[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]
BILLING CODE 4410-01-M