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West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Chapter 3
West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Page 43 Chapter 3 Eligibility Determination Groups
may choose to include him in the AG. A separate case is not established for the child(ren). Once the choice is made about whether to include the individual in the AG, the decision is binding until the next annual, full-scale redetermination, regardless of changes in the circumstances of the caretaker relative or the child(ren). This must be explained to the caretaker relative at each application and each redetermination. When the case is closed and reopened before completion of a full-scale redetermination, the last decision is binding until one year from the date the last decision was made. Each decision must be made using the WV WORKS Caretaker Relative Option form (DFA-WVW-10). Refusal or other failure to choose by completing the form results in ineligibility only for the caretaker relative for at least 12 months. Eligibility continues to be denied beyond 12 months, for as long as the caretaker fails to choose. Caretaker Relative Example: Aster applies for WV WORKS for her five-year-old niece. Aster works and is not applying for her own two children. The case is approved effective February for the niece only; Aster chooses not to be included in the payment. In May, Aster loses her job and applies for WV WORKS for her own children. She is required to be included in the WV WORKS payment for her own children. She and her two children are added to the case for the niece, effective June, and they all receive WV WORKS until September, when Aster finds another job. At that time, Aster and the children are removed from the AG and she continues to receive a payment for the niece only. 3.4.1.D Treatment of the Minor Parent (mp) in the AG 3.4.1.D.1 Unemancipated Minor Parent (mp) When the mp is unemancipated, a referral to the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement (BCSE) is required to pursue child support from the Major Parent (MP)(s). The WV WORKS benefit must be made payable to an MP or other adult with whom the mp lives or who supervises the living situation of the mp. ➢ Unemancipated mp Lives with MP(s) When an unemancipated mp lives with MP(s), the mp must be included in the AG with: