340:10-7-1 Residence

(a) Residency requirement. A person must be an Oklahoma resident to receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). A person's statement that he or she is an Oklahoma resident and is not residing in Oklahoma for a temporary purpose is sufficient when consistent with other known facts. When the statement is inconsistent with other known facts, further substantiation is necessary. (1) Once residency is established, a person does not lose Oklahoma residency status when he or she: (A) is removed from Oklahoma against his or her will and held in another state, for example, when the person is sent to a federal prison; or (B) goes out-of-state to look for a job or to attend school. (2) When an applicant lived in another state or states at any time before applying for TANF in Oklahoma, the worker must contact the other state(s) to determine how many months, if any, the applicant received TANF and if cash assistance is currently open. (A) When TANF is open in the other state, the closure date is coordinated between states to ensure the applicant does not receive TANF cash assistance in Oklahoma and the other state for the same month. (B) When the applicant already received 60 months of TANF cash assistance, TANF is not approved in Oklahoma unless a hardship extension is approved, per Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:10-3-56(a)(2)(E). (b) Homeless persons. A TANF applicant or recipient is not required to have a fixed address to be eligible for TANF. A TANF applicant or recipient who lacks a fixed or regular residence or lives in temporary accommodations is considered homeless. When a person is homeless and does not have a mailing address and cannot receive mail at another person's address, the county office address may be used. (c) Continuous residence. Continuous residence is established when the case record and contact with the person show no evidence of absence from Oklahoma. (d) Temporary residence. For TANF eligibility purposes, a person is considered an Oklahoma resident when he or she plans to reside in Oklahoma temporarily because of a job commitment or to seek employment, as long as the person does not receive cash assistance from another state. This includes migrant and itinerant workers who maintain a homestead in another state. A person traveling through the state or visiting relatives in this state is not considered a resident. (e) Out-of-state visits. When a TANF assistance unit member(s) temporarily leaves the state for a purpose described in OAC 340:10-3-56(b) and intends to return to Oklahoma when the purpose of the absence is accomplished, it does not interrupt Oklahoma residence. The recipient is responsible for informing the worker which assistance unit member(s) plans to visit out-of-state, for what purpose, and the planned departure and return dates. (1) When a TANF assistance unit member(s) is temporarily absent from the state, he or she may continue to be included in the assistance unit for at least three months unless circumstances unrelated to the temporary absence occur, the purpose of the absence is accomplished, or a longer period of absence is permitted, per OAC 340:10-3-56(b). The person is considered an Oklahoma resident until there is substantial factual evidence he or she chose to establish residence in another state. (2) When the TANF Work participant is the person that temporarily leaves the state and does not participate in TANF Work activities during the absence, he or she may be sanctioned, per OAC 340:10-2-2, unless a good cause reason exists. (3) When a recipient applies for cash assistance in another state and is determined eligible by that state, the closure effective date in Oklahoma is coordinated with the effective certification date in the other state, to ensure there is no interruption in the assistance payment or duplication of benefits.