Subdivision 1.County of financial responsibility.

The county of financial responsibility is the county in which a minor child or pregnant woman lives on the date the application is signed, unless subdivision 4 applies. When more than one county is financially responsible for the members of an assistance unit, financial responsibility must be assigned to a single county beginning the first day of the calendar month after the assistance unit members are required to be in a single assistance unit. Financial responsibility must be assigned to the county that was initially responsible for the assistance unit member with the earliest date of application. The county in which the assistance unit is currently residing becomes financially responsible for the entire assistance unit beginning two full calendar months after the month in which financial responsibility was consolidated in one county.

Subd. 2.Change in residence.

Terms Used In Minnesota Statutes 256J.75

  • Applicant: means a person who has submitted to a county agency an application and whose application has not been acted upon, denied, or voluntarily withdrawn. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Application: means the submission by or on behalf of a family to a county agency of a completed, signed, and dated form, prescribed by the commissioner, that indicates the desire to receive assistance. 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
  • County of financial responsibility: means the county that has financial responsibility for providing public assistance as specified in chapter 256G. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • County of residence: means the county where the caregiver has established a home. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Date of application: has the meaning given in section 256P. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Excluded time: has the meaning given in section 256G. 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

  • Minor: means an individual under the age of 18. See Minnesota Statutes 645.451
  • Minor child: means a child who is living in the same home of a parent or other caregiver, is not the parent of a child in the home, and is either less than 18 years of age or is under the age of 19 years and is a full-time student in a secondary school or pursuing a full-time secondary level course of vocational or technical training designed to fit students for gainful employment. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • 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

  • Person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
  • Recertification: means the periodic review of eligibility factors to determine an assistance unit's continued eligibility. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • state: extends to and includes the District of Columbia and the several territories. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44

(a) When an assistance unit moves from one county to another and continues to receive assistance, the new county of residence becomes the county of financial responsibility when that assistance unit has lived in that county in nonexcluded status for two full calendar months. “Nonexcluded status” means the period of residence that is not considered excluded time under section 256G.02, subdivision 6. When a minor child moves from one county to another to reside with a different caregiver, the caregiver in the former county is eligible to receive assistance for that child only through the last day of the month of the move. The caregiver in the new county becomes eligible to receive assistance for the child the first day of the month following the move or the date of application, whichever is later.

(b) When an applicant moves from one county to another while the application is pending, the county where application first occurred is the county of financial responsibility until the applicant has lived in the new county for two full calendar months, unless the applicant’s move is covered under section 256G.02, subdivision 6.

Subd. 3.Responsibility for incorrect assistance payments.

A county of residence, when different from the county of financial responsibility, will be charged by the commissioner for the value of incorrect assistance payments paid to or on behalf of a person who was not eligible to receive that amount. Incorrect payments include payments to an ineligible person or family resulting from decisions, failures to act, miscalculations, or overdue recertification. However, financial responsibility does not accrue for a county when the recertification is overdue at the time the referral is received by the county of residence or when the county of financial responsibility does not act on the recommendation of the county of residence.

Subd. 4.Excluded time.

When an applicant or participant resides in an excluded time facility as described in section 256G.02, subdivision 6, the county that is financially responsible for the applicant or participant is the county in which the applicant or participant last resided outside such a facility immediately before entering the facility. When an applicant or participant has not resided in this state for any time other than excluded time as defined in section 256G.02, subdivision 6, the county that is financially responsible for the applicant or participant is the county in which the applicant or participant resides on the date the application is signed.