96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
HB0745

 

Introduced 2/6/2009, by Rep. Sara Feigenholtz

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
305 ILCS 5/11-15   from Ch. 23, par. 11-15
305 ILCS 5/11-20.1   from Ch. 23, par. 11-20.1

    Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that applications for aid shall be filed with any local office of the Department of Human Services (instead of with the county department of public aid). Provides that the date of an application shall be the date it is submitted by the applicant. Provides that an applicant has the right to have his or her case transferred to another local office of the Department of Human Services for his or her convenience, based on stated factors. Provides that in food stamp cases in which an applicant or recipient reports earned income, the applicant's or recipient's employment shall be presumed to be a hardship for purposes of scheduling an in-person meeting with a representative of the Department of Human Services and an in-person meeting shall be waived.


LRB096 04732 DRJ 14795 b

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB0745 LRB096 04732 DRJ 14795 b

1     AN ACT concerning public aid.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by
5 changing Sections 11-15 and 11-20.1 as follows:
 
6     (305 ILCS 5/11-15)  (from Ch. 23, par. 11-15)
7     Sec. 11-15. Application requirements.
8     (1) An application for financial aid shall be filed in
9 writing by the person requesting aid and, in the case of a
10 request for family aid, by the head of that family, except as
11 otherwise permitted in paragraph (2). Applications for aid
12 under Articles III, IV, and V shall be filed in writing with
13 any local office of the Department of Human Services the county
14 department of the county in which the applicant resides in the
15 manner prescribed by the Illinois Department. Applications for
16 aid under Article VI shall be filed in writing with the local
17 governmental unit upon forms approved by the Illinois
18 Department. The date of the application shall be the date it is
19 submitted by the applicant.
20     Each applicant shall provide information as to the amount
21 of property, real and personal, owned by him or her within the
22 period of time preceding the application as required under
23 Sections 3-1.3, 4-1.11, and 5-2.1 of this Code. The applicant

 

 

HB0745 - 2 - LRB096 04732 DRJ 14795 b

1 shall also furnish information concerning all income, money
2 contributions, and other support from any source, and the
3 beneficiary and the amount or cash surrender or loan value of
4 all insurance policies held by himself or herself or any member
5 of his family for whom aid is requested.
6     (2) An application, in all instances to be in writing, may
7 be filed in behalf of a person considered to be in need of
8 financial aid under Articles III, IV, V, or VI only if the
9 person
10         (a) has been adjudged to be under legal disability; or
11         (b) is unable because of minority or physical or mental
12     disability, to execute the application; or
13         (c) in the case of need for funeral and burial, died
14     before an application was filed and the application is
15     filed not more than 30 days after the person's death,
16     excluding the day on which the death occurred.
17     Applications in behalf of persons specified in (a) and (b)
18 shall be filed by the applicant's legal guardian or, if a
19 guardian has not been appointed or the applicant has no legal
20 guardian or the guardian is not available, by a relative or
21 other person, acceptable under the rules of the Illinois
22 Department, who is able to furnish the required information.
23 Applications in behalf of persons specified in (c) shall be
24 filed by any next of kin of the deceased who is not under legal
25 disability or, if there are no such next of kin or they are
26 unknown or unavailable, by a person, acceptable under the rules

 

 

HB0745 - 3 - LRB096 04732 DRJ 14795 b

1 of the Illinois Department, who is able to furnish the required
2 information.
3     (3) The application shall contain a written declaration to
4 be signed by the applicant, or in behalf of the applicant by a
5 person qualified under paragraph (2), in substantially the
6 following form, the parenthetical references being applicable
7 to an application filed by a person in behalf of the applicant:
8     "I declare under penalties of perjury that I have examined
9 this form and all accompanying statements or documents
10 pertaining to the income and resources of myself (the
11 applicant) or any member of my family (the applicant's family)
12 included in this application for aid, or pertaining to any
13 other matter having bearing upon my (the applicant's)
14 eligibility for aid, and to the best of my knowledge and belief
15 the information supplied is true, correct, and complete".
16     (4) If an application for financial aid is filed for a
17 family, and any person in that family is under 18 years of age,
18 the application shall be accompanied by the following for each
19 such person under 18 years of age:
20         (i) a copy of the person's birth certificate, or
21         (ii) other reliable proof, as determined by the
22     Department, of the person's identity and age.
23     The Illinois Department shall provide information to all
24 families, orally by an intake worker and in writing when the
25 application is filed, about the availability and location of
26 immunization services.

 

 

HB0745 - 4 - LRB096 04732 DRJ 14795 b

1     (5) Once an applicant is determined eligible for aid, he or
2 she has the right to request to have the case transferred to
3 another local office of the Department of Human Services for
4 his or her convenience based on one of the following factors:
5 the location of his or her employer; the location of his or her
6 child care provider; access to reliable transportation; or the
7 location of a social service provider that he or she sees on a
8 regular basis. Within 5 business days after the request for
9 transfer, the Department shall transfer the case, assign a
10 caseworker, make appropriate entries in the computer system,
11 and issue a written notice to the recipient that includes the
12 name of and contact information for the caseworker. The
13 location of the recipient's case may be reconsidered on the
14 recipient's request or at the time of redetermination of
15 eligibility.
16 (Source: P.A. 92-111, eff. 1-1-02.)
 
17     (305 ILCS 5/11-20.1)  (from Ch. 23, par. 11-20.1)
18     Sec. 11-20.1. Employment; Rights of recipient and
19 obligations of Illinois Department when recipients become
20 employed; Assistance when a recipient has employment or earned
21 income or both.
22     (a) When a recipient reports employment or earned income,
23 or both, or the Illinois Department otherwise learns of a
24 recipient's employment or earned income, or both, the Illinois
25 Department shall provide the recipient with:

 

 

HB0745 - 5 - LRB096 04732 DRJ 14795 b

1         (1) An explanation of how the earned income will affect
2     the recipient's eligibility for a grant, and whether the
3     recipient must engage in additional work activities to meet
4     the recipient's monthly work activities requirement and
5     what types of activities may be approved for that purpose,
6     and whether the employment is sufficient to cause months of
7     continued receipt of a grant not to be counted against the
8     recipient's lifetime eligibility limit.
9         (2) An explanation of the Work Pays budgeting process,
10     and an explanation of how the first month's income on a new
11     job will be projected, and how the recipient should report
12     the new job to avoid the Department overestimating the
13     first month's income.
14         (3) An explanation of how the earned income will affect
15     the recipient's eligibility for food stamps, whether the
16     recipient will continue to receive food stamps, and, if so,
17     the amount of food stamps.
18         (4) The names and telephone numbers of all caseworkers
19     to whom the recipient's case or cases are assigned or will
20     be transferred, an explanation of which type of case each
21     worker will be handling, and the effective date of the
22     transfer.
23         (5) An explanation of the recipient's responsibilities
24     to report income and household circumstances, the process
25     by which quarterly reporting forms are sent to recipients,
26     where and to whom the reports should be returned, the

 

 

HB0745 - 6 - LRB096 04732 DRJ 14795 b

1     deadline by which reports must be returned, instructions on
2     how to fill out the reports, an explanation of what the
3     recipient should do if he or she does not receive the form,
4     advice on how to prove the report was returned by the
5     recipient such as by keeping a copy, and an explanation of
6     the effects of failure to file reports.
7         (6) If the recipient will continue to receive a grant,
8     an explanation of the recipient's new fiscal month and a
9     statement as to when the recipient will receive his or her
10     grant.
11         (7) An explanation of Kidcare, Family Assist, Family
12     Care, and the 12 month extension of medical assistance that
13     is available when a grant is cancelled due to earned
14     income.
15         (8) An explanation of the medical assistance the person
16     may be eligible for when the 12 month extension expires and
17     how to request or apply for it.
18         (9) An explanation of the availability of a child care
19     subsidy to all families below the child care assistance
20     program's income limit, how to apply for the benefit
21     through the Child Care Resource and Referral or
22     site-administered child care program or both, the nature of
23     the child care program's sliding scale co-payments, the
24     availability of the 10% earned income disregard in
25     determining eligibility for child care assistance and the
26     amount of the parent co-payment, the right to use the

 

 

HB0745 - 7 - LRB096 04732 DRJ 14795 b

1     subsidy for either licensed or license exempt legal care,
2     and the availability of benefits when the parent is engaged
3     in an education and training program.
4         (10) (Blank).
5         (11) (Blank).
6         (11a) (Blank).
7         (12) (Blank).
8         (13) An explanation of the availability of payment for
9     initial expenses of employment and how to request or apply
10     for it.
11         (14) An explanation of the job retention component and
12     how to participate in it, and an explanation of the
13     recipient's eligibility to receive supportive services to
14     participate in education and training programs while
15     working.
16         (15) A statement of the types of assistance that will
17     be provided to the person automatically or continued and a
18     statement of the types of assistance for which the person
19     must apply or reapply.
20         (16) If the recipient will not continue to receive a
21     cash grant and the recipient has assigned his or her right
22     to child support to the Illinois Department, an explanation
23     of the recipient's right to continue to receive child
24     support enforcement services, the recipient's right to
25     have all current support paid after grant cancellation
26     forwarded promptly to the recipient, the procedures by

 

 

HB0745 - 8 - LRB096 04732 DRJ 14795 b

1     which child support will be forwarded, and the procedures
2     by which the recipient will be informed of the collection
3     and distribution of child support.
4         (17) An explanation of the availability of payments if
5     the recipient experiences a decrease in or loss of earned
6     income during a calendar quarter as to which the monthly
7     grant was previously budgeted based upon the higher income.
8         (18) If the recipient will not continue to receive a
9     cash grant, an explanation of the procedures for reapplying
10     for cash assistance if the person experiences a decrease in
11     or loss of earned income.
12         (19) An explanation of the earned income tax credit and
13     the procedures by which it may be obtained and the rules
14     for disregarding it in determining eligibility for and the
15     amount of assistance.
16         (20) An explanation of the education and training
17     opportunities available to recipients.
18     (b) The information listed in subsection (a) shall be
19 provided to the recipient on an individual basis during an
20 in-person meeting with a representative of the Illinois
21 Department. The individual in-person meeting shall be held at a
22 time which does not conflict with the recipient's work schedule
23 within 30 days of the date the recipient begins working. If the
24 recipient informs the Illinois Department that an in-person
25 meeting would be inconvenient, the Illinois Department may
26 provide the information during a home visit, by telephone, or

 

 

HB0745 - 9 - LRB096 04732 DRJ 14795 b

1 by mail within 30 days of the date the recipient begins
2 working, whichever the client prefers.
3     (c) At the conclusion of the meeting described in
4 subsection (b), the Illinois Department shall ensure that all
5 case transfers and calculations of benefits necessitated by the
6 recipient's employment or receipt of earned income have been
7 performed, that applications have been made or provided for all
8 benefits for which the person must apply or reapply, and that
9 the person has received payment for initial expenses of
10 employment.
11     (d) In food stamp cases in which an applicant or recipient
12 reports earned income, the applicant's or recipient's
13 employment shall be presumed to be a hardship for purposes of
14 scheduling an in-person meeting with a representative of the
15 Illinois Department and an in-person meeting shall be waived.
16 (Source: P.A. 93-598, eff. 8-26-03.)