Subdivision 1.Program characteristics.

(a) Within 30 days of exiting the Minnesota family investment program with earnings, the county must assess eligibility for work participation cash benefits of $25 per month to assist in meeting the family’s basic needs as the participant continues to move toward self-sufficiency. Payment begins effective the first of the month following exit or termination for MFIP participants.

(b) To be eligible for work participation cash benefits, the participant shall not receive MFIP assistance during the month and the participant or participants must meet the following work requirements:

(1) if the participant is a single caregiver and has a child under six years of age, the participant must be employed at least 87 hours per month;

(2) if the participant is a single caregiver and does not have a child under six years of age, the participant must be employed at least 130 hours per month; or

(3) if the household is a two-parent family, at least one of the parents must be employed 130 hours per month.

Whenever a participant is terminated from MFIP and meets the other criteria in this section, work participation cash benefits are available for up to 24 consecutive months.

(c) Expenditures on the program are maintenance of effort state funds under a separate state program for participants under paragraph (b), clauses (1) and (2). Expenditures for participants under paragraph (b), clause (3), are nonmaintenance of effort funds. Months in which a participant receives work participation cash benefits under this section do not count toward the participant’s MFIP 60-month time limit.

[See Note.]

Subd. 2.Program suspension.

(a) Effective December 1, 2014, the work participation cash benefits program shall be suspended.

Terms Used In Minnesota Statutes 256J.621

  • Basic needs: means the minimum personal requirements of subsistence and is restricted to food, clothing, shelter, utilities, and other items for which the loss, or lack of basic needs, is determined by the county agency to pose a direct, immediate threat to the physical health or safety of the applicant or participant. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Caregiver: means a minor child's birth or adoptive parent or parents and stepparent who live in the home with the minor child. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of human services or the commissioner's designated representative. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Department: means the Minnesota Department of Human Services. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Family: includes :

    (1) the following individuals who live together: a minor child or a group of minor children related to each other as siblings, half siblings, stepsiblings, or adoptive siblings, together with their natural, adoptive parents, stepparents, or caregiver as defined in subdivision 11; and

    (2) a pregnant woman with no other children. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08

  • Household: means a group of persons who live together. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • MFIP: means the assistance program authorized in this chapter. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Minority: means with respect to an individual the period of time during which the individual is a minor. See Minnesota Statutes 645.451
  • Month: means a calendar month and "year" means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; and "year" is equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
  • Participant: includes any of the following:

    (1) a person who is currently receiving cash assistance or the food portion available through MFIP;

    (2) a person who withdraws a cash or food assistance payment by electronic transfer or receives and cashes an MFIP assistance check or food coupons and is subsequently determined to be ineligible for assistance for that period of time is a participant, regardless whether that assistance is repaid;

    (3) the caregiver relative and the minor child whose needs are included in the assistance payment;

    (4) a person in an assistance unit who does not receive a cash and food assistance payment because the case has been suspended from MFIP; and

    (5) a person who receives cash payments under family stabilization services under section 256J. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08

  • Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
  • state: extends to and includes the District of Columbia and the several territories. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44

(b) The commissioner of human services may reinstate the work participation cash benefits program if the United States Department of Human Services determines that the state of Minnesota did not meet the federal TANF work participation rate and sends a notice of penalty to reduce Minnesota’s federal TANF block grant authorized under title I of Public Law 104-193, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, and under Public Law 109-171, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.

(c) The commissioner shall notify the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over human services policy and finance of the potential penalty and the commissioner’s plans to reinstate the work participation cash benefit program within 30 days of the date the commissioner receives notification that the state failed to meet the federal work participation rate.