3.604.1 Eligibility Criteria

To receive a Colorado Works grant payment, a client must: A. Be a resident of Colorado. 1. There shall be no durational residency requirement and a client who establishes intent to remain in Colorado shall be considered a resident. 2. Residence shall be retained until abandoned. 3. Persons receiving TANF benefits from another state shall not be eligible for Colorado Works grant payments during any month a payment was made by the other state. B. Be lawfully present in the United States as: 1. A citizen of the United States (including persons born in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands (U.S.), American Samoa, or Swain's Island; persons who have become citizens through the naturalization process; persons born to U/S. citizens outside the United States with appropriate documentation); or, 2. A qualified legal non-citizen who entered the United States prior to August 22, 1996; or, 3. A qualified legal non-citizen who entered the United States on or after August 22, 1996, who has been in a qualified non-citizen status for a period of five years, unless they meet one of the exceptions to the five-year bar consistent with 8 U.S.C. 1613(b). C. Be a member of an assistance unit who meets income eligibility requirements and has provided required verifications or be a noncustodial parent (noncustodial parents may receive services, but not basic cash assistance). D. Not be admitted to an institution as a patient for tuberculosis or mental disease, unless the person is a child and receiving “under 21” psychiatric care under Medicaid benefits. E. Not be in the custody of or confined in a county, state, or federal correction facility or institution as an inmate, which is one who is confined or serving time imposed by a court, except as a patient in a public medical institution. Those considered to not be an inmate also include, but are not limited to, those on a work release or court monitoring system. F. Not be a temporary resident or non-citizen in one of the following situations: 1. Non-citizens with no status verification from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS); 2. Non-citizens granted a specific voluntary departure date; 3. Non-citizens applying for a status; or, 4. Citizens of foreign nations residing temporarily in the United States on the basis of visas issued to permit employment, education, or a visit.