STATE DEPARTMENT FOR CHILDREN                7/31/14
AND FAMILIES                                             
Family Services
Docking State Office Building
Room 581 - West
Topeka, Kansas 66612

OVERVIEW OF CHANGES

A brief overview of the major changes is described below. Other clarifications and technical corrections are also included and described in the next section. Additional technical corrections not mentioned here are being incorporated in KEESM as needed.

Child Care – Policies regarding eligibility requirements for post-secondary students are being revised.

Food Assistance – Instructions will be added regarding response to requests from eligible telecommunications carriers (ETC) for Lifeline applicant’s information. New USDA policy for assistance planning regarding included members is also being added to this revision.

Successful Families – A requirement of providing a signature on form ES-3100DT “Acknowledgement of TANF Suspicion-based Drug Testing Policy (TANF ONLY)” is being added to policy for all TANF applications and reviews.

Medical Assistance – The reasonable opportunity period to verify legal non-citizen status has been modified by expanding the length to 3 months and allowing coverage pending verification. The requirement to submit a new application is being eliminated where there is a request for a new program and less than 6 months remain in the current review period. Qualifying non-citizens admitted for a temporary purpose may be considered a resident for eligibility purposes.

DESCRIPTION, PURPOSE, AND DETAILS OF POLICY CHANGE

1. Child Care
   
   
   1. Changes
      
      
      1. EM (Non-TANF) Child Care – KEESM 2835, item 3 is being revised to require that:
         
         
         • post-secondary education plans lead to a degree or certificate,
           
           
         • post-secondary students have a goal of employment in their field of study
           
           
         • child care not be provided for the pursuit of a second associate’s degree or a second bachelor’s degree
           
           
         • post-secondary students be employed a minimum of 15 hours per week
           
           
         • post-secondary students maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale and that grades be verified within 30 days of the end of each term
           
           
         • DCF workers approve child care for education plans if the occupational goal of the student has at least an average job outlook listed in the Occupational Outlook Handbook of the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Child care may also be approved when the student’s occupational outlook is less than average if the student provides verification of a specific job offer that will be available to them upon completion of their program, or with approval from a DCF supervisor.
           
           
         • child care for post-secondary education be allowed for a lifetime maximum of 24 months per adult.
           
           
         • child care for two-parent/adult households not be allowed if both parents/adults are attending a formal education or training plan at the same time.

         After a client successfully completes an approved educational plan, EES staff must complete an ES-1640a Education Plan Completion Tracking form and send to the CCDF Program Specialist in Central Office.
         
         For clarification purposes, item 6 is also being moved and included under item 1 and is modified so that FA E&T counties are not called out specifically, allowing for expansion to approved counties as needed.

   2. Clarifications
      
      None
      
      
2. Food Assistance
   
   
   1. Changes
      
      
      1. Request for Federal or Federally Assisted Programs – Upon request from an ETC or State Lifeline Administrator seeking to verify the eligibility of a Lifeline applicant, do not release any personally identifiable information regarding the applicant beyond a yes/no response to the ETC stating whether the applicant is in fact receiving Food Assistance.
         
         KEESM section 1226.4 will include this additional information.
         
         
      2. Food Assistance Included Members – A spouse is a member of the household. Kansas acknowledges and will implement policy in accordance with the guidance provided by USDA on May 27, 2014 per USDA, Section 3(m)(2) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended by the Agriculture Act of 2014.
         
         KEESM section 4211 (3) will include this additional information.
         
         
   2. Clarifications
      
      None
      
      
3. Medical Assistance
   
   
   1. Changes
      
      
      1. Reasonable Opportunity – The provision allowing an individual a reasonable opportunity to provide verification of legal non-citizen status has been modified. Assistance may be approved, instead of pended, during the reasonable opportunity period.
         
         KEESM section 1322.1(2) is being restructured to include this information. KEESM section 2146.6 will be added with this information and examples.
         
         
      2. When New Application is Required – The provision that a new application is required for a request for a new medical program when there are less than 6 months remaining in the current review period is no longer applicable and is being removed.
         
         KEESM section 1411.1 will be updated with this revision.
         
         
      3. Residency – Clarification is being added to indicate that since state residency is no longer predicated upon an “intent to remain” within the state, non-citizens admitted for a temporary purpose may now be considered a resident for eligibility purposes. This would include foreign students, visitors, tourists and diplomats.
         
         In addition, the interstate residency agreement language is being removed since that provision no longer applies.
         
         KEESM sections 2140, 2152 and 2691 will be updated with this revision.
         
         
   2. Clarifications
      
      
      1. Citizenship Verification – Information concerning the reasonable opportunity period to verify citizenship previously updated in section 2145.4 is being included in this section as well for cross-reference purposes.
         
         KEESM section 1322.1(11) will be updated with this revision.
         
         
4. Successful Families
   
   
   1. Changes
      
      

      1. Supplying Information – KEESM 2121 is being updated with the requirement of a signature on the ES-3100DT “Acknowledgement of TANF Suspicion-based Drug Testing Policy (TANF ONLY)”. Households who fail to sign this document render the Mandatory Filing Unit ineligible for TANF.

   2. Clarifications
      
      

      1. Alcohol and Other Drug Assessment and Treatment (AOD) – Verbiage related to the suspicion-based drug testing is being added to 3330.1.
         
         Also being added to this section is clarification that clients determined to have alcohol related abuse issues are still mandated to participate in substance abuse treatment activities. If determined appropriate, a penalty may be established for failure to participate.

FORMS (Explanation provided if not mentioned previously in this summary.)

Child Care

ES-1640, Statement of Understanding – Employed Income Eligible Child Care Assistance: This is being revised to reflect the new requirements for approval of child care for post-secondary education. 2.

ES-1640a Education Plan Completion Tracking form: This is a new form used to track information about clients who have successfully completed their approved post-secondary education plan.

APPENDIX (Explanation provided if not mentioned previously in this summary.)

Child Care

E-11, Education/Training Assistance Desk Aid – This desk aid is being modified to reflect the new criteria for approving child care for post-secondary education.

MISCELLANEOUS FORMS (Explanation provided if not mentioned previously in this summary.)

None

EFFECTIVE DATE

Polices for this revision are effective August 1, 2014.

EFFECT ON LOCAL STAFF (No significant effect if not explained below.)

MATERIALS OBSOLETED BY THIS REVISION

None

COORDINATION EFFORTS

This change was coordinated with staff in Economic and Employment Services, Executive Leadership, and the EES Program Administrators.

Sincerely,
Jaime Rogers, EES Director
Economic and Employment Services
JR:am