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For other states, contact the CSED for guidelines on how paternity is established.

CARETAKER 5.6 MA AR: In order to be eligible for MA as a caretaker of a child, the adult must be responsible for the day-to-day care of the child. This includes physical care, supervision, and making decisions about the child. The SSR should consider a parent in the home to be the caretaker of the child unless: • the parent states that another relative is the principal caretaker, • another relative presents convincing evidence that s/he is the actual caretaker, or • the parent states that the child is independent, and the child is: o married, or o previously lived apart from the parent and received TANF as a caretaker during that time. A person retains caretaker status if the child and caretaker live together even if the child is: • under the jurisdiction of a court (such as on probation or under protective supervision), or • in the legal custody of an agency. AX: See AR. SR: N/A QM: N/A TANF See AR, except the caretaker, must be related within a specified degree of relationship.

STEP-PARENTS 5.7 MA AR: Step-parents can, at their option, be included in an AR group with their step-children. If they choose to be out of the unit, and the stepparent's spouse is included in the unit, the stepparent's income is deemed to the group. If the step-parent chooses not to be in the group, and the stepparent's spouse also chooses not to be in the group, no income is deemed from the step-parent to the children in the group. AX: See AR SR: N/A QM: N/A TANF When a step-parent is in the home, and the parent and step-parent have no children in common, both the step-parent and the parent are out of the unit and the child receives a child-only grant. In this circumstance, no income is deemed from the step-parent to the group. If the step-parent is in the home but the parent is not, the step-parent can be in the unit with his/her step-children or choose to be out of the unit at his/her option. In this situation, the step-parent is treated as any other caretaker relative.