Page 382

provided. The Indian agency may continue to provide a supplement to the family. Consider this payment as one received from another relief-giving agency and totally disregard as income. However, the semi-annual cash payment usually distributed in July and December is not excluded. This income will be averaged over the period it is

Volume III | Chapter 4

intended to cover, i.e. 5 or 7 months, and counted as unearned income in the budget. NOTE: TANF adult recipients who reside on or near the Reservation who do not meet a work exemption are referred to the Native Employment Works (NEW) Program. See the provisions for this program in Chapter 3, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and Chapter 8, Exclusions. 2. Since a child 18 years of age or older cannot be included in the TANF money payment grant, the Choctaw Indian Agency may assist such child provided he remains in school. 3. Children who are in boarding schools in other states will have their needs met by the schools and will not be eligible for TANF while in these schools. If an Indian child is attending a boarding school in Mississippi, see Chapter 3, Living With Grantee Relative, Educational Training. 4. When a TANF redetermination results in a change in the grant, the county department will send to the Choctaw Indian Agency a copy of the notice sent to the client and a copy of the budget. NOTE: In order to prevent duplicate payments, TANF approvals and change authorizations should be completed as soon as possible and sent to the Tribal Office early in the month. INCOME FOR REHABILITATION PURPOSES The purpose of financial assistance provided by a vocational rehabilitation agency is to obtain retraining for work, and thus serves a different purpose than TANF. Therefore, these allowances are not considered a duplication of assistance and do not have to be entered in the budget except as specified below after a stated period of time. Allowances which the rehabilitation agency makes are usually for room, board, clothing, personal incidentals and sometime include funds for books, tuition, fees, and transportation. A portion of the TANF grant is usually considered when determining the amount to be allowed. The worker will ask the counselor to state the amount which the other agency is providing and the purpose for which it is intended. The different plans which the rehabilitation agency makes are discussed below. Sheltered Workshops The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation has established a number of sheltered workshops throughout the State. Goodwill Industries has one in Jackson, and work activity centers for mentally retarded adults have been established under the Mental Health Program. For the first six months, a person training in one of these workshops is considered to be in training, even though he

4211 MISSISSIPPI [ INCOME: UNEARNED INCOME ]

Revised 10 - 01 - 14