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[ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION PROCESS:

7303 Volume III | Chapter 7

MISSISSIPPI ∙ Ability to establish and maintain a constructive relationship with the family and with county staff; and ∙ Good character and reliability. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PROTECTIVE PAYEE Such a payee has certain responsibilities to the family and to the Department, as follows: 1. To the TANF family, he has the responsibility of talking over with the grantee relative the choices possible in the use of the TANF benefit, though he has the final decisions as to how it shall be spent. He may actually spend the TANF benefit for the family, though preferably he will assist the grantee relative in making decisions about how to do so.

PROTECTIVE AND VENDOR PAYMENTS]

Revised 08-01-06

2. Also the payee must consult frequently with the relative on problems of household budgeting and home management, and do so with the purpose of increasing the relative's knowledge and skills so that eventually the relative can assume this duty. 3. The payee's responsibility to the Department is formalized when the payee, recipient and worker sign form MDHS-EA-314, Agreement Between Mississippi Department of Human Services and Protective Payee, in which his duties are listed. For detailed instructions on the completion of this form, see the Generic Forms Manual. The protective payee and the county staff member must share the responsibility for the planning of the use of the TANF benefit and for evaluating the services of the payee to determine whether the grantee relative is benefitting by the plan. 4. The payee must understand the regulations on confidential information and must observe them. The county worker will also be governed by these principles and will give the payee only that information which will enable him to carry out his duties. That is, the worker must outline for the protective payee information that bears on the problems of money management, including strengths of the grantee relative and family relationships, but will not release any information to the payee that does not relate to the problem with which the protective payee will work.