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MISSISSIPPI [ NON - FINANCIAL CRITERIA: DEPRIVATION]

When the legal parent of a child is imprisoned, this usually results in an interruption in his function of providing care and support for the children. When this occurs, verify imprisonment by checking the court record to ascertain the date of conviction and the term of the sentence if possible. Otherwise, write the prison in which the parent is incarcerated. When the imprisonment is long term, consider deprivation due to continued absence. When the imprisonment is short term or a sentence is being served on a week-end arrangement, determine whether or not the parental functions of care, supervision, and support are interrupted. Individuals who are imprisoned are not eligible for TANF money payment when the incarceration period is expected to be a month or more. When this situation becomes known, a new caretaker relative must be determined.

MISSISSIPPI [NON-FINANCIAL CRITERIA: DEPRIVATION]

Volume III | Chapter 3 Revised 07-01-19 In situations in which the parent is allowed to serve the sentence on week-ends, or other arrangements in which he is in and out of the home but is providing economic support, the children cannot be considered deprived for this reason. NOTE: This is not the same situation as the one that is discussed directly below. See Chapter 3, Living with Caretaker Relative - Temporary Separations, for further information. Court Sentenced to Unpaid Work A child or children will be considered deprived of parental support and care by reason of continued absence when: 1. A parent has been convicted of an offense and is under sentence of a court, and 2. The sentence requires, and the parent is performing, unpaid public work or unpaid community service during working hours, and 3. The parent is permitted by the court to live at home while serving the sentence because of crowded jail conditions or for other reasons in the public interest. Because other reasons for deprivation due to continued absence mean that the parent is physically absent from the home, the worker will apply the following procedures in handling TANF cases based on absence while the parent is physically present in the home. These are: