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DEFINITION OF A REFUGEE Applicants who meet certain criteria are eligible for Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) benefits for an eight month period. Applicants for these benefits must provide documentation from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) verifying their refugee status, and must be included in at least one of the following categories in order to receive benefits: • paroled as a refugee or asylee under section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) • admitted as a refugee under section 207 of the INA • granted asylum under section 208 of the INA • certain Cuban and Haitian entrants and certain Amerasians from Vietnam • admitted for permanent residence, provided the individual previously held one of the statuses listed above The most common immigration documents used in verifying refugee status include Form I-551- Resident Alien Card and Conditional Resident Alien Card, Form I-555-Alien Registration Receipt Card, and form I-94 - Arrival-Departure Record. NOTE: Full-time students in institutions of higher learning are not eligible for refugee cash assistance. APPLICATION PROCESS When a refugee requests financial assistance for himself/herself or for a group of minor children for whom he/she is responsible, the MDHS-EA-900 application should be accepted and registered in the usual manner in the county office. Any refugee family group potentially eligible for TANF must be tested for TANF or referred for a determination of eligibility for assistance from other programs. Persons age 65 or older, blind or disabled individuals must be referred to the local Social Security office to apply for SSI benefits (if eligible, these persons may receive refugee cash assistance until eligibility for cash assistance under the SSI program is determined, provided the conditions of eligibility for refugee cash assistance continue to be met). Eligibility for SNAP and/or TANF should be determined before a refugee assistance request is processed. If the individual refugee or refugee family is eligible for any of the regular programs administered through Economic Assistance, benefits should be authorized at the local office and no other action will be required. In some instances, the refugee applicant may be eligible for SNAP, but ineligible for TANF. If so, the SNAP application should be processed as normal by the county office. For processing of

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the request for Refugee Cash Assistance, the county office must submit a copy of the MDHS- EA900 application and copies of all documents verifying refugee status to State Operations/Policy Unit. The policy unit will review the application to determine eligibility for RCA based on need standard requirements for TANF using the MDHS-EA-323. If approved, the refugee household 16000 MISSISSIPPI [ REFUGEE PROGRAM: GENERAL ]

Revised 12 - 01 - 17 07 - 01 - 19