Title 33, Human Services

§ 1112. Family development plan requirements (a)(1) Each participating adult in a family applying for or receiving financial assistance shall comply with each Reach Up family development plan requirement provided for in the family development plan, unless good cause exists for su…

§ 1113. Employment preparation, readiness, and participation (a) Each participating adult in a family receiving a financial assistance grant shall participate in the process of planning and engaging in goal achievement. These goals may be related to family well-being, financial s…

§ 1114. Deferments, modifications, and referral The program participation requirements established in section 1113 of this chapter shall be deferred when: (1) a participating adult is 60 years of age or older; (2) a participating adult is caring for a child under six weeks of age…

§ 1115. Obligation to fund services; good cause (a) A participant’s family development plan requirement under section 1112 of this title and work requirement under section 1113 of this title shall be deferred when the case management services, training and educational services, a…

§ 1116. Sanctions (a) The financial assistance grant of a participating family shall be reduced, in accordance with the provisions of this section, if a participating adult does not engage, without good cause, with the family development plan or program participation requirements…

§ 1121. Authorization to segregate State funds and create separate State and solely State-funded programs (a) Consistent with the purposes of this chapter, the Commissioner shall structure payment of appropriated TANF funds, State “maintenance of effort” funds, and general funds …

§ 1122. Postsecondary Education Program (a) The Commissioner shall establish by rule a solely State-funded program to provide financial assistance equivalent to the Reach Up financial assistance amount the family would receive if it were participating in the Reach Up program and …

§ 1123. Vermont Matched Savings Program (a) As used in this section: (1) “Account” means a savings account that is held in an insured financial institution that is maintained by the saver as part of an approved account program and an approved savings plan. (2) “Agency” means the …

§ 1131. Administrative improvements For the purpose of improving the family development programs administered by the departments within the Agency of Human Services, including the Reach Up program, the Secretary shall: (1) design and implement a quality assurance function for the…

§ 1132. Notice and appeal (a) A participant may appeal the provisions of a family development plan in accordance with 3 V.S.A. § 3091. The Commissioner shall provide notice to each participant of the standards and procedures applicable to such appeals. All federal and Agency of H…

§ 1133. Transition to other programs (a) The Department shall transfer the family to Reach Up, a separate State program, or a solely State-funded program established under chapter 11 of this title if, after four months of receiving support in Reach First or sooner at the Departme…

§ 1134. Program evaluation On or before January 31 of each year, the Commissioner shall design and implement procedures to evaluate, measure, and report to the Governor and the General Assembly the Department’s progress in achieving the goals of the programs provided for in secti…

§ 1201. Definitions As used in this chapter: (1) “Adult” means an individual who: (A) is 18 years of age or older and not a dependent child; or (B) is under 18 years of age and: (i) is pregnant; or (ii) is a parent who is the caretaker for a dependent child. (2) “Barrier” means a…

§ 1202. Purpose (a) The purpose of the Reach Ahead program is: (1) to assist families who have become recently employed to maintain employment by providing work supports and incentives to maximize the opportunity of the family to remain employed and not return to Reach Up; (2) to…

§ 1203. Eligibility A family shall be eligible for Reach Ahead if the family resides in Vermont and: (1) has left Reach Up or the postsecondary education program within the prior six months for employment that meets the federal work requirements for the TANF program for the famil…

§ 1203a. Application of 21 U.S.C. § 862a An individual domiciled in Vermont shall be exempt from the disqualification provided for in 21 U.S.C. § 862a. (Added 2009, No. 1 (Sp. Sess.), § E.323.2.)

§ 1204. Food assistance (a)(1) An eligible family shall receive monthly food assistance equal to $50.00 to be applied to the family’s electronic benefit transfer (EBT) food account for the first 12 months after the family has become eligible for Reach Ahead. (2) For the 12th thro…

§ 1205. Required services to participating families (a) The Commissioner shall provide participating families Reach Ahead services, case management services if necessary, and referral to any agencies or programs, including workforce development, that provide the services needed b…

§ 1206. Case management; family development plans; coordinated services The Commissioner may provide Reach Ahead services to participating families through a case management model. If a family needs case management, the Commissioner may develop a family development plan as provid…

§ 1211. Recertification A family’s hours of employment and other countable work activities shall be verified every six months to determine continuing eligibility for the program. To the extent possible for families receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, inc…

§ 1212. Transition to other programs If a family loses employment meeting or exceeding the work requirements for TANF for the family’s size and composition and is financially eligible for Reach Up, the family shall be transferred to Reach First or Reach Up without an additional a…

§ 1213. Notice and appeal A participant may appeal decisions in accordance with 3 V.S.A. § 3091. The Commissioner shall provide notice to each participant of the standards and procedures applicable to such appeals. All federal and Agency of Human Services rules regarding concilia…

§ 1301. Eligibility requirements—general To be eligible for State aid to the aged, blind, or disabled, in addition to the requirements in sections 1301-1303 of this chapter governing eligibility for a specific program, an individual shall: (1) Be a resident of this State when the…

§ 1302. State aid to the aged State aid to the aged shall be granted to an individual who meets the eligibility requirements of section 1301 of this title and who in addition: (1) has attained 65 years of age; and (2) is not a patient in a public institution, except a public medi…

§ 1303. State aid to the disabled (a) State aid to the disabled shall be granted to an individual who meets the eligibility requirements of section 1301 of this title and who in addition: (1) is permanently and totally disabled as defined in Title XVI of the Social Security Act, …

§ 1304. State aid to the blind (a) State aid to the blind shall be granted to an individual who meets the eligibility requirements of section 1301 of this title and in addition: (1) is blind as defined in Title XVI of the Social Security Act, as amended; and (2) is not, at the da…

§ 1305. Disqualifications State aid to the aged, blind, and disabled shall not be granted to any individual who has real or personal property in excess of that permitted for eligibility for Supplemental Security Income under the Social Security Act as amended. (Added 1967, No. 14…

§ 1306. Application and investigation Applications for State aid to the aged, blind, or disabled may be made at any office of the Department for Children and Families. Upon receipt of an application, the Commissioner for Children and Families shall investigate and prescribe the a…

§ 1307. Amount of State aid The amount of State aid to which an eligible individual is entitled shall be determined with due regard to the income, resources, and maintenance available to the individual and, when an eligible individual lives with the individual’s ineligible spouse…

§ 1308. Rules In fixing standards and adopting rules under this chapter, the Commissioner for Children and Families shall be guided by the statutory standards set forth in this chapter, which standards shall not be deemed necessarily to incorporate by reference decisional or stat…

§ 1309. Agreements (a) The Secretary of Human Services may enter into agreements by which an agency of the federal government or other public or private entity administers any or all parts of the State aid to the aged, blind, and disabled program. (b) In cases in which the Secret…

§ 1501. Register The Department of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living may prepare and maintain a register of persons who are blind in the State. It shall describe their condition, cause of blindness, capacity for education and vocational training, and other pertinent dat…

§ 1502. Services for persons who are blind For the rehabilitation or amelioration of the condition of persons who are blind, the Department of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living may: (1) Ameliorate the condition of persons who are blind by devising means for their adjust…

§ 1601. Definitions As used in this chapter: (1) “Communication or language mode” means verbal or nonverbal communication that includes listening, speaking, American Sign Language (ASL), Signed English, Signed Support, reading, and writing in all domains of a language. Reference …

§ 1602. Vermont Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind Advisory Council (a) Creation; purpose. There is created a Vermont Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind Advisory Council to promote diversity, equality, awareness, and access among individuals who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or …

§ 1701. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (a) The State of Vermont may participate in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) pursuant to 7 U.S.C. chapter 51. The purpose of SNAP is to alleviate hunger and malnutrition among households with low income…

§ 1702. Payment error rate report On or before January 1 of the year following any federal fiscal year in which the State of Vermont receives a federal sanction for a payment error rate greater than the federal threshold in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), th…

§ 1703. Changes to program administration (a) The Department shall report to the Chairs of the House Committee on Human Services and the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, community partners under contract with the Department to provide outreach services, federally authorize…

§ 1801. Purpose (a) It is the intent of the General Assembly to establish a Vermont Health Benefit Exchange which meets the policy established in 18 V.S.A. § 9401 and, to the extent allowable under federal law or a waiver of federal law, becomes the mechanism to create Green Moun…

§ 1802. Definitions As used in this subchapter: (1) “Affordable Care Act” means the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub. L. No. 111-148, as amended by the federal Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-152, and as further amended…

§ 1803. Vermont Health Benefit Exchange (a)(1) The Department of Vermont Health Access shall establish the Vermont Health Benefit Exchange, which shall be administered by the Department in consultation with the Advisory Committee established in section 402 of this title. (2) The …

§ 1804. Qualified employers (a) [Repealed.] (b)(1) A qualified employer shall be an entity that employed an average of not more than 100 employees on working days during the preceding calendar year, and the term “qualified employer” includes self-employed persons to the extent pe…

§ 1805. Duties and responsibilities The Vermont Health Benefit Exchange shall have the following duties and responsibilities consistent with the Affordable Care Act: (1) offering coverage for health services through qualified health benefit plans, including by creating a process …

§ 1806. Qualified health benefit plans (a) Prior to contracting with a health insurer to offer a qualified health benefit plan, the Commissioner shall determine that making the plan available through the Vermont Health Benefit Exchange is in the best interests of individuals and …

§ 1807. Navigators (a)(1) The Vermont Health Benefit Exchange shall establish a navigator program to assist individuals and employers in enrolling in a qualified health benefit plan offered under the Vermont Health Benefit Exchange. The Vermont Health Benefit Exchange shall selec…

§ 1808. Financial integrity (a) The Vermont Health Benefit Exchange shall: (1) keep an accurate accounting of all activities, receipts, and expenditures and submit this information annually as required by federal law; and (2) cooperate with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of…