340:10-3-31.1 Earned income disregard

(a) A Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipient may be eligible to receive an earned income disregard (EID) when conditions described in (1) through (3) of this subsection are met. When applied, the EID excludes all earned income from consideration against the cash assistance payment for up to three consecutive months. The recipient is eligible for one EID period per rolling 12-month period. (1) Applicants and individuals not included in the cash assistance unit are not eligible for an EID. (2) The combined monthly earned income of all TANF cash assistance unit members must not exceed $2,064. (3) Before applying the EID, the worker first subtracts all applicable earned income exemptions per Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:10-3-33 from the payment standard to determine if the individual remains eligible for TANF. (A) Refer to Schedule IX on the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) Appendix C-1, Schedule of Maximum Income, Resource, and Payment Standards for the TANF payment standard. (B) When the recipient remains eligible, the assistance unit is not eligible for an EID period. (C) When the client is eligible for an EID period, the worker and client update and sign Form 08TW002E, TANF Work/Personal Responsibility Agreement, to include the client's place of employment and scheduled hours. (b) When child care is needed during the EID period, the child remains predetermined eligible with a zero family share copayment per OAC 340:40-7-1. (c) When the client loses his or her job during the EID period, the worker removes the earned income and the EID for the next non-advance notice effective date per Appendix B-2, Deadlines for Case Actions. (1) Unless the client begins new employment within 10-business days of losing the first job, he or she is not eligible for the remainder of the EID period. (2) The worker and client update and sign Form 08TW002E indicating the client's agreed upon TANF work activities. (3) When child care is open and the client begins participating in a TANF Work activity, the worker adjusts the child care plan hours to meet the needs of the new activity when increased plan hours are needed. Per OAC 340:40-5-1(3)(D), child care plan hours are not decreased until the child care renewal is due. (4) When child care is open and the client does not begin participating in a TANF Work activity, child care is extended for 90-calendar days per OAC 340:40-7-8 and 340:40-9-2(f)(4). (d) When the client remains employed for the entire EID period, an automated process closes the TANF benefit for the next negative action effective date per Appendix B-2. (1) When Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food benefits are open, refer to OAC 340:50-11-27 and DHS Appendix C-3, Maximum Food Benefit Allotments and Standards for Income and Deductions, to determine continued eligibility. (2) The client remains eligible for SoonerCare (Medicaid) per OAC 340:10-3-75. (3) When child care subsidy benefits are open the worker determines if the participant's child care renewal is due per OAC 340:40-9-1. When the child care renewal is: (A) due, the worker considers the participant's earnings in determining continued eligibility and family share copayment amount per DHS Appendix C-4, Child Care Eligibility/Copayment Chart; or (B) not due, the participant's family share copayment does not increase until the renewal is due per OAC 340:40-5-1(9).