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14 North Carolina

11. Undocumented immigrants are not eligible to receive Work First. North Carolina elects to aid all optional non-citizen populations allowable under federal law.

12. A family cap on assistance is in effect. This means a family’s Work First Cash Assistance payment will not increase when a child is born ten (10) months after a month in which a parent received Work First Cash Assistance. There are some exceptions to the family cap rule, as follows:

• A child who is the firstborn (including all children of a multiple birth) of a minor who is a dependent child. • A child who is conceived as a result of verifiable rape, sexual assault, or incest. • A child for whom parental custody has been legally transferred to someone other than the parent. • A child no longer able to live with their parent due to the parent’s death, the parent’s incapacity or disability, or the parent’s incarceration or institutionalization if expected to last at least three months. • A child who is the only child in the family unit.

13. Minor parents (under age 18), unless emancipated, must meet special requirements:

• They must stay in school to complete their high school education, or its equivalent. When a minor parent has not completed high school or has not received a GED, or is suspended or expelled from school, the minor parent must participate in an appropriate educational, training, or other work activity. • They must live with a parent or in another adult-supervised setting approved by the county director or the director’s designee. Payments will be made to an adult as a protective payee, and not to the minor parent.

14. There is a five-year, lifetime limit on receipt of federal TANF assistance. Unless a hardship exemption is granted, a family is not eligible for Work First Cash Assistance if it contains an adult who has received Work First Cash Assistance in North Carolina and/or TANF assistance from another state for 60 cumulative months. The five-year lifetime time limit began in North Carolina on January 1, 1997.

A family may request a hardship exemption if the 60-month time limit has been exhausted. The county social services governing board, or its designee, will determine if an exemption will be granted based on guidelines established by the Department. The board or its designee must determine that:

• Both the family and the agency have made good faith efforts to resolve the problems causing the hardship during the 60 months of receipt of Work First Cash Assistance. • Whether the participant is experiencing hardship as defined in the Work First Manual. Such hardships include, but are not limited to, situations where a family