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302.8 TANF MANUAL 7/19 Page 6

When the household consists of a married couple who each have a child(ren) of their own by a previous relationship and both parents request assistance for their child(ren), there will be one assistance unit with two caretakers. In the event there is a child(ren) born to the union of this couple, that child(ren) must be included in the assistance unit.

When a household consists of a couple cohabiting, each who have a child(ren) by previous relationships, there will be two separate assistance units. Should they have a child together, for whom paternity has been established or an adoption has been finalized, the child must be included in the assistance unit. The units must be merged as the new child is a sibling to both sets of children.

Note: When the woman is married to another man at the time of this child’s birth, both of the men will be referred to DCSE. The man to whom she is married is the legal father and is considered the child’s father until a court has determined that he is not. After the court has excluded the husband as the father, DCSE can proceed to determine the paternity status of the man named by the mother. The units must not be merged until paternity has been established by the court for the child in common.

When the household consists of a caretaker, his/her child(ren), and a child who is biologically related to the caretaker but has been adopted by someone other than the caretaker, there will be two separate assistance units. In order for the caretaker to receive assistance for the child who has been adopted, the child's adoptive parents cannot be in the home.

The requirement in 302.7 that all siblings of a child for whom assistance is requested must be included in the assistance unit applies to the multiple group households also.

Example: A grandmother has two grandchildren who are siblings and a niece living with her. She states she needs assistance for one of the grandchildren. Because the children are siblings, however, application must be made for both of them. The niece is not required to be part of the assistance unit.

If the grandmother requests assistance for the niece, however, the niece will be included in the same AU provided she meets the eligibility requirements. If the niece has income, that income will be counted in determining eligibility for the entire TANF AU.

Only one AU can be established for the two groups of children because the grandmother does not have legal responsibility for any of the children.

TANF Transmittal 66