[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 160 (Friday, August 16, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42628-42635]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-20938]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

New and Pending Demonstration Project Proposals Submitted 
Pursuant to Section 1115(a) of the Social Security Act: July 1996

AGENCY: Administration for Children and Families, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice lists new proposals for welfare reform and 
combined welfare reform/Medicaid demonstration projects submitted to 
the Department of Health and Human Services for the month of July, 
1996. It includes both those proposals being considered under the 
standard waiver process and those being considered under the 30 day 
process. Federal approval for the proposals has been requested pursuant 
to section 1115 of the Social Security Act. This notice also lists 
proposals that were previously submitted and are still pending a 
decision and projects that have been approved since July 1, 1995. The 
Health Care Financing Administration is publishing a separate notice 
for Medicaid only demonstration projects.
    Comments: We will accept written comments on these proposals. We 
will, if feasible, acknowledge receipt of all comments, but we will not 
provide written responses to comments. We will, however, neither 
approve nor disapprove new proposals under the standard application 
process for at least 30 days after the date of this notice to allow 
time to receive and consider comments. Direct comments as indicated 
below.

ADDRESSES: For specific information or questions on the content of a 
project contact the State contact listed for that project.

[[Page 42629]]

    Comments on a proposal or requests for copies of a proposal should 
be addressed to: Howard Rolston, Administration for Children and 
Families, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W., Aerospace Building, 7th Floor 
West, Washington DC 20447. Fax: (202) 205-3598; Phone: (202) 401-9220.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Under Section 1115 of the Social Security Act (the Act), the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) may approve research and 
demonstration project proposals with a broad range of policy 
objectives.
    In exercising her discretionary authority, the Secretary has 
developed a number of policies and procedures for reviewing proposals. 
On September 27, 1994, we published a notice in the Federal Register 
(59 FR 49249) that specified (1) the principles that we ordinarily will 
consider when approving or disapproving demonstration projects under 
the authority in section 1115(a) of the Act; (2) the procedures we 
expect States to use in involving the public in the development of 
proposed demonstration projects under section 1115; and (3) the 
procedures we ordinarily will follow in reviewing demonstration 
proposals. We are committed to a thorough and expeditious review of 
State requests to conduct such demonstrations.
    On August 16, 1995, the Secretary published a notice in the Federal 
Register (60 FR 42574) exercising her discretion to request proposals 
testing welfare reform strategies in five areas. Since such projects 
can only incorporate provisions included in that announcement, they are 
not subject to the Federal notice procedures. The Secretary proposed a 
30 day approval process for those provisions. As previously noted, this 
notice lists all new or pending welfare reform demonstration proposals 
under section 1115. Where possible, we have identified the proposals 
being considered under the 30 day process. However, the Secretary 
reserves the right to exercise her discretion to consider any proposal 
under the 30 day process if it meets the criteria in the five specified 
areas and the State requests it or concurs.

II. Listing of New and Pending Proposals for the Month of July, 
1996

    As part of our procedures, we are publishing a monthly notice in 
the Federal Register of all new and pending proposals. This notice 
contains proposals for the month of July, 1996.
    Project Title: California--Work Pays Demonstration Project 
(Amendment).
    Description: Would amend Work Pays Demonstration Project by adding 
provisions to: reduce benefit levels by 10% (but retaining the need 
level); reduce benefits an additional 15% after 6 months on assistance 
for cases with an able-bodied adult; time-limit assistance to able-
bodied adults to 24 months, and not increase benefits for children 
conceived while receiving AFDC.
    Date Received: 3/14/94.
    Type: AFDC.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Glen Brooks, (916) 657-3291.

    Project Title: California--Work Pays Demonstration Project 
(Amendment).
    Description: Would amend the Work Pays Demonstration Project by 
adding provisions to not increasing AFDC benefits to families for 
additional children conceived while receiving AFDC.
    Date Received: 11/9/94.
    Type: AFDC.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Bruce Wagstaff, (916) 657-2367.

    Project Title: California--Assistance Payments Demonstration 
Project/California Work Pays Demonstration Project (Amendment).
    Description: Would amend the Assistance Payments Demonstration 
Project/California Work Pays Demonstration Project by adding provisions 
to California to allow two additional AFDC benefit reductions: (1) 
Reduce the Maximum Aid Payment (MAP) by 4.9 percent across-the-board 
statewide; and (2) divide California counties into two regions based on 
housing costs, and reduce both the Need Standard and the MAP in the 
region with the lower costs. In addition, the State is requesting 
blanket authority for future reductions in AFDC payment levels in 
conjunction with welfare reform state law changes.
    Date Received: 3/13/96.
    Type: AFDC/Medicaid.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Bruce Wagstaff, (916) 657-2367.

    Project Title: California--Assistance Payments Demonstration 
Project/California Work Pays Demonstration Project (Amendment).
    Description: Would amend the Assistance Payments Demonstration 
Project/California Work Pays Demonstration Project by adding provisions 
to allow one additional provision: income of a senior parent living in 
the same household with a minor parent with a dependent child will not 
be deemed to the minor parent's child.
    Date Received: 3/13/96.
    Type: AFDC.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Bruce Wagstaff, (916) 657-2367.

    Project Title: Georgia--Jobs First Project.
    Description: In ten pilot counties, would replace AFDC payment with 
paid employment; extend transitional Medicaid to 24 months; eliminate 
100 hour employment rule for eligibility determination in AFDC-UP 
cases.
    Date Received: 7/5/94.
    Type: AFDC.
    Current Status: Pending (not previously published).
    Contact Person: Nancy Meszaros, (404) 657-3608.

    Project Title: Georgia--Fraud Detection Project.
    Description: Would seek to reduce the incidence of fraud in the 
AFDC and Food Stamps programs by imposing stronger penalties on 
individuals convicted of committing such fraud. Georgia proposes to 
change the fraud penalty to one year for the first violation and 
permanently for the second violation.
    Date Received: 7/1/96.
    Type: AFDC.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Betty Williams-Kirby, (404) 657-3604.

    Project Title: Hawaii--Pursuit Of New Opportunities (PONO).
    Description: Would, limit benefits to 60 months in a lifetime for 
all households except those exempt from work requirements; for all non-
exempt households, progressively reduce the grant amount, by 20% after 
2 months, then in annual stages to 50% in the fifth year of 
eligibility; exclude the income of dependent, minor student recipients 
from the 185% Gross Income Test; require all non-high school graduate 
or non-GED certified minor parent heads of households to participate in 
educational activities; use a Benefit Reduction Rate formula to allow 
participants to offset progressive grant reductions by keeping a larger 
portion of any earned income; eliminate all of AFDC-UP categorical 
requirements; strengthen JOBS participation requirements by eliminating 
certain exemptions such as, remoteness due to excessive travel time, 
current work activity, the non-principal earner in a two parent 
household, or full-time VISTA participants, etc.; allow families to 
retain up to $5,000 in resources; disregard one motor vehicle, 
regardless of equity value, needed for self-sufficiency purposes; 
delete the $50

[[Page 42630]]

child support pass-through; disregard all student loans, grants and 
scholarships as income.
    Date Received: 05/07/96.
    Type: AFDC.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Kristine Foster, (808) 586-5729.

    Project Title: Indiana--Impacting Families Welfare Reform 
Demonstration--Amendments.
    Description: Statewide, proposes expansions and amendments to 
current demonstration to impose a lifetime 24-month limit on cash 
assistance and categorical Medicaid eligibility (12 months for resident 
alien); allow 1 month AFDC credit (to a maximum of 24 at any one time) 
for each 6 consecutive months full-time employment; count each month of 
AFDC receipt from another state within the previous 3 years as 1 month 
against the lifetime limit; restrict permissible ``specified 
relatives'' for AFDC children and minor parents; extend AFDC, Medicaid, 
and food stamp fraud disqualification penalties; establish 3 unexcused 
absences per year as the statewide definition of unacceptable school 
attendance; provide a voucher equal to 50% of assistance amount for 
family cap child for goods and services related to child care; divert 
AFDC grants to subsidize child care costs; establish an option for an 
employed AFDC recipient to receive guaranteed child care or an AFDC 
payment equal to the family's benefit before employment; require a 
child's mother to establish paternity as a condition of eligibility for 
the child and the caretaker; establish additional conditions of 
eligibility for AFDC; impose penalties for illegal drug use; base CWEP 
hours on the combined value of AFDC and Medicaid assistance; make JOBS 
volunteers subject to the same sanctions as mandatory participants; 
continue eligibility for AFDC recipients until countable income reaches 
100% of the federal poverty guidelines; expand voluntary quit 
definition and penalties; impose income limits on transitional Medicaid 
and child care and limit each to 12 months in a person's lifetime; with 
some exceptions, deny Medicaid under all coverage provisions to those 
determined ineligible as a result of AFDC welfare reform provisions; 
restrict Medicaid payments made to employees with employer's health 
care benefits to the lesser of the employee's insurance premium or the 
amount the state would otherwise pay; and require minor parents to live 
with a legally responsible adult and count the income and resources of 
non-parent adults. Additional provisions: Food Stamp recipients could 
be required to participate CWEP and job search; increase AFDC and Food 
Stamp penalties for non-compliance with CWEP and job search; require 
cooperation with child support as condition of eligibility for Food 
Stamps.
    Date Received: 12/14/95; Amendment received 2/6/96.
    Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: James H. Hmurovich, (317) 232-4704.

    Project Title: Kansas--Actively Creating Tomorrow for Families 
Demonstration.
    Description: Amended pending demonstration to provide that the 
demonstration would: replace $30 and \1/3\ income disregard with 
continuous 40% disregard; disregard lump sum income, income and 
resources of children in school and interest income; count income and 
resources of adults, and at State option children, who receive SSI; 
exempt one vehicle without regard for equity value; eliminate 100-hour 
rule and work history requirements for UP cases; expand AFDC 
eligibility to pregnant women in 1st and 2nd trimesters; eliminate 
eight week job search limitation; allow alcohol and drug screening and 
treatment as a JOBS activity; eliminate the 20-hour work requirement 
limit for parents with children under 6; delay the effective date of 
changes in household composition; make work requirements in the AFDC 
and Food Stamp programs more uniform; and increase sanctions for not 
cooperating with child support enforcement activities and violations of 
employment and JOBS requirements.
    Date Received: 7/26/94; amendment received 4/30/96.
    Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Diane Dystra, (913) 296-3028.

    Project Title: Maryland.
    Description: Statewide, would expand, with some modifications, 
previously approved Family Investment Program (FIP) pilot county 
provisions to be statewide and introduce new provisions: Replace the 
current $90 and $30-and-one-third exclusions with a flat 20% earned 
income deduction, 50% for self-employed earned income; limit the child 
care disregard to $175 in all cases; allow case managers to set AFDC 
certification periods up to 1 year and require eligibility to be re-
established before the end of each certification period; modify JOBS 
exemption requirements; allow $2,000 in countable resources and exclude 
one vehicle per household, life insurance, and certain real property; 
count stepparent income only if it is more than 50% of the poverty 
level; allow non-custodial parents and stepparents to participate in 
JOBS; provide welfare avoidance grants of up to 3 months benefit amount 
(up to 12 months in special circumstances); allow IV-A child care funds 
in lieu of AFDC for families diverted from cash assistance; impose 
immediate full-family sanctions for fraud and for failure to cooperate 
with JOBS or child support enforcement requirements; reduce the adverse 
notification period to 5 days; eliminate the $50 child support pass-
through; allow only 1 assistance unit per family or payee; eliminate 
deprivation as an eligibility factor; change treatment of lump sums; 
eliminate JOBS assessment and employability plans; and modify JOBS 
program requirements.
    Date Received: 4/26/96.
    Type: AFDC.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Kathy Cook, (410) 767-7055.

    Project Title: To Strengthen Michigan Families (Amendments).
    Description: Statewide, would require attendance at a joint 
orientation held by the Michigan Jobs Commission and the Family 
Independence Agency for all adult AFDC, Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA), 
and food stamp applicants and recipients as a condition of eligibility; 
during the first 2 months of eligibility for benefits, remove full 
family's AFDC, RCA, and food stamp benefits for non-compliance with 
JOBS or Food Stamp Program (FSP) employment and training (E&T) 
requirements, for a minimum of one month; after the first two months of 
eligibility, reduce grant by 25 percent for noncompliance with work 
requirements and after 4 months of noncompliance close the case for a 
minimum of one month or until compliance; after 4 months non-compliance 
with child support enforcement requirements close the case until 
compliance; increase the asset limit to $3,000, count only liquid 
assets, and treat all lump sums as liquid assets rather than income for 
AFDC and FSP; modify redetermination requirements for AFDC and FSP; 
deny AFDC benefits to persons who have entered the State for employment 
purposes but do not intend to remain in Michigan; provide for the 
immediate effect of negative actions, allow specific case changes to be 
reflected in the month following the month of change, and create an 
agency overpayment standard for recovery purposes of $1,000 for AFDC 
and FSP; modify existing AFDC assistance unit

[[Page 42631]]

composition rules to include stepparents, stepsiblings, spouses and 
certain children age 18-19, and to exclude non-parent caretakers when 
the parent (except a minor parent) is in the home; allow a dependent 
child to live with an unrelated caretaker; eliminate the 185 percent of 
need test and apply the same earned income disregards to applicants and 
recipients; budget income of mandatory ineligibles; replace the 
dependent care disregard with vendor payments based on the Child Day 
Care Services program eligibility requirements; replace the 75th 
percentile rule for child care costs with reimbursement rates that 
represent reasonable child care market rates; eliminate deprivation as 
an eligibility criterion; modify QC review requirements; provide AFDC 
benefits to a pregnant woman starting at any point in the pregnancy 
rather than just the last trimester; use 100 percent title IV-A funds 
to provide advance EITC payments to eligible, employed AFDC recipients; 
budget the actual sponsor's contribution to a sponsored alien when 
determining the client's AFDC and food stamp eligibility and treat 
contribution as unearned income of the sponsored alien when budgeting 
against the needs of the group; extend AFDC eligibility only to U.S. 
citizens, legal permanent resident aliens, and certain other legal 
entrants; apply additional income exclusions for AFDC and FSP for a 
variety of income types, including inconsequential income, donations 
based on need, dependent child earnings, adoption subsidies, child 
support refunds, training payments, etc.; require reporting of gross 
income changes for AFDC and FSP only if $100 or more; define dependent 
child as a child who is unemancipated according to state law; provide 
law enforcement officers with the address of an AFDC or food stamps 
recipient who is a fugitive felon or who the law enforcement office 
believes has a fugitive felon living in the home; deny assistance to 
any AFDC or food stamp applicant or recipient who is identified as a 
fugitive felon; pay current monthly child support collections directly 
to the family and budget them against the AFDC grant, after the $50 
disregard is applied; revise child support distribution cycle; extend 
transitional child care to 24 months and eliminate the requirement that 
a family receive AFDC in at least 3 of the 6 months immediately 
preceding the first month of AFDC ineligibility; place title IV-E 
funding (except for adoption subsidy payments) in a block grant; use 
JOBS funds to pay for transportation and other employment-related 
expenses; assign an individual to CWEP for 20 hours per week 
irrespective of the family's AFDC benefit level or receipt of child 
support; count all mandatory and optional JOBS components toward the 
AFDC-UP participation rate; expand the JOBS target population; waive 
employment and training exemptions for RCA participants to match the 
AFDC waiver granted to Michigan in October 1994; adopt the current AFDC 
waiver proposal regarding earned income disregards for RCA; limit the 
groups eligible for Medicaid; provide 12 months transitional Medicaid 
for AFDC cases that close due to child support payments and eliminate 
the requirement that a family receive AFDC in at least 3 or the 6 
months before ineligibility; allow an age test for children's Medicaid 
eligibility rather than a birth date test; limit automatic Medicaid 
coverage to newborns of Medicaid recipients; include blind individuals 
in the definition of disability for Medicaid eligibility; determine a 
family's Medicaid eligibility recognizing that it operates as a single 
economic unit and use income and resource standards based on family 
composition rather than separate standards for individual members; 
define countable income and distinguish income from resources for 
Medicaid to be consistent with AFDC proposal; eliminate the burial fund 
and burial space exclusions for Medicaid; provide for long-term care 
through a combination of private insurance and Medicaid; modify 
Medicaid policy regarding trusts; allow State agency's disability or 
blindness determination for non-cash Medicaid clients to be final; 
eliminate advance notice requirement for Medicaid negative actions; and 
allow Medicaid Buy-In for persons with no employer-based coverage whose 
transitional Medicaid coverage ends.
    Date Received: 6/27/96.
    Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Dan Cleary, (517) 335-0015.

    Project Title: Minnesota--Work First Program.
    Description: In pilot counties, would provide vendor payments in 
lieu of regular AFDC benefits for applicants' rent and utilities for up 
to six months; sanction for at least six months job-ready applicants 
who fail to comply with job search and other applicants who fail to 
participate in JOBS orientation; and require part-time CWEP of 
unemployed, nonexempt job-ready individuals who fail to participate in 
job search for 32 hours/week or who after eight weeks of job search are 
not employed for at least 32 hours/week or not self-employed with a net 
income equal to the family's AFDC benefit. Individuals who refuse to 
participate in CWEP or are terminated from a CWEP job would incur a 
whole family sanction and become ineligible for AFDC for at least six 
months. Non-job-ready participants would be assigned appropriate 
education and training. Post-placement services would be provided for 
up to 180 days and Transitional Child Care and Medicaid without regard 
to AFDC receipt in 3 of the 6 months preceding ineligibility.
    Date Received: 4/4/96.
    Type: AFDC/Medicaid.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Gus Avenido, (612) 296-1884.

    Project Title: Minnesota--AFDC Barrier Removal Project.
    Description: Statewide, would expand AFDC-UP eligibility; treat 
minor parents living with a caretaker parent on AFDC as a separate 
filing unit and disregard the caretaker parents' earned income up to 
200 percent of the federal poverty guideline; disregard earned income 
of dependent children who are at least half-time students as well as 
all their savings deposited into an individual development account; 
increase the auto-equity limit to $4,500; cease recovering overpayments 
(once every two years per case) due to an individual's new employment 
resulting in ineligibility; and determine AFDC benefit amount for a 
family in which all members have resided in the State for less than 12 
months based on the payment standard of the state of immediate prior 
residence if less than Minnesota's.
    Minnesota has amended this application to include a proposed 
provision in which families who have resided in the State of Minnesota 
for less than 30 days would not be eligible for AFDC with the following 
exceptions: (1) Either the child or caretaker relative was born in 
Minnesota; (2) either the child or caretaker relative has resided in 
the State for 365 consecutive days in the past; (3) either the child or 
the caretaker relative went to Minnesota to join a close relative who 
has resided in the State for at least one year; or (4) the caretaker 
relative went to Minnesota to accept a bona fide offer of employment 
for which he or she was eligible. For purposes of the exemption close 
relative is defined as a parent, grandparent, brother, sister, spouse, 
or child. The State would allow county agencies to waive the 30 day 
requirement in cases of emergency or where unusual hardship would 
result from denial of benefits.
    Date Received: 4/4/96; amendment received 5/28/96.

[[Page 42632]]

    Type: AFDC.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Ann Sessoms, (612) 296-0978.

    Project Title: New Mexico:Work First.
    Description: Statewide would emphasize work by requiring job search 
prior to case approval; expand mandatory JOBS participation by 
exempting caretakers (1) over 65 years or (2) with children up to 1 
year old; expand Transitional Child Care eligibility by eliminating the 
three-in-six rule and providing it for up to 36 months after 
ineligibility for AFDC due to earnings; provide special one-time 
payments needed by recipient to accept or retain employment; eliminate 
separate JOBS participation rates for AFDC-UP cases; change AFDC earned 
income disregard to 20 percent plus $134 per month standard deduction; 
increase resource limits to $1,500 for cash and exclude one vehicle 
regardless of value. Other provisions to encourage self sufficiency and 
personal responsibility are increased progressive sanctions for JOBS 
and paternity establishment cooperation, resulting in case closure for 
successive non-compliance; requiring minor parents to live in a 
supervised setting; eliminate the parental deprivation provisions; 
expand two-parent eligibility by eliminating the 100-hour rule and the 
work history requirement; make AFDC a closed-ended program which 
requires recipients to recertify their eligibility on a periodic basis, 
or have their case closed with proration of both food stamps and AFDC 
from date of application; eliminate reconciliation requirement so that 
over and under payments would not be reported or collected; and require 
AFDC and food stamp income change reporting and processing only at the 
time of periodic review and re-certification.
    Date Received: 8/6/95.
    Title: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
    Current Status: New.
    Contact Person: Roberto Salazar (502) 827-7280.

    Project Title: New York--Learnfare Program.
    Description: Would phase in statewide a provision that would 
require AFDC children in grades 1 through 6 to attend school regularly 
by mandating a sanction of removal of the child's needs from the budget 
group for three months in those cases, where after counseling, the 
child has 5 or more unexcused absences in a quarter. Benefits for 
parents will be terminated, for failure without good cause, to sign the 
release form for educational records.
    Date Received: 5/31/96.
    Type: AFDC.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Jeff Gaskell, (518) 486-3415.

    Project Title: New York--Intentional Program Violation 
Demonstration.
    Description: Statewide would change the sanction for Intentional 
Program Violations making the period of ineligibility of the person 
committing the violation dependant on both the number of offenses and 
the amount of the overpayment incurred as a result of the violation.
    Date Received: 5/31/96.
    Type: AFDC.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Jeff Gaskell, (518) 486-3415.

    Project Title: Oklahoma--Welfare Self-Sufficiency Initiative.
    Description: In four pilots conducted in five counties each, would 
(1) extend transitional child care to up to 24 months; (2) require that 
all children through age 18 be immunized and require that responsible 
adults with preschool age children participate in parent education or 
enroll the children in Head Start or other preschool program; (3) not 
increase AFDC benefits after birth of additional children, but provide 
voucher payment for the increment of cash benefits that would have been 
received until the child is two years old; and (4) pay lesser of AFDC 
benefit or previous state of residence or Oklahoma's for 12 months for 
new residents.
    Date Received: 10/27/95.
    Type: AFDC.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Raymond Haddock, (405) 521-3076.

    Project Title: Pennsylvania--School Attendance Improvement Program.
    Description: In 7 sites, would require school attendance as 
condition of eligibility.
    Date Received: 9/12/94.
    Type: AFDC.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Patricia H. O'Neal, (717) 787-4081.

    Project Title: Pennsylvania--Savings for Education Program.
    Description: Statewide, would exempt as resources college savings 
bonds and funds in savings accounts earmarked for vocational or 
secondary education and disregard interest income earned from such 
accounts.
    Date Received: 12/29/94.
    Type: AFDC.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Patricia H. O'Neal, (717) 787-4081.

    Project Title: Pennsylvania--Common Sense Welfare to Work Program.
    Description: Statewide, would impose 24 month time limit on receipt 
of AFDC after which individuals would be required to work or 
participate in subsidized employment, work experience, on-the-job 
training, community service or workfare for at least 20 hours per week; 
require adult applicants and recipients, pregnant/parenting minors, and 
minors without high school diplomas or equivalent who are not attending 
school to sign an Agreement of Mutual Responsibility (AMR) as a 
condition of eligibility for AFDC and impose a $40 per month penalty 
for failure to comply with the agreements in the AMR; impose sanctions 
for failing to comply with employment-related AMR provisions which 
would be progressive and could lead to permanent disqualification for 
the adult in the first 24 months and for the family after that period; 
provide the lesser of the Pennsylvania benefit or the former state 
benefit during the first 12 months of residency; deny AFDC to an 
individual serving a disqualification for either Food Stamp program or 
PA's General Assistance program fraud or who has been sentenced for a 
criminal offense but has not satisfied the penalty imposed by a court 
and to exchange information with the State Police and Board of 
Probation and Parole to identify such persons; deny AFDC and Medicaid 
to those who fail to appear, as a defendant, at a criminal court 
proceeding; require nonexempt applicants and recipients who are not 
employed an average of 20 hours/week to participate in an eight-week 
job search period and additional activities if employment is not found; 
after 24 months of AFDC receipt, require work or participate in 
subsidized employment, work experience, on-the-job training, community 
service or workfare for an average of 20 hours/week as a condition of 
receipt of cash assistance; limit exemptions from JOBS and work 
requirements; eliminate priority for volunteers under JOBS, limitations 
on periods of job search, and requirement to consider preferences of 
participant to the maximum extent possible in employability plan; 
eliminate workers' compensation coverage under community service 
activity; allow the filling of established unfilled vacancies under the 
Work Supplementation component, allow participation for 12 months, and 
cash out food stamp benefits for Work Supplementation participants; 
eliminate gross income test (i.e., 185 percent of need standard); 
disregard 50 percent of earned income without time limit; exclude one 
vehicle for AFDC and food

[[Page 42633]]

stamps; disregard all earned income of dependent children for AFDC and 
food stamps, and increase age limit for dependent children to 21 years 
of age; require recipients under 18 to attend high school or GED; 
extend Transitional Child Care (TCC) beyond 12 months, establish co-
payments as a percentage of cost of care, expand eligibility to include 
cases which have received AFDC for one month and which close for any 
reason other than sanction if the individual is employed; extend 
transitional Medicaid to 12 months for cases which close as a result of 
child support collections; require cooperation with Child Support 
Enforcement for AFDC recipients and Medicaid-only applicants and 
recipients prior to authorization of assistance for applicants; 
redefine what constitutes noncooperation for child support; allow IV-D 
workers to determine cooperation rather than IV-A workers; provide AFDC 
to needy child who resides with non-relative if in the best interest of 
the child; expand two-parent eligibility by eliminating 100-hour 
definition of employment, 30-day waiting period, and work history 
requirements; expand eligibility to pregnant women in the first 
trimester of pregnancy; for AFDC and Medicaid, exclude value of life 
insurance and nonresident property, and in-kind income; for AFDC, 
Medicaid, and food stamps revise lump sum policy and exclude student 
financial aid; for AFDC and food stamps change budgeting methods and 
recovery of over/underpayments.
    Date Received: 7/31/96.
    Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
    Current Status: New.
    Contact Person: Ed Zogby, (717) 772-7829.

    Project Title: Utah--Single Parent Employment Demonstration 
(Amendments).
    Description: Would amend the current Single Parent Employment 
Demonstration, establishing a 36 month lifetime limit on a family's 
receipt of AFDC, with exceptions; and count toward the time limit 
months of AFDC receipt in another state.
    Date Received: July 2, 1996.
    Type: AFDC.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Bill Biggs, (801) 538-4337.

    Project Title: Virginia--Virginia Independence Program 
(Amendments).
    Description: Would amend the Virginia Independence Program to 
require AFDC applicants and recipients (including specified relatives 
other than a parent) to provide information sufficient to identify the 
non-custodial parent. Failure to provide the required information would 
result in sanctions. In any case where an applicant/recipient does not 
claim good cause or good cause does not exist, an affidavit from the 
custodial parent attesting to the lack of information about the non-
custodial parent/putative father, in and of itself, would not meet the 
definition of cooperation. If the first two genetic tests exclude the 
named putative fathers, the State will impose a sanction until 
paternity is established. If a relative other than the parent maintains 
the he does not know the identity of the child's parent and has no way 
to help identify the parent, the sanction would not be imposed.
    Date Received: 5/24/96.
    Type: AFDC.
    Current Status: Pending (amended provisions not previously 
published) .
    Contact Person: Barbara Cotter, (804) 692-1811.

    Project Title: West Virginia--West Virginia Works.
    Description: Statewide, would extend transitional child care to 24 
months for families who are employed and otherwise eligible. In 
selected counties, provide a one-time diversion payment in lieu of 
AFDC; require development of a personal responsibility contract for 
AFDC applicants and recipients, and non-public assistance cases 
eligible for Food Stamps, as a condition of eligibility which will 
outline the assessed needs of the participant; require at least 20 
hours of work participation per week by non-exempt parents over age 20, 
and require parents under age 20 to remain in school until they 
graduate or obtain a GED, with limited exemptions; work requirements 
for parents over 20 without a high school diploma or GED would not have 
to be coupled with education; require child immunization, school 
attendance and satisfactory progress and community service activities; 
time limit AFDC benefits based on a time frame for achieving goals not 
to exceed a 60 month lifetime limit on cash assistance for non-exempt 
families, with some extensions; impose fiscal sanctions if the adults 
fail to meet the terms of their personal responsibility contract 
without good cause or through fraud equal to a one third reduction in 
AFDC benefits for 3 months for the first sanction, a two thirds 
reduction in AFDC benefits for 3 months for the second sanction, and 
case closure until participation occurs for the third sanction; 
eliminate the JOBS conciliation requirement; increase by 10% the AFDC 
monthly cash benefit to families where both the husband and wife are 
living together and caring for her/his children; reduce to 75% the AFDC 
monthly cash benefit to families where there is another adult present 
in the household but not eligible for inclusion in the AFDC 
calculation; eliminate many JOBS exemptions, and make most remaining 
exemptions temporary, including allowing only a one-time exemption for 
children under 2 years of age (only 6 month exemptions will be provided 
for additional children); require minor parents to live at home or in 
an adult-supervised setting, attend and maintain satisfactory progress 
in an educational activity to complete high school, GED or vocational 
training; increase the allowable asset level to $5,000 and exempt one 
vehicle regardless of value; expand eligibility for transitional child 
care; allow a family to be eligible for transitional child care for up 
to 30 days for job search purposes, if they lose a job with good cause; 
for AFDC/UP, eliminate the requirement that the unemployed parent have 
a recent attachment to the labor force, and not work more than 100 
hours per month; count all income received by any member of the family 
which can be used at the discretion of the household, including the 
first $50 of child support and SSI payments; increase earned income 
disregards to enable families to retain benefits up to 50% of the 
Federal poverty level; eliminate the 8 week limitation on job search 
activities; allow the State to extend transitional medical coverage to 
24 months; and transfer the cash value of Food Stamp benefits for AFDC 
recipients to a wage pool for a voluntary subsidized employment 
activity.
    Date Received: 7/1/96.
    Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Sue Buster, (304) 558-3186.

    Project Title: Wisconsin--Work Not Welfare and Pay for Performance 
Projects (Amendments).
    Description: Statewide, would lower the JOBS exemption from a 
parent whose youngest child is one year old or younger to a parent 
whose youngest child is 12 weeks old or younger; require up to 40 hours 
a week in CWEP regardless of the amount of the family's AFDC grant and 
require participation in substance abuse and mental health treatment, 
as appropriate; include intentional failure or voluntary quit in a work 
component as a failure to cooperate with JOBS and apply JOBS program 
sanctions to the entire family; and limit AFDC receipt to 60 months in 
a lifetime, with exemptions and case-by-case extensions. The state 
would extend

[[Page 42634]]

child care to families earning up to 165 percent of poverty with 
graduated co-payments based on the cost of care, and change IV-A cases 
headed by a non-needy non-legally responsible relative to IV-E cases 
and provide cases headed by an adult SSI recipient a special child-only 
grant supplement in lieu of the regular AFDC payment for the child. 
Both types of cases would be exempt from the time limit and work 
requirements. Further, the state would require minor parents to live 
with a parent or in an adult-supervised setting. Also the state would 
establish a competitive process for selection of contractors to 
administer county programs.
    Date Received: 5/8/96; Amendments received 5/17/96.
    Type: AFDC.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Jean Sheil, (608) 266-0613.

    Project Title: Wisconsin--Wisconsin Works (W2).
    Description: Statewide, would establish performance standards for 
the administration of Wisconsin Works (W2) along with a competitive 
process for selection of contractors to administer county programs. The 
State would provide--but not guarantee--work positions, child care and 
health care coverage to families, (as defined by the State,) whose 
gross income does not exceed 115 percent of the federal poverty level 
(FPL), whose resources do not exceed $2,500 (excluding a homestead), 
and whose total auto equity assets do not exceed $10,000, with a 60-day 
State residency requirement for eligibility. The State would count all 
earned and unearned income, including child support (which will be paid 
directly to the custodial parent), except for EITC when determining W2 
eligibility. The State would require participation in substance abuse 
and mental health treatment, as appropriate; exempt from a work 
requirement parents with a child less than 12 weeks old; and provide 
for an appeal process for W2 eligibility and benefit decisions. The 
State would review an individual W2 agency's financial eligibility 
decision only if the applicant petitions the State within 15 days of 
the decision and would not pay benefits pending a decision. Applicants 
would be required to search for unsubsidized employment during 
eligibility determination, and would be denied eligibility if they 
refused a bona fide offer of employment in the 180 days prior to 
application. The State would automatically refer all W2 participants to 
child support for services. The State would require minor parents to 
live with a parent or in an adult-supervised setting to receive W2 non-
employment/non-cash benefits, e.g., financial planning assistance, case 
management; but minor parents would not be eligible for W2 employment/
cash benefits. Teen children must attend school regularly. The state 
would provide children whose parents are SSI recipients a payment of 
$77.
    The W2 payment amount would be determined according to job 
placement: Unsubsidized job, trial job (including up to $300 per month 
wage subsidy to employer), community service job (benefit of $555 per 
month), and transitional placement (benefit of $518 per month). 
Community service jobs would require 30 hours per week of work plus 10 
hours per week of education and training; transitional placement jobs 
would require 28 hours per week of work plus 12 hours of education and 
training. In addition CWEP participation would be increased up to 40 
hours per week. The State would sanction individuals $4.25 per each 
hour of non-participation in work requirements. In addition sanctions 
would be imposed upon the entire family for refusal to participate, 
without good cause, in a W2 employment position. Three refusals to 
participate in any W2 employment category would result in permanent 
ineligibility for that category. To assist families with one-time 
expenses, the State would provide Job Access Loans for employment 
support needs, e.g., car repair, uniforms, etc.; and would extend child 
care to families earning up to 165 percent of poverty with graduated 
co-payments based on family income and the category of care used. Child 
care would only be provided to children under 13.
    The State would limit participation to 24 months in any one W2 
employment position and would limit lifetime eligibility for benefits 
to 60 months, with extensions on a case-by-case basis; the 60-month 
limit would apply to certain JOBS participants beginning July 1, 1996. 
The State would change AFDC cases headed by a non-legally responsible 
relative to a IV-E case; provide job search assistance and case 
management to non-custodial parents with a child support order; impose 
stricter sanctions for non-cooperation with child support; and 
permanently deny W2 employment after three Intentional Program 
Violations. Benefit overpayments will be recouped for intentional 
violations at a rate set by the State. Corrective payments would not be 
made for underpayments. Eligibility for Emergency Assistance for 
certain homeless persons would be limited to once in a 36-month period 
unless the homelessness was caused by domestic abuse, and the State 
would allow displacement of regular employees by W2 participants in 
certain cases: i.e., partial displacement (reduction in hours); 
impairment of existing contracts; infringement upon promotional 
opportunities; and filling of any established unfilled position.
    The State would eliminate transitional Medicaid and expand Medicaid 
(i.e., the W2 Health Plan) to families with gross income up to 165 of 
FPL, who would then remain eligible until their income increases to 200 
percent of FPL; and would incorporate a mandatory HMO enrollment or 
primary provider program for W2 participants. Participants would be 
required to pay a share of W2 Health Plan premiums according to a 
sliding scale, and the State would impose stricter Medicaid sanctions 
for non-cooperation with child support. The State would merge the Food 
Stamps E&T program with the W2 Work Program; modify the Food Stamps 
work program exemptions; eliminate the Food Stamps gross income test; 
require nutrition education for Food Stamps recipients; and cash out 
food stamps.
    Date Received: 5/29/96.
    Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Jean Sheil, (608) 266-0613.

    Project Title: Wyoming--New Opportunities and New 
Responsibilities--Phase II (Amendments).
    Description: Proposes expansion of demonstration provisions 
currently limited to a pilot site statewide and further amendments to 
the current demonstration to establish a 5-year lifetime limit on cash 
assistance for adults, beginning with time on AFDC from July 1, 1987 
(with limited exemptions and extensions); pursue child support from the 
absent minor parent's parents; freeze benefits based on household size 
10 months after initial qualification; replace existing earnings 
disregards for recipients (except no disregard will apply for 
recipients disqualified due to fraud, education time limits, illegal 
alien) with a maximum earned income disregard of $200 for recipients; 
expand pay-for-performance from AFDC-UP to the regular AFDC population, 
with limited exemptions, where failure to perform any item in the self-
sufficiency plan would cause disqualification of the parent for AFDC, 
Food Stamps, and Medicaid; reduce the grant by $40 when a nonexempt 
child fails to meet the performance requirements; require able-

[[Page 42635]]

bodied applicants and recipients to do job search for up to 16 weeks 
unless otherwise exempted; terminate the case when there is loss of 
contact with the client for 1 month after nonpayment for failure to 
meet the performance requirements; exclude the earned income and 
resources of a dependent child who is a full-time high school student; 
allow payment of the supplied shelter grant for households with a SSI 
recipient, unmarried minor parents, or recipients disqualified for 
other reasons (fraud, education time limits, illegal aliens); exclude 
one licensed vehicle with a fair market value of less than $12,000; 
increase the resource limit to $2,500 for those in compliance with, or 
exempted from, the performance requirements; and exclude veteran's 
service connected disability compensation if the annual income is less 
than the poverty level.
    Date Received: 5/13/96.
    Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid.
    Current Status: Pending.
    Contact Person: Marianne Lee, (307) 777-6849.

III. Listing of Approved Proposals Since July 1, 1995

    Project Title: Tennessee--Families First.
    Contact Person: Glenda Shearon, (615) 313-5652.

    Project Title: Utah--Single-Parent Employment Demonstration 
(Amendments).
    Contact Person: Bill Biggs, (801) 538-4337.

IV. Requests for Copies of a Proposal

    Requests for copies of an AFDC or combined AFDC/Medicaid proposal 
should be directed to the Administration for Children and Families 
(ACF) at the address listed above. Questions concerning the content of 
a proposal should be directed to the State contact listed for the 
proposal.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program, No. 93562; 
Assistance Payments--Research)

    Dated: August 12, 1996.
Howard Rolston,
Director, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation.
[FR Doc. 96-20938 Filed 8-15-96; 8:45am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P