108.92 Abuser in the Household

Victims /survivors may sometimes be unable to safely leave or keep the abuser out of the household. Caseworkers may from time to time get questions from victims /survivors or from agencies that serve them about how domestic violence is handled if the abuser is in the household. The following may help:

The fact that the abuser is in the household does not change the victim /survivor's right to claim good cause, receive Time-Out or receive Extended TANF based upon domestic violence. If the abuser is a part of the mandatory budget group, the abuser must be included, but the abuser’s noncompliance with program requirements cannot make the household ineligible if there is domestic violence.

Do not discuss domestic violence issues in the presence of the abuser or inform the abuser of any disclosure of domestic violence. Whenever an abuser who is part of a budget group requests access to the DHS case file and domestic violence has been disclosed, the CAO shall consult the DHS Office of General Counsel to ensure that location information and domestic violence disclosures are removed from the file.

Do not require the victim to get a Protection from Abuse Order (PFA).

The abuser must comply with the eligibility requirements of the cash assistance program and may not claim good cause based on domestic violence that they perpetrated.

Example: An abuser in a TANF household must comply with TANF RESET requirements based on the length of time the abuser has received TANF assistance, unless the abuser is exempt or has good cause based on reasons other than domestic violence for not participating with RESET. If the abuser fails to comply with a program requirement, the abuser can be individually sanctioned, but the rest of the household cannot be sanctioned as a result of the abuser’s noncompliance.

For Extended TANF, a family may be eligible for cash assistance benefits based on domestic violence if there is an adult head of household or spouse of head of household who has exhausted 1830 TANF days and the family includes an adult or other family member who was a victim /survivor of domestic violence, is currently experiencing domestic violence or is at risk of further violence. An abuser who is a mandatory member of the budget group in Extended TANF may not claim good cause for domestic violence and will be required to comply with RESET requirements based on the abuser’s TANF assistance day count.

55 Pa. Code §141.53(c)