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share a household with the mother s sister and the sister s TANF children. Also, separate applications should be made when a parent of children by a prior union is married to a parent with children by a previous union and there is no common child. In determining the number of budget groups when an adopted child(ren) is involved, the worker will use the legal relationship of the individuals to be in the budget(s). For example, a grandmother has legally adopted one of two children born to her daughter. Both the grandmother and the mother who are living in the same house may have a separate TANF case, each case including the legal parent and their legal child. The two blood-related former siblings now have an aunt/uncle-niece/nephew legal relationship and are not required to be in the same budget. The biological mother of the adopted child legally becomes the child s sister. NOTE: Refer to Chapter 3, Deprivation, and note that a biological parent of a child who has been adopted by another family member may be considered a relative within the specified degree of relationship if the child for some reason returns to the home of the biological parent. This does not alleviate the legal responsibility of that adoptive parent. Establishing relationship may be more difficult if the child s original birth certificate is in the sealed adoption record, but many adoptions can be attested to by other family members, neighbors, etc. The county should ask the regional director for assistance when a problem arises in such cases. When two sets of children live in one household and there are also other children for whom both parents in the home are responsible, make: 1. One application if one of the legal parents is incapacitated or deprivation is based on unemployment (UP). For example, a mother has children by a prior union and a stepfather has children by a prior union. These parents also have a common child or children of their own living in the home, and one of the parents is incapacitated or meets the TANF-UP criteria. NOTE: Remember the parents of such a child by the current union do not have to be legally married. Obtain an admission of paternity as for any other TANF case. See Chapter 3, Unemployed Parent (TANF-UP). 2. Separate applications for each parent and his or her own children when there is no incapacity or no deprivation due to unemployment of either parent, making the child or children of this current union technically ineligible for assistance.

MISSISSIPPI [BUDGETARY PROCESS: GENERAL PRINCIPLES]

6011 Volume III | Chapter 6Revised 12-01-17

INCOME TO BE TESTED Individuals and Types Income to be included in the gross need standard test consists of all gross income of individuals required to be in the assistance unit. This includes the income of any such individual living in the home who is omitted from the budget as a sanctioned (coded DI) or disqualified (coded DF)