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COMBINED MANUAL

ISSUE DATE 09/2016

DWP BASES OF ELIGIBILITY

0013.05

family unit with an asylee caregiver who is approved for asylee status within 12 months of applying for family cash assistance.

12. A family unit with a caregiver who is unlikely to benefit from DWP. See 008.06.24 (DWP Conversion or Referral to MFIP).

13. A family unit applying for or participating with Tribal TANF Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe or Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians. See 0029.06.24.03 (Tribal TANF-Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe), 0029.06.24.06 (Tribal TANF – Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians).

A 2-PARENT FAMILY UNIT MUST PARTICIPATE IN DWP UNLESS THE UNIT MEETS 1 OF THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS

● A 2-parent family unit that includes a child under 12 months (with no other DWP exclusion reason) must participate in DWP. One parent may claim the ES exemption for the care of a child under 12 months if, between them, they have not used the entire 12 months lifetime ES exemption while previously on MFIP or DWP.

OR ● Each parent meets 1 of the exception criteria in 3 through 6.

OR ● 1 or both parents meet 1 of the exception criteria in 7 through 12.

Determine eligibility for MFIP for any applicant unit that meets the criteria in 1 through 12. When a new caregiver who meets 1 of the criteria in items 6 through 12 joins the unit, convert the case to MFIP. See 0008.06.24 (DWP Conversion or Referral to MFIP).

NOTE: Unless a unit meets criteria to be converted to MFIP, a unit is ineligible for MFIP any month of the 4-month DWP period.

DWP participants must meet the 30-day residency requirement (or qualify for a hardship exception) before issuing any benefits. See 0011.06.09 (State Residence - 30-Day Requirement).

Eligibility for DWP is limited to 4 consecutive months in a 12-month period. The 4-month DWP period is a fixed period of time. It includes the initial month of eligibility (which may be a partial month because the initial month’s benefits are prorated based on the date of application) plus the following 3 calendar months. The 4-month DWP period is not affected by a break in receipt of benefits for any reason.

If a participant leaves DWP and reapplies for cash within the consecutive 4-month period, whether in the same county or a different county, determine eligibility for DWP. If the person reapplies after the DWP consecutive 4-month period but within the 12-month period of ineligibility for DWP, the unit is eligible for MFIP if all MFIP eligibility criteria are met.

MAXIS will track the 4 consecutive months of DWP and will autoclose the case for the 5th month and issue a DAIL message.

For applicants who were on MFIP, the 12-month period begins the month after the MFIP case was closed. See items 6 and 7 above. A 2-parent family is not eligible for DWP if either of the 2 parents has received MFIP or DWP assistance within the above time periods.

NOTE: For the purpose of determining if an applicant has been on MFIP in the last 12 months, a suspended or food portion only MFIP month counts as a month in which the participant received MFIP. For DWP, all 4 months of the 4-month consecutive period of eligibility count as DWP months, even if no benefits were issued. See 0008.06.06 (Adding a Person to the Unit – Cash).