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12 the funds are not used for any other purpose. Funds withdrawn for reasons other than paying tuition at a two-year or four-year accredited post-secondary educational institution will result in the full amount of funds in the account prior to the withdrawal being countable toward the public assistance household’s resource limit beginning on the first day of the month of the withdrawal; xii. Funds in a qualified tuition program that satisfies the requirement of section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and xiii. Funds in a New York Achieving a Better Life Experience Savings Account established in accordance with article 84 of the mental hygiene law. 11. The standard of need for determining eligibility and the amount of assistance is outlined in Attachment E. The Earned Income Disregard (EID), if applicable, is applied in calculating eligibility and the amount of assistance for recipients first and then the $150 work disregard is applied, regardless of family size. As of June 2023 the percentage of earnings that will be disregarded is set at 62%, but this amount is adjusted annually to reflect revised Poverty Level Guidelines issued by the United States Bureau of the Census. In order to qualify for the EID in the month of application, a working applicant must have received public assistance in one of the previous four months, or the working applicant must be eligible for public assistance without the earned income disregard. The amount of assistance is the standard of need less any income which is not disregarded. The disregard is available from earned income only until gross earned and unearned income equals the poverty level. In addition, the State does not intend to treat families moving from another State differently from other families under the program. 12. Beginning Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) ’24 and following, TANF recipients who enter unsubsidized employment are eligible to have 100% of their earned income disregarded for calculating eligibility and amount of assistance for a period of up to six consecutive months following job entry, provided that the recipient's resulting total income is not more than 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. This disregard is limited once per lifetime of each recipient. 13. Beginning FFY ’24 and following, all of the earned income a TANF recipient derives from participation in a qualified work activity or training program as determined by the OTDA, is exempt and must be disregarded as income for calculating eligibility and amount of assistance, provided the recipient's resulting total income is not more than 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. 14. The relationship of the caretaker to the child shall be documented. At a minimum, documentation must include the applicant’s declaration of the relationship on the application plus a third-party statement attesting to the relationship. The caretaker must cooperate with any attempt by the State to secure additional documentation of relationship. 15. Intentional program violations will result in sanctions based on the number of previous offenses and the dollar value of the offense as follows:
6 Months Disqualification • first offense, and • offense is less than $1,000