Part 502. Transitional Employment Assistance Policy Manual

20 CAR § 502-302. Social Security number enumeration requirement. (a) To meet the Social Security enumeration requirement, each eligible person included in the budget unit must either: (1) Declare a Social Security number; or (2) Apply for a Social Security number if one has not …

20 CAR § 502-303. Minor parent households. (a) If the family includes a minor parent, i.e., under eighteen (18) years of age, certain requirements must be met. (b) If the minor parent is not determined to be a head of household, these requirements include: (1) Signing the Persona…

20 CAR § 502-304. Head of household minor parent. (a) For purposes of the Transitional Employment Assistance Program, a head of household minor parent is defined as: (1) A minor parent who is legally married under Arkansas state law, regardless of whether he or she is currently l…

20 CAR § 502-305. Minor parent Personal Responsibility Agreement. (a) For purposes of this section, “minor parent” means a non-head of household minor parent. (b)(1) A minor parent will be required to sign the Personal Responsibility Agreement (PRA) on the application form along …

20 CAR § 502-306. Non-head of household minor parent living arrangements. (a) A non-head of household minor parent and his or her child must live in the home of the minor parent’s parent, legal guardian, or other adult relative except in certain situations listed in 20 CAR § 502-…

20 CAR § 502-307. Exceptions to minor parent living arrangements. (a) If an unmarried minor parent and child are not living in a living arrangement as described in 20 CAR § 502-306, then the county office will first determine whether the minor parent meets one (1) of the followin…

20 CAR § 502-308. Minor parent education. (a)(1) A minor parent who does not have a high school diploma or equivalency and whose child is over three (3) months old must: (A) Attend school; or (B) Participate in other educational activities directed toward the attainment of a high…

20 CAR § 502-309. Time limit. (a)(1) Beginning March 1, 2024, a family who meets all the eligibility requirements may receive transitional employment assistance (TEA) cash assistance benefits for a period of up to twelve (12) total months. (2) The months counted are based on rece…

20 CAR § 502-310. Child support requirements. (a) When one (1) or both parents are not living in the home with the child, or when legal paternity has not been established, the person receiving assistance for the child must comply with the child support enforcement requirements un…

20 CAR § 502-311. Assignment of child support rights. (a) Under Arkansas state law, when an individual accepts transitional employment assistance (TEA) for or on behalf of a child or children, such individual will be deemed to have assigned to the Department of Human Services any…

20 CAR § 502-312. Cooperation in establishing paternity and obtaining support. (a)(1) An individual may be freed from the requirement to cooperate in terms of subdivisions (b)(1) – (5) of this section, only if good cause for refusal to cooperate is determined to exist per 20 CAR …

20 CAR § 502-313. Good cause for refusal to cooperate. (a)(1) An individual may be determined to have good cause for refusing to cooperate with the state in child support enforcement activities and thus be freed from the cooperation requirement. (2) Good cause may be determined t…

20 CAR § 502-314. Claiming good cause. (a)(1) A claim of good cause will be made by the casehead or minor parent by completing Form DCO-105 specifying the circumstance under which good cause is believed to exist. (2) The casehead must provide corroborative evidence to establish t…

20 CAR § 502-315. Circumstances under which good cause may exist. (a) Good cause will be determined to exist only if cooperation in establishing paternity and securing support would be against the best interests of the child due to at least one (1) of the circumstances listed bel…

20 CAR § 502-316. Substantiation of good cause claim. (a) A good cause claim may be substantiated by: (1) Evidence that corroborates the claim; (2) An investigation conducted by the county office when the basis of the claim is anticipated physical harm and no corroborative eviden…

20 CAR § 502-317. Types of corroborative evidence. (a) Good cause claims may be corroborated with the following types of evidence: (1) Birth certificates or medical or law enforcement records that indicate that the child was conceived as a result of incest or forcible rape; (2) C…

20 CAR § 502-318. Investigation. (a)(1) Anticipated physical or emotional harm may be the basis of a claim for which there is no corroborative evidence, particularly in the case of battered women. (2) When no corroborative evidence is submitted in support of past physical or emot…

20 CAR § 502-319. Special consideration related to emotional harm. The following should be considered in every case in which the good cause determination is based in whole or in part upon the anticipation of emotional harm to the child, the mother, or the caretaker relative: (1) …

20 CAR § 502-320. Good cause claim made at application. (a) If the applicant makes a good cause claim, he or she will be advised of the information needed to substantiate it and that the information must be provided within twenty (20) days of the date the claim is made. (b) If th…

20 CAR § 502-321. Providing information for the Office of Child Support Enforcement referral. (a) Unless good cause for refusal to cooperate has been claimed or has been determined to exist, the transitional employment assistance (TEA) casehead must provide information for the Of…

20 CAR § 502-322. Cooperation with the Office of Child Support Enforcement following noncompliance. (a)(1) The sanction for noncooperation with child support requirements will be lifted upon actual cooperation by the person who failed to cooperate. (2) Refer to 20 CAR § 502-914(a…

20 CAR § 502-323. Other explanations. (a) Other explanations to be given during the application interview are listed below. (b) Family cap. (1)(A) A child who is born while the mother is receiving transitional employment assistance (TEA) cash assistance, either for other children…

20 CAR § 502-401. Eligibility determination generally. (a) In addition to the eligibility requirements dealt with during the application interview, i.e., the Personal Responsibility Agreement (PRA), providing or applying for a Social Security number for all family members, and in…

20 CAR § 502-402. TEA family/assistance unit defined. (a) For purposes of the Transitional Employment Assistance Program, the terms “TEA family” and “assistance unit” have the same meaning and are used interchangeably throughout this part. (b) The above terms refer to the under-a…

20 CAR § 502-403. Age and relationship requirement. (a) The non-Supplemental Security Income child or children must: (1) Be under eighteen (18) years of age; and (2) Live in the home of a parent or other adult caretaker who is in a specified degree of relationship to the child. (…

20 CAR § 502-404. Degrees of relationship. The child must be living with a relative who is in one (1) of the following degrees of relationship to the child: (1)(A) A blood or adoptive relative who is within the fifth degree of kinship. (B) Such relatives by degree of kinship are …

20 CAR § 502-405. Methods of proving age and relationship. (a)(1) The child’s age and relationship to the parent or other adult caretaker must be verified. (2) The inability of the casehead to verify the age or relationship of one (1) child does not affect the eligibility of othe…

20 CAR § 502-406. Verifying presence of child in home of relative. (a) The worker will verify that the child or children are living with the parent or other relative. (b) Acceptable methods of verification include: (1) Collateral Statement, Form DCO-76, completed by a friend or n…

20 CAR § 502-407. Citizenship or alienage requirement. (a) Each individual for whom application is made must be one (1) of the following: (1) A United States citizen (native born or naturalized); (2) An alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence prior to August 22, 1996; (3)…

20 CAR § 502-408. Methods of proving citizenship or alienage status. (a) A declaration of citizenship will be accepted unless the county office determines that the declaration is questionable, in which case verification such as birth certificates or naturalization papers will be …

20 CAR § 502-409. SAVE. (a)(1) Under the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services examines documentation provided by noncitizens to ensure the documentation is authentic and accurate. (2) SAVE uses a web…

20 CAR § 502-410. Declaration of citizenship. (a) As a condition of eligibility, a declaration of citizenship, or lawful alien status, must be made in writing, under penalty of perjury, for each transitional employment assistance (TEA) family member. (b)(1) The Immigration Reform…

20 CAR § 502-411. Fugitive felons and parole or probation violators. (a) An individual who is fleeing to avoid prosecution, or custody or confinement after conviction, of a felony offense is ineligible for transitional employment assistance (TEA) benefits. (b) An individual who i…

20 CAR § 502-412. Residence requirement. (a) The family must presently reside in Arkansas and intend to make it their home. (b)(1) No specific duration of residence is required. (2) If the applicant has the present intention to make the state his or her home, current eligibility …

20 CAR § 502-413. Initial compliance with the Personal Responsibility Agreement requirement. (a) The Personal Responsibility Agreement requires the adult caretaker, or minor parent, to ensure that: (1) School-age children attend school regularly; and (2) The children receive immu…

20 CAR § 502-414. School attendance. (a)(1) If the adult or minor parent reports at application that all school-age children are enrolled in and satisfactorily attending school, the worker may accept the statement of the applicant. (2)(A) Enrollment and satisfactory attendance wi…

20 CAR § 502-415. Preschool-aged immunizations. (a)(1) Proof of current immunizations of all preschool-age children will be requested prior to approval of the application. (2) See Appendix A for the immunization schedule. (b) If such proof is provided, the case record will be doc…

20 CAR § 502-416. Exemptions due to medical or religious beliefs. (a)(1) An applicant who refuses to have a child immunized because of religious beliefs or because of a medical problem, e.g., allergic reaction, must provide verification that an exemption has been granted by the D…

20 CAR § 502-417. Resource requirement. (a) The countable resource limit for all family sizes is three thousand dollars ($3,000). (b)(1) The resources of all persons included in the assistance unit must be determined. (2) This includes all: (A) Adults; (B) Children; and (C) Minor…

20 CAR § 502-418. Definition of a resource. (a)(1) A resource is any real or personal property available to an individual to meet his or her needs, i.e., can be turned into cash. (2) Only those resources currently available, or which the individual has the legal ability to make a…

20 CAR § 502-419. Verification of a resource. (a) The countable value of a resource that is not disregarded must be verified. (b) See 20 CAR § 502-420 for disregarded resources.

20 CAR § 502-420. Resources to be disregarded. The following resources are not considered in determining the family’s transitional employment assistance (TEA) eligibility: (1)(A) The family’s homestead. (B) See 20 CAR § 502-421 for more information regarding the homestead; (2) On…

20 CAR § 502-421. Homestead. (a)(1) A homestead is a house and tract of land that a person considers his or her home. (2) A mobile home or trailer used as a home will be considered as a homestead, regardless of whether the person also owns the property on which the mobile home is…

20 CAR § 502-422. Resources considered in full. (a)(1) Except for property specifically disregarded in 20 CAR § 502-420 and excess motor vehicles, the equity value of any other real or personal property available to the family will be considered in full. (2) If the family has mor…

20 CAR § 502-423. Requesting a legal opinion on resource ownership or availability. (a)(1) There are situations in which the client’s ownership interest or ability to access the resource are not clearly evident. (2) In such situations, it may be necessary to request a legal opini…

20 CAR § 502-424. Sale of a resource. (a) The sale of a resource, including disregarded resources, is considered a conversion of one (1) type of resource (property) to another type (cash) except when the terms and conditions of the sale preclude the seller’s ability to obtain ful…

20 CAR § 502-425. Excess real property. The equity value of any real property not used as a homestead (excess property) will be considered a resource in determining transitional employment assistance (TEA) eligibility.

20 CAR § 502-426. Determining ownership. (a) Ownership may be verified by any of the following: (1) Deeds; (2) Wills; (3) Contract of purchase; or (4) Other documentary evidence. (b)(1) When two (2) or more persons own an interest in the property, the client’s ownership interest …

20 CAR § 502-427. Forms of ownership. (a) Fee simple ownership. (1) When property is held in fee simple, the owner has sole ownership interests. (2) He or she alone, or his or her legal guardian if mentally incompetent, may sell or transfer ownership interest without conditions i…

20 CAR § 502-428. Determining value of ownership interest. (a) In determining the equity value, i.e., current market value less encumbrances, of real excess property, the type of ownership, the number of additional owners, and the individual’s actual ownership interest must all b…