Chapter 18

Section 1. There shall be a department of transitional assistance, in this chapter called the department.

Section 10. The commissioner shall annually prepare and submit to the governor and the general court, on or before the first day of November, a report which shall contain the description of organization of the department and a concise review of the work of the department and of t…

Section 11. No department, bureau or agency of the commonwealth or of any political subdivision thereof, which under any provision of law is furnished with the names of recipients of public assistance, shall permit the publication of lists of such names or make use thereof for pu…

Section 14. The department is hereby authorized to enter into reciprocal agreements with other states regarding the interstate transportation of poor and indigent persons, and to arrange for the acceptance and support of persons receiving public aid in other states, in accordance…

Section 15. A treasurer of a savings bank, national bank, trust company, co-operative bank, benefit association, insurance company or safe deposit company authorized to do business in the commonwealth who, upon written request, signed by an officer of the department, unreasonably…

Section 16. There shall be within the office of the deputy commissioner a division of hearings for the purpose of holding the hearings referred to herein and rendering decisions. Said division shall be under the supervision of a director appointed by the commissioner and shall be…

Section 17. Notwithstanding the provisions of section twenty-two of chapter twenty-nine or any other provisions of law, funds made available by appropriation, or otherwise, for enabling the department to carry out the provisions of law for furnishing public assistance to individu…

Section 18. In any case where the department is obligated to pay any sums in excess of the approved budget because of an arrearage incurred by the recipient, under any of the programs administered by the department, the department shall be reimbursed in a manner not inconsistent …

Section 18A. The department shall impose the sanction required by federal law for any applicant or recipient of public assistance who fails, without good cause as defined by federal law, to cooperate and to continue to cooperate with the IV–D agency set forth in chapter one hundr…

Section 19. In the case of an emergency or where a recipient is evicted from a furnished or partially furnished apartment and does not have sufficient basic furniture to set up housekeeping such furniture may be authorized by the department after investigation by the social worke…

Section 2. (A) The department shall provide and administer throughout the commonwealth a comprehensive transitional assistance financial assistance program, including the following services: the provision and administration of the supplemental nutrition assistance program, with b…

Section 20. The department may, after approval by the commissioner, authorize the purchase of a home by a recipient where suitable public or private rental accommodations cannot be found. The department shall have a lien on the property so purchased to the extent of assistance gr…

Section 21. The department shall be subrogated to the rights to support and maintenance of any welfare recipient to the extent of any payments made by the department to such recipient. The department shall obtain from said recipients such information, in the recipient's knowledge…

Section 22. For the purpose of considering the need for service or assistance of an applicant or recipient of programs provided in accordance with chapters one hundred and seventeen, one hundred and eighteen, and one hundred and eighteen E, the department shall require the verifi…

Section 26. The department may, upon the written request of any person, trust, corporation, or housing authority, that operates or manages any federal, state or municipally subsidized housing or housing project, pay directly to said manager or operator the rent of recipients of p…

Section 27. The department may, upon the written request of the landlord in the case of a recipient who is in arrears in his rent payment for two consecutive months, pay directly to said landlord, after inspection by the department and written notification by the code enforcement…

Section 27A. A recipient of financial aid from the department shall be given the option of instructing said department to forward all checks of such person to a checking account, established in his name, at any banking institution within the commonwealth which he shall designate.

Section 28. For the purposes of this section the following words shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the following meanings: (1) ''Homemaker services'', care of individuals in their own homes, or helping individuals and families to achieve adequate household and fa…

Section 29. (a)(1) Whenever, by virtue of an investigation by the bureau of special investigations pursuant to section 17 of chapter 11, a person, hereinafter called an obligor, agrees to repay the commonwealth an amount of fraudulently or wrongfully received payments or services…

Section 2A. (a) The department of transitional assistance shall amend the food stamp employment and training plan to maximize the use of the 50–50 match provision, so-called, for the claiming of allowable federal matching funds from the United States Department of Agriculture pur…

Section 2B. (a) Subject to appropriation, the department of transitional assistance shall create an educational program to be implemented in each department of transitional assistance office. The educational program shall: (i) provide financial education information as described …

Section 3. The department shall be under the direction, supervision and control of a commissioner of transitional assistance, in this chapter called the commissioner. The secretary of health and human services shall appoint, with the approval of the governor, the commissioner who…

Section 30. (a) This section shall apply to the collection of overpayments of financial assistance paid by the department to persons receiving benefits under any program of such assistance administered by the department. An overpayment obligation is one established by a judgment …

Section 31. (a) The department, in collaboration with the commonwealth corporation, shall develop a job diversion program for applicants for cash assistance under transitional aid to families with dependent children to identify applicants who have the necessary job skills and exp…

Section 32. The department shall require participation in the pathways to self-sufficiency program, established pursuant to section 3C of chapter 118, for all identified applicants over the age of 18 who are not attending a secondary school full-time, participating in an educatio…

Section 33. The department shall require applicants or recipients of cash assistance to provide their social security number upon application; provided, however, that this section shall not apply to recipients who are present in the United States under 1 of the eligible noncitize…

Section 34. The department shall require all training and employment service programs, contracted through the department, to track the outcomes of individuals served by the program for at least 1 year after transitioning into employment. The department shall determine the number …

Section 35. The department shall ensure when a recipient of cash assistance contacts the department via telephone during normal business hours the recipient is able to speak with a caseworker.

Section 36. (a) The department, in consultation with the bureau of program integrity, established pursuant to section 16V of chapter 6A, shall develop a fraud detection program. The fraud detection program shall analyze the risk of fraud and refer any cases of suspected fraud to …

Section 37. The department shall allow applicants or recipients, who are employed, a monthly $200 work-related expense deduction from gross wages in determining eligibility and the amount of the cash assistance grant. The department shall promulgate regulations in accordance with…

Section 38. The department shall not approve an application for new benefits for any person required to register pursuant to sections 178C to 178P, inclusive, of chapter 6 and who has failed to register until the individual registers as required by said sections 178C to 178P, inc…

Section 39. The department shall develop protocols for coordinating information with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and the administrative office of the trial court regarding recipients of publicly-funded benefits who are the subject of felony warrants. The pro…

Section 4. The commissioner shall appoint a deputy commissioner and such assistant commissioners, not to exceed four in number, as the commissioner may determine to be necessary or desirable to carry out the work of the department. The deputy and assistant commissioners shall be …

Section 5. The commissioner shall establish such divisions, bureaus, sections or other offices within the department as he shall from time to time determine to be necessary or proper for the efficient and economical administration of the comprehensive transitional assistance prog…

Section 5B. Any person or institution which knowingly makes a false representation or, contrary to a legal duty to do so, knowingly fails to disclose any material fact affecting eligibility or level of benefits to the department of public welfare or its agents, for the purpose of…

Section 5C. Any vendor under any assistance program administered by the department shall submit to the department, within six months of the last day of the month in which such service was rendered, a bill for the same; except that, in cases in which services have been rendered in…

Section 5D. Any vendor procuring a payment under any assistance program administered by the department who violates any of the provisions of section five B or of sections twenty-one A to twenty-one G, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and eighteen E shall be ineligible to partici…

Section 5E. Any recipient or vendor who receives payment under any assistance program administered by the department, to which he is not entitled, shall return such payment to the commonwealth by paying the same to the state treasurer as soon as demand is made upon him.

Section 5F. A father who leaves his family for the purpose of qualifying them for assistance under any of the programs administered by the department shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred nor more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than t…

Section 5G. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise: ''Claimant'', a person who suffers a loss from property damage, accident, illness, injury or otherwise for which monies may be provided by…

Section 5H. Notwithstanding any other provision of general or special law, rule or regulation, the department shall be subrogated to the right of any recipient of medical assistance provided pursuant to chapter one hundred and eighteen E to proceed against any health care insurer…

Section 5I. (a) As used in sections 5I and 5J the following terms shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:— ''Access device'', a card, code or other means of access that can be used, alone or in conjunction with another access device, to …

Section 5J. (a) The department shall maintain policies and practices as necessary to prevent direct cash assistance from being used in electronic benefit transfer transactions at: liquor stores; casinos, gambling casinos or gaming establishments licensed pursuant to chapter 23K; …

Section 5K. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, whoever embezzles, steals or obtains by fraud any funds, assets or property provided by the department of transitional assistance and whoever receives, conceals or retains such funds, assets or property for h…

Section 5L. (a) As used this section and section 5M, "food stamp benefits'' shall mean benefits issued pursuant to the federal Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, 7 U.S.C. §&sec 2011 to 2029, inclusive, as amended, including such benefits contained on an electronic benefit transfer c…

Section 5M. (a) As used in this section, ''organization'' shall mean a corporation for profit or not-for-profit, partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, unincorporated association, estate, trust or other commercial or legal entity; provided, however, that ''organization'…

Section 5N. The department shall develop and make available on its website for download a sign specifying the department's fraud hotline. Business associations may also maintain a downloadable form of the sign on the business associations' websites. Such sign shall be posted in a…

Section 7. There shall be established for each community service area a community service area board, the members of which shall be appointed for three-year terms by the commissioner, two of whom shall be recipients of assistance under chapter one hundred and eighteen, two of who…

Section 8. The provisions of section nine A of chapter thirty and the provisions of chapter thirty-one shall not apply to the office of commissioner, deputy commissioner or assistant commissioner. If an employee of the commonwealth or of a political subdivision, as defined in sec…

Section 9. The commissioner shall appoint and may remove all employees in the department. All such appointments and removals shall be made in accordance with chapter thirty-one except as provided in section seven of chapter thirty and except for superintendents and assistant supe…