KANSAS DEPARTMENT FOR CHILDREN
AND FAMILIES
Family Services
DCF Administration Building
555 S. Kansas Ave., 6th Floor
Topeka, KS 66603
To:

Regional Directors
Economic and Employment Services Program Administrators
Economic and Employment Services Staff
Prevention and Protection Services Administrators
Other Staff

Re:

Summary of Changes for Kansas Economic and Employment Services Manual (KEESM) Revision No. 97 effective January 01, 2020

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 – A change is being made to assistance planning for child care for teen parents in high school. This change will include any legally responsible persons of the teen parent’s child who also lives in the home in the assistance plan and eligibility determination.

Food Assistance – A new shelter expense is being added, the Homeless Shelter Expense, that is updated annually with October changes by USDA

DESCRIPTION, PURPOSE, AND DETAILS OF POLICY CHANGE

  1. Child Care

    1. Changes

      1. Income Eligible (Non-TANF) Child Care – KEESM 2835, item 6 is being modified to include the other parent (biological or adoptive) of a teen parent’s child who also lives in the home in the assistance plan and eligibility determination. The paragraph has been reformatted to add clarification.

      2. Exceptions to the Child Care Assistance Planning – KEESM 4420, item 1 is being modified to include the other parent (biological or adoptive) of a teen parent’s child who also lives in the home in the assistance plan.

    2. Clarifications

      1. Income Eligible (Non-TANF) Child Care – KEESM 2835, item 2 is being modified to clarify that there is no family share deduction assigned to any child care case that includes a FAET or GOALS participant.

      2. Citizenship and Non-citizen Status – KEESM section 2140 is being modified to remove the phrase regarding applicability for children needing child care for qualified social service reasons, as Kansas does not provide child care for children who are not citizens or qualifying non-citizens.

  2. Employment Services

    1. Changes

      None

    2. Clarifications
      1. TANF Work Related Exemptions – Item 1 of KEESM section 3210 is being separated into 3 items in order to make clearer how the exemption applies to parental and non-parental persons 16 through 19 years of age.

  3. Food Assistance
    1. Changes

      1. Homeless Shelter Expense – KEESM section 7226.6 is being added to indicate households may be allowed a homeless shelter expense of $152 if the household meets the Food Assistance definition of homeless in Appendix X-6. The homeless shelter expense is being added to 1322.3 (6) as a shelter cost to be verified if questionable.

        Appendix item F-2, Food Assistance Program Standards, is being updated with the Homeless Shelter Expense.

    2. Clarifications

      None

  1. LIEAP

    1. Changes

      None

    2. Clarifications

      1. Priorities in Processing Applications – Clarification of how to assess meeting 18-hour emergency criteria is being added to KEESM section 13220 (1) and (1) (a). Medical equipment alone does not qualify as 18-hour priority. There must also be a disconnect or a pending disconnect as well as the medical equipment for it to be 18-hour priority.

      2. Income Eligibility – Invalid text was removed from KEESM section 13360 regarding use of prospective budgeting when ineligibility results from using converted income.

  2. TANF

    1. Changes

      1. Hardship Status – Verbiage is being added to specify that hardship status criteria are intended for adult TANF mandatory filing unit (MFU) members. KEESM section 2243 is being updated with this information.

      2. Non-Cooperation While in Applicant Status – KEESM 2165.1 (a) is being changed to allow 10 days for applicants to cooperate with CSS prior to an application being denied.

      3. Non-Cooperation while in Hardship Status – When failure occurs without good cause for Work Programs or CSS while a household is in hardship status and has received benefits for more than twenty-four months, the current hardship will be ended and TANF will be closed without a penalty. No comparable penalty will apply to the individual on the food assistance case. The following KEESM sections are being updated with this change:

        2243.1, 2243.2, 3500 (1), and 3511.2 (1).

    2. Clarifications

      None

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

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 remove the requirement that an educational plan be expected to be completed within 24 months to reflect current policy.

Food Assistance

P-1, Medical Expense Guidelines for Food Assistance. Medical health care sharing plans or health care sharing ministries is being added to section B, 8, as a medical expense not allowed.

F-2, Food Assistance Program Standard.

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

EFFECTIVE DATE

All changes are effective January 1, 2020.

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

Child Care

The child care changes are expected to have minimal effect on local staff.

MATERIALS OBSOLETED BY THIS REVISION

COORDINATION EFFORTS

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

Sincerely,
Sandra Kimmons, Assistant EES Director
Economic and Employment Services
SK:am
Page Last Updated: January 9, 2020 10:41 AM