[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 170 (Friday, August 30, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45985-45986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-22233]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
[AG Order No. 2049-96]
Specification of Community Programs Necessary for Protection of
Life or Safety Under Welfare Reform Legislation
AGENCY: Department of Justice.
ACTION: Notice.
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EFFECTIVE DATE: August 23, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR TO PROVIDE COMMENT CONTACT: Lisalyn R.
Jacobs, Counsel, Office of Policy Development, Department of Justice,
10th Street & Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20530,
telephone (202) 514-9114.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, H.R. 3734, which the President
signed on August 22, 1996, vests in the Attorney General the authority
to designate the kinds of government-funded community programs,
services or assistance that are necessary for protection of life or
safety and for which all aliens will continue to be eligible. This
Order implements that authority.
Background
Section 401 provides a new rule that an alien who is not a
``qualified alien,'' as defined in Sec. 431 of the Act, is not eligible
for any ``Federal public benefit''--which, in general, means
(a) any grant, contract, loan, professional license or
commercial license provided by a federal agency or through
appropriated federal funds; or
(b) any retirement, welfare, health, disability, public or
assisted housing, post-secondary education, food assistance,
unemployment benefit or any other similar benefit for which payments
or assistance are provided to individuals, house-holds or families
by a federal agency or through appropriated federal funds.
Section 411 also makes certain non-qualified aliens ineligible for
state and local public benefits unless the state enacts new legislation
after August 22, 1996 that affirmatively provides for such eligibility.
In addition, Sec. 403 of the Act makes qualified aliens ineligible for
specific means-tested federal benefit programs for a five-year period
after their entry into the United States as a qualified alien.
In addition to certain statutory exceptions, the Act authorizes the
Attorney General to establish limited exceptions to these provisions
for the following kinds of benefits:
Programs, services, or assistance (such as soup kitchens, crisis
counseling and intervention, and short-term shelter) specified by
the Attorney General, in the Attorney General's sole and
unreviewable discretion after consultation with appropriate Federal
agencies and departments, which (i) deliver in-kind services at the
community level, including through public or private nonprofit
agencies; (ii) do not condition the provision of assistance, the
amount of assistance provided, or the cost of assistance provided on
the individual recipient's income or resources; and (iii) are
necessary for the protection of life or safety.
This authority appears in several places in the Act, including:
Sec. 401(b)(1)(D), with respect to federal public benefits;
Sec. 403(c)(2)(G), with respect to the five-year limited eligibility
for federal means-tested public benefits; and Sec. 411(b)(4), with
respect to state and local public benefits. (This authority also
appears in Sec. 423(d)(7) in the context of new requirements with
regard to individuals who execute an affidavit of support on behalf of
a sponsored alien.)
Attorney General Review
As required by the statute, the Department of Justice has conducted
preliminary consultations with other federal agencies regarding the
scope and interpretation of these provisions and their proper
application. Given the great variety of federal, state and local
programs conducted or supported at the community level, including those
administered by private non-profit organizations, and the limited time
available, the Department's consultation process is still ongoing. At
my direction, the Department is seeking additional, more specific
recommendations from all appropriate federal agencies, from
representatives of state and local governments, and from the public.
Given the immediate effective date of provisions of the Act, I have
decided to provide a ``provisional specification'' of programs,
services and assistance that will be exempt from the limitations on
alien eligibility discussed above, based upon preliminary consultations
with appropriate federal agencies and departments. This ``provisional
specification'' is effective immediately and will continue in effect
pending adoption of a revised specification, if necessary, after
further consultations. Should ongoing consultations indicate that
further refinements in this specification are appropriate under the
Act, I will revise it accordingly.
Specification
Therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Attorney
General by law, including Title IV of the Personal Responsibility and
Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, I hereby specify that:
1. I do not construe the Act to preclude aliens from receiving
police, fire, ambulance, transportation (including paratransit),
sanitation, and other regular, widely available services and, for that
reason, I am not making specifications of such programs, services or
assistance. It is not the purpose of this Order, however, to define
more specifically the scope of the public benefits that Congress
intended to deny certain aliens either altogether or absent my
specification and nothing herein should be so construed.
2. The government-funded programs, services or assistance specified
in this Order are those that: deliver in-kind (non-cash) services at
the community level, including through public or private non-profit
agencies or organizations; serve purposes of the type described in
paragraph 3, below, for the protection of life and safety; and do not
condition the assistance according to the individual recipient's income
or resources, as discussed in paragraph 4, below.
3. Included within the specified programs, services or assistance
determined to be necessary for the protection of life and safety are:
(a) Crisis counseling and intervention programs, services and
assistance relating to child protection, adult protective services,
violence and abuse prevention, victims of domestic violence or other
criminal activity, or treatment of mental illness or substance
abuse;
(b) Short-term shelter or housing assistance for the homeless,
for victims of domestic violence, or for runaway, abused or
abandoned children;
(c) Programs, services or assistance to help individuals during
periods of heat, cold, or other adverse weather conditions;
(d) Soup kitchens, community food banks, senior nutrition
programs such as meals on wheels, and other such community
nutritional services for persons requiring special assistance;
(e) Medical and public health services (including treatment and
prevention of diseases and injuries) and mental health, disability
or substance abuse assistance necessary to protect life or safety;
(f) Activities designed to protect the life and safety of
workers, children and youths, or community residents; and
(g) Any other programs, services, or assistance necessary for
the protection of life or safety.
4. The community-based programs, services or assistance specified
in
[[Page 45986]]
paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Order are limited to those that provide in-
kind (non-cash) benefits and are open to individuals needing or
desiring to participate without regard to income or resources.
Programs, services or assistance delivered at the community level, even
if they serve purposes of the type described in paragraph 3 above, are
not within this specification if they condition (a) the provision of
assistance, (b) the amount of assistance provided, or (c) the cost of
the assistance provided on the individual recipient's income or
resources.
Dated: August 23, 1996.
Janet Reno,
Attorney General.
[FR Doc. 96-22233 Filed 8-29-96; 8:45 am]
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