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BUDGETARY PROCESS:SPECIAL

MISSISSIPPI BUDGETING PROCEDURES

TANF BENEFIT WHEN CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS INVOLVED Child Support Disregard The Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) revised section 457(a)(6) of the Social Security Act to incentivize states to pass through child support to TANF families. Child support collected in any given month on behalf of a TANF assistance unit (AU) that has received or is currently receiving TANF benefits may pass through to the TANF family and shall be disregarded in determining eligibility and the amount of the TANF assistance grant money provided to the TANF AU. MDHS may budget pass-through payments against other benefits provided to the TANF household, such as SNAP. The amount or portion of child support passed through to the TANF AU shall be set by MDHS. Eligibility and Budgeting Child Support When Payee is NOT Included When testing eligibility or budgeting child support income in an active case, the income must be counted in the case even if the payee is not included in the budget. For cases in which the payee is disqualified, receives SSI, or is a non-needy caretaker the child support income should be considered as belonging to the child and coded appropriately in MAVS.

Testing Eligibility of Applicants Who Receive Support When it is determined that the TANF family has support from an absent parent, this income paid to the assistance AU unit will be included in the TANF test budget to determine whether or not this income along with other income of the group leaves a budgetary deficit. This is without regard to

MISSISSIPPI BUDGETARY PROCESS: SPECIAL BUDGETING PROCEDURES

Revised 07-01-0610-01-21 -