General Assistance and Public Assistance Diversion Payments
The memorandum below was sent to all Food Stamp regions to announce
a change in policy.
June 16, 1998
Subject: FSP - General Assistance and Public Assistance Diversion
Payments
To: All Program Directors / Food Stamp Program
More and more States are making one-time or special assistance payments
to households under State programs, that may or may not be funded under
Title IV-A of the Social Security Act, to keep the households from becoming
monthly recipients of regular Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF). We have advised several regional offices via Email and a memo
to the Northeast Regional Office on March 17, 1998, that such payments
cannot be considered a nonrecurring lump-sum payment but must be counted
as income. They are not over and above a normal assistance grant but are
the normal grant for certain households at risk of becoming regular TANF
recipients.
We have gathered more information on these types of payments, and we
are now reconsidering our position. Because of the diverse manner in which
the payments are made, we believe that they must be judged on a State-by-State
basis.
Some of the factors we will consider in making a decision to exclude
the payments are as follows:
- The payment is a one-time payment made no more than once in any 12-month
period to meet needs that do not extend beyond a 90-day period, such
as automobile repair to retain employment and avoid welfare receipt
and appliance repair to maintain living arrangements; and
- The State agency advises in writing that the payment is primarily
designed to address barriers to achieving self-sufficiency, rather than
provide assistance for normal living expenses; and
- The household did not receive a regular monthly TANF payment in the
prior month or the current month.
We are requesting that each State agency that makes such payments submit
in writing information including, but not limited to, the eligibility
criteria, a statement of how often the household can get the payments,
what expenses the payments are for, the period of intended use, if the
payments will be made from a program separate from the TANF program, what
source of funds will be used, whether the household can receive a diversion
payment and a regular TANF grant simultaneously, and if the diversion
payment counts toward the TANF time limit.
Please call Mary Patrick 703-305-2507 if you have any questions on this
memo.
/s/
Arthur T. Foley
Director
Program Development Division
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