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Vermont Department for Children and Families Economic Services Division Reach Up Services Rules 2300 18

and minor parent shall jointly determine whether any appropriate living arrangement is available. 1. The home of a parent/legal guardian shall be the first option explored.

2. If either the case manager or minor parent does not agree that a parental home is available and appropriate, they shall seek an alternative approved living arrangement.

3. After a decision on the minor parent's living arrangement has been made, the relationship between the minor parent and the parent/legal guardian may be subsequently explored within the context of providing case management services to the minor parent.

b. If the minor parent is participating in an approved substance use treatment program, or a vocational or educational program that would no longer be geographically feasible if the minor parent returned to the parent's/legal guardian's home, the case manager shall help the minor parent find an alternative living arrangement.

2319.2 Unavailability of Approved Living Arrangement (08/01/2024, 23-30)

a. If the case manager and minor parent have been unable to develop an agreed‐upon living arrangement, the Department shall review the case circumstances, determine whether an appropriate living arrangement is available, and, if so, require the minor parent to live in that arrangement.

b. If there is no appropriate living arrangement available, the Department shall determine whether a designated nonresident adult may provide regular support and guidance in an independent living arrangement.

1. If there is no such adult available, the minor parent is exempt from the approved living arrangement requirement.

2319.3 Residence in Unapproved Living Arrangement (08/01/2024, 23-30)

a. If the minor parent is not exempt and does not reside in a living arrangement specified by the Department, the Reach Up household benefits shall be subject to financial sanction (rule 2327).

b. The following circumstances constitute good cause for a minor parent to be exempt from the living arrangement requirement and permitted to live independently:

1. A parent aged 17, who has lived apart from their own parents, legal guardian, or adult relative, and has been independently self‐supporting for a period of at least six months before either the birth of their child or their application for Reach Up benefits; 2. A minor parent resides with their child's other parent, and both parents are age 16 or older; or 3. The Department determines that no appropriate living arrangement is available.

c. Minor parents not living in an approved living arrangement at the time of application, who do not have good cause for living independently, may receive Reach Up benefits for 30 days from the application approval date, if all other eligibility factors are met.

1. During this initial 30‐day period, minor parents will work with their case manager to determine