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WHO MAY FILE AN APPLICATION 1.6

Head of Household 1.6.1 ALL Generally, the head of the group (the primary informant (PI)) files the application for benefits and is the person to whom the Department directs correspondence and notices. The head of the group must sign the application and is responsible for the validity of the information provided on the application. The three exceptions to this are: • the case of the authorized representative for FS (see Section 1.6.2: Filing an Application/Accessing Benefits on Behalf of an Individual or Group in this Chapter); • the case of a protective payee for TANF (see Section 11.3: Protective Payments in Part VIII; and • the case in which a Medicaid applicant is unable to file the application on his/her own behalf. MA In cases in which a child is receiving MA, the head of household is the parent or caretaker of the child (regardless of whether the parent or caretaker is receiving MA for him/herself). In the case of a two-parent family, either parent may be designated as the head. In cases in which no child is receiving MA, an adult recipient is designated as the head of the unit. A child under the age of 21 may be the head of household if they are a pregnant, parenting, or an emancipated minor. TANF A parent or caretaker relative of the child(ren) receiving TANF must be designated as the head of the household. The caretaker relative is designated as the head even if s/he is not included in the grant. In the case of an eligible two-parent family, the principal wage earner (see below for definition) shall be designated as head of household. In cases in which both parents meet the principal wage earner test, the household may choose who is to be designated as the head of household. The Principal Wage Earner (PWE) is the parent who earned the greater amount of money during the 24-month period preceding the month of application or transfer from another deprivation factor. The SSR should not consider any circumstance (such as whether the parents lived together during the entire period) except the amount each one earned during the period. If both parents earned an identical amount during the 24-month period, the SSR should designate the PWE according to the choice of the parents. The parent who is the PWE at application remains the PWE for as long as the family receives TANF. A minor parent can be the head of a unit only if the following two conditions are met: • The minor's parent's parent or caretaker relative is not already receiving TANF and is not requesting TANF for him/herself; and • The minor parent does not live with a sibling who is receiving TANF If the minor parent's parent or caretaker relative is receiving TANF or requests TANF for him/herself, the minor parent must be included in the same group as his/her parent or caretaker relative (see Section 1.11: Multiple Generations in the Home in Part IV). Similarly, if the minor parent lives with a sibling also receiving TANF, the minor parent and his/her children must be included in the same group with the minor parent's sibling (and any children s/he may have). GC The adult in the household that exercises parental control over the child receiving GC must be designated as the head of the unit.