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Cash Assistance in Minnesota Minnesota House Research Department Page 3 DHS supervises program administration, and DHS rules govern GA administration in Minnesota. DHS also issues a detailed program manual for county caseworkers, which includes specific eligibility criteria and schedules for determining benefits. The counties administer GA. The county human services agency, with the assistance of the state agency through the MAXIS computer system, determines if an applicant meets the state’s eligibility requirements and determines the amount of assistance. Requirements for State TANF Programs State programs must meet several requirements, described below, in order to receive the federal TANF block grant. First, each state must spend its own resources to provide assistance to needy families. The federal law includes a maintenance of effort (MOE) provision that requires a state to spend a specified percentage of the amount it spent in federal fiscal year 1994 under its old AFDC and related programs, including child care assistance to eligible families. (42 U.S.C. § 609 (a) (7).) States must meet the MOE requirements in order to receive their full block grants. The MOE percentage is set at 75 percent for states that meet the federal work participation requirement, and 80 percent for those that do not. (Minnesota’s MOE percentage is currently set at 75 percent.) Second, each state must use TANF and MOE funds on the four goals of the federal program, which are to: (1) provide assistance to needy families so that children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives; (2) end the dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage; (3) prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies and establish annual numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of these pregnancies; and (4) encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families. (45 C.F.R. § 260.20.) Third, each state must meet federal work participation requirements: a 50 percent work participation requirement for all families and a 90 percent requirement for two-parent families receiving welfare. A work-eligible individual counts as engaged in work for a month for the overall rate if he or she participates in work activities during the month for at least a minimum average of 30 hours per week and at least 20 of those hours per week come from participation in nine core activities.2 A family with two work-eligible parents counts as engaged in work for the month for the two-parent rate if work-eligible parents in the family are participating in work activities for a combined average of at least 35 hours per week during the month and at least 30 of the 35 hours per week come from participation in nine core activities. If the family receives federally funded child care assistance and an adult in the family is not disabled or caring for a severely disabled child, then the work-eligible individuals must participate in work activities for an average of at least 55 hours per week (at least 50 of the 55 hours per week

2 The nine core work activities include: (1) unsubsidized employment; (2) subsidized private sector employment; (3) subsidized public sector employment; (4) work experience, if sufficient private sector employment is not available; (5) on-the-job training; (6) job search and job readiness assistance; (7) community service programs; (8) vocational educational training; and (9) job skills training directly related to employment.