129.4 Unemployment

The CAO must consider a child deprived based on unemployment if:

The child lives with both parents

Neither parent is exempt from participating in work or work-related activity

One or both parents meet the requirements to be considered unemployed

Note: A non-eligible parent can be the parent who meets the criteria to be considered unemployed. Only one eligible parent is required.

A child is considered deprived based on unemployment regardless of the work history of either parent. A child is considered deprived based on unemployment if:

Both parents have no work or

One or both parents:

Have work in which the net earned income of the budget group, after allowable deductions, is less than the Family Size Allowance ( FSA ) for the budget group

Have “on the job training” in a project that is approved or recommended by the Job Service or the RESET program

NOTE: There is no deprivation due to unemployment in joint custody situations since Federal regulations require that both parents must live in the same home as the child.

Examples:

Bill and Amy are the unmarried, biological parents of 4-year-old Matt. Paternity has been established for Matt. Amy also has a 6-year-old daughter, Susie, from a prior relationship. Amy has never worked. Bill works a full-time job for 40 hours per week at $9.50 per hour. Bill grosses $1,520 per month. No member of the household is incapacitated. Amy applies for TANF for Susie and herself.

Susie is 6 years old, and resides in mother 's household , and the other parent is absent. Susie is considered a TANF child. Matt must also be evaluated for TANF because Susie and Matt are half-siblings. Matt is not considered deprived since both of Matt's parents are in the household, neither is incapacitated, and Matt's father’s earned income (after allowable deductions) is greater than the FSA for a 4-person budget group. Amy and Susie are eligible for TANF in the C category. Bill and Matt are ineligible for TANF.

NOTE: If Bill received $325 per week in Unemployment Compensation (UC), Bill would be considered unemployed and Matt would be considered a TANF child. Since the monthly income of $1,300 is greater than the FSA for 4 people, the family is ineligible for TANF. If the net income of the family, including UC, is less than the FSA for the family size, the family would be eligible for TANF.

Kevin and Jan are the unmarried biological parents of Morgan, age 3. Paternity has been established. Jan also has a child , Toby, age 7 from a prior relationship. No support is paid. Jan and Kevin have no disabilities and Jan has no income. Kevin was working full time but Kevin’s hours were reduced due to lack of work. Kevin now works part time 10 hours per week at $8.50 per hour and collects partial UC of $215 per week. Jan applies for cash benefits for Toby and self.

Toby is a TANF child because Toby is 7 years old, lives with a parent , and the other parent is absent. Morgan is Toby’s half- sibling and must be included in the cash application if Morgan is a TANF child. For Morgan to be considered deprived based on unemployment, the net earned income of the family must be less than the FSA for four people. The net earned income of this family is $340. Since the family’s net earned income is less than the FSA for a family of four, Morgan is considered deprived and a TANF child. The total net income for the family is $340 earned income plus $860 unearned income totaling $1,200. The family is ineligible for cash assistance. Jan and Toby may be eligible for TANF due to the absence of Toby’s other parent .

Jim and Kim are the unmarried, biological parents of 3-three-old John. Paternity has been established for John. Kim also has a 7-year-old child , Julie, from a previous relationship. Kim has never worked. Jim just started a job 3 weeks ago. Jim works part-time on an irregular schedule and earns an average of $200 a month. Neither adult is incapacitated. Kim applies for TANF for self and Julie and.

Julie meets the non-financial eligibility requirements because Julie is a minor dependent child with an absent parent . Julie's half- sibling , John, must also be evaluated for TANF. John meets the non-financial requirements for TANF because John is a minor dependent child who lives with both parents and is deprived due to the underemployment of one parent. Net earned income is under the FSA for four persons. The family is a TANF U case with Jim and Kim coded ES. Julie and John are coded EC. Julie has a deprivation code of 02 (absent parent) and John has a deprivation code of 25 (unemployment).

Jason and Beth are the parents of Lisa, age 3, and Kenny, age 2. Neither Jason nor Beth has ever been employed. Jason applies for TANF for the entire 4-person family.

The entire family meets the non-financial requirements for TANF because both children are under 18 years of age, live with their biological parents and are deprived based on the unemployment of their parents. The family is a TANF U case with Jason and Beth coded ES. Lisa and Kenny are coded EC.

NOTE: If one or both parents had a physical or mental disability, the category for the budget group would be C.