3.606.6 Time Limits and Extensions A.

Time Limits Each month for which a basic cash assistance grant is received shall be counted toward the time limits of adult members who are part of the assistance unit regardless of whether or not the adult is eligible to receive assistance. Any assistance unit containing an adult may receive Federal TANF grant payments for up to sixty (60) cumulative months. B. Time Limits and Sanction Periods Months in which a partial Colorado Works payment was made due to a sanction shall be counted toward the time limit. C. Extensions An assistance unit containing an individual who has received Federal TANF assistance in Colorado or another state as an adult for sixty (60) or more cumulative months shall not be eligible for Colorado Works assistance in Colorado unless the household demonstrates good cause as defined in section 3.601 and outlined in 3.608.3. The county department must reference criteria in the state prescribed extension determination form to approve or deny an extension request for a client who is requesting to receive TANF beyond sixty (60) months. Assistance units that contain disqualified members shall not be eligible for consideration of an extension. 1. The State Department shall send a notification to clients who are approaching the sixty (60) month time limit on Federal TANF assistance. The county department shall make all reasonable efforts to contact these clients by phone or in person to explain the extension process and to accept a request for an extension. 2. All clients shall have the opportunity to request an extension. Requests for an extension of Colorado Works shall be made in the county of residence and may be made electronically, in person, by phone, or in writing. County departments must enter the client’s request, and the good cause reason for the extension request, into CBMS within ten (10) calendar days. 3. The county department shall have (30) calendar days after the receipt of a request for an extension to make a decision whether to grant or deny the extension in accordance with the criteria in the state prescribed form. The county shall send a notice to the client concerning the decision by the thirtieth (30th)) calendar day of receiving the request. 4. If the request for an extension is denied, the notice shall include the reason for the denial and the right to appeal the decision per Section 3.609.6. A client who has been granted an extension may request an additional extension prior to the end of the current extension period. If a timely request is not made, the county department may grant an extension if the client is able to demonstrate good cause. Good cause shall be determined by the county department and cannot be appealed. 5. An extension may be granted for up to six (6) months. A client who has been granted an extension may request additional extensions, but the request must be made prior to the end of the current extension period. 6. Nothing in these rules shall be construed to prohibit a former client from requesting a hardship or domestic violence extension, after the lapse of the sixty (60) month lifetime limit, when new hardship or domestic violence factors occur, to the extent permissible under State and federal law. 7. The client receiving an extension shall meet with the county worker on a regular basis to address specific needs and to identify assistance in an Individualized Plan. D. Hardship A household may be considered to be experiencing a hardship if one or more of the following prevents the adult member(s) of the assistance unit from securing or maintaining employment: 1. Disability of the caretaker, his or her spouse, the dependent child(ren) or immediate relative for whom the caretaker is the primary caregiver, pursuant to the definition of “persons with disabilities” at Section 3.604.3; or, 2. Involvement in the judicial system because a member of the assistance unit has an existing case; or, 3. Family instability which may include a caretaker with the proven inability to maintain stable employment or inability of the caretaker to care for the children in his or her own home or in the home of a relative; or, 4. Inadequate or unavailable: a. Child care, b. Housing, c. Transportation, d. Employment opportunities, or, e. Other hardship reasons listed on the state prescribed extension determination form. E. Hardship Due to Domestic Violence Domestic violence extension may be granted when domestic violence problems, as defined at Section 3.604.5 prevent the adult member(s) from participating in work activities or securing employment. F. Exemptions From the 60-Month Time Limit Any month of receipt of assistance by an adult while living in Indian Country, or a Native Alaskan village where at least fifty percent (50%) of the adults were not employed, shall not be counted toward the sixty (60) cumulative months of Federal TANF assistance. Indian Country is defined in 18 U.S.C. Section 1151. G. Twenty Percent (20%) Allocation of Extensions Up to twenty percent (20%) of the Statewide caseload receiving Colorado Works may be granted an extension beyond the sixty (60) month time limit due to hardship or domestic violence. At any point that records indicate that the State will exceed the twenty percent (20%) maximum on the number of Colorado Works extensions granted to assistance units, the State shall determine if this is due to the provision of federally recognized good cause domestic violence waivers. If the records support this determination, as allowed by federal law, the State shall provide information to the federal government to demonstrate that the reason for exceeding the twenty percent (20%) maximum was due to granting federally recognized good cause domestic violence waivers. The State Department has the sole responsibility of monitoring this federal limit. County departments are not restricted to a certain number of extensions unless the Statewide limit is reached.