37. "Subsidized housing"
				  means housing for a family whose rent is restricted to a percentage of its
				  income.
38. "TANF emergency
				  contingency fund" or "TANF ECF" means benefits and services authorized by the
				  American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and available through September 2010,
				  to RI Works participants and low-income families.
39. "Under payment" means:
a. A cash payment issued to or for an
				  assistance unit for a payment month in an amount less than the amount for which
				  the assistance unit was eligible; or
b. The failure to issue a payment for a
				  payment month to an assistance unit eligible for such payment.
40. "Unsubsidized employment"
				  means full or part-time employment in the public or private sector that is not
				  subsidized by TANF or any other public program.
41. "Vocational educational training" means
				  twelve (12) months of organized educational programs, or, effective July 1st,
				  2022, if the participant successfully completes their first (1st) year of
				  education at the Community College of Rhode Island, they may participate in
				  vocational education training for an additional twelve (12) months. Vocational
				  educational training programs are directly related to the preparation of
				  participants for employment in current or emerging occupations. Vocational
				  educational training must be supervised.
42. "Work activities and opportunities" means
				  the specific work requirements which must be defined in the individual
				  employment plan and complied with by the participant as a condition of
				  eligibility for the receipt of cash assistance for single and two-parent
				  families outlined in R.I. Gen. Laws §
											40-5.2-12.
43. "Work experience" means a paid or unpaid
				  work activity that provides a participant with an opportunity to acquire the
				  general skills, training, knowledge, and work habits necessary to obtain
				  employment. The purpose of work experience is to improve the employability of
				  those who cannot find unsubsidized employment. An employer, work site sponsor,
				  and/or other appropriate designee of the Department must supervise this
				  activity.
44. "Work
				  supplementation" or "grant diversion" means the use of all or a portion of a
				  participant's cash assistance grant and food assistance grant as a wage
				  supplement to an employer. Such a supplement shall be limited to a maximum
				  period of twelve (12) months. An employer must agree to continue the employment
				  of the participant as part of the regular work force, beyond the supplement
				  period, if the participant demonstrates satisfactory performance. The cash
				  assistance case may close without affecting the validity of the employer
				  agreement.