HB4573 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB095 15577 DRJ 41576 b

95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
HB4573

Introduced , 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.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning public aid.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by changing Sections 11-15 and 11-20.1 as follows:

(305 ILCS 5/11-15) (from Ch. 23, par. 11-15)

Sec. 11-15. Application requirements.

(1) An application for financial aid shall be filed in writing by the person requesting aid and, in the case of a request for family aid, by the head of that family, except as otherwise permitted in paragraph (2). Applications for aid under Articles III, IV, and V shall be filed in writing with any local office of the Department of Human Services the county department of the county in which the applicant resides in the manner prescribed by the Illinois Department. Applications for aid under Article VI shall be filed in writing with the local governmental unit upon forms approved by the Illinois Department. The date of the application shall be the date it is submitted by the applicant.

Each applicant shall provide information as to the amount of property, real and personal, owned by him or her within the period of time preceding the application as required under Sections 3-1.3, 4-1.11, and 5-2.1 of this Code. The applicant shall also furnish information concerning all income, money contributions, and other support from any source, and the beneficiary and the amount or cash surrender or loan value of all insurance policies held by himself or herself or any member of his family for whom aid is requested.

(2) An application, in all instances to be in writing, may be filed in behalf of a person considered to be in need of financial aid under Articles III, IV, V, or VI only if the person

(a) has been adjudged to be under legal disability; or

(b) is unable because of minority or physical or mental disability, to execute the application; or

(c) in the case of need for funeral and burial, died before an application was filed and the application is filed not more than 30 days after the person's death, excluding the day on which the death occurred.

Applications in behalf of persons specified in (a) and (b) shall be filed by the applicant's legal guardian or, if a guardian has not been appointed or the applicant has no legal guardian or the guardian is not available, by a relative or other person, acceptable under the rules of the Illinois Department, who is able to furnish the required information. Applications in behalf of persons specified in (c) shall be filed by any next of kin of the deceased who is not under legal disability or, if there are no such next of kin or they are unknown or unavailable, by a person, acceptable under the rules of the Illinois Department, who is able to furnish the required information.

(3) The application shall contain a written declaration to be signed by the applicant, or in behalf of the applicant by a person qualified under paragraph (2), in substantially the following form, the parenthetical references being applicable to an application filed by a person in behalf of the applicant:

"I declare under penalties of perjury that I have examined this form and all accompanying statements or documents pertaining to the income and resources of myself (the applicant) or any member of my family (the applicant's family) included in this application for aid, or pertaining to any other matter having bearing upon my (the applicant's) eligibility for aid, and to the best of my knowledge and belief the information supplied is true, correct, and complete".

(4) If an application for financial aid is filed for a family, and any person in that family is under 18 years of age, the application shall be accompanied by the following for each such person under 18 years of age:

(i) a copy of the person's birth certificate, or

(ii) other reliable proof, as determined by the Department, of the person's identity and age.

The Illinois Department shall provide information to all families, orally by an intake worker and in writing when the application is filed, about the availability and location of immunization services.

(5) Once an applicant is determined eligible for aid, he or she has the right to request to have the case transferred to another local office of the Department of Human Services for his or her convenience based on one of the following factors: the location of his or her employer; the location of his or her child care provider; access to reliable transportation; or the location of a social service provider that he or she sees on a regular basis. Within 5 business days after the request for transfer, the Department shall transfer the case, assign a caseworker, make appropriate entries in the computer system, and issue a written notice to the recipient that includes the name of and contact information for the caseworker. The location of the recipient's case may be reconsidered on the recipient's request or at the time of redetermination of eligibility.

(Source: P.A. 92-111, eff. 1-1-02.)

(305 ILCS 5/11-20.1) (from Ch. 23, par. 11-20.1)

Sec. 11-20.1. Employment; Rights of recipient and obligations of Illinois Department when recipients become employed; Assistance when a recipient has employment or earned income or both.

(a) When a recipient reports employment or earned income, or both, or the Illinois Department otherwise learns of a recipient's employment or earned income, or both, the Illinois Department shall provide the recipient with:

(1) An explanation of how the earned income will affect the recipient's eligibility for a grant, and whether the recipient must engage in additional work activities to meet the recipient's monthly work activities requirement and what types of activities may be approved for that purpose, and whether the employment is sufficient to cause months of continued receipt of a grant not to be counted against the recipient's lifetime eligibility limit.

(2) An explanation of the Work Pays budgeting process, and an explanation of how the first month's income on a new job will be projected, and how the recipient should report the new job to avoid the Department overestimating the first month's income.

(3) An explanation of how the earned income will affect the recipient's eligibility for food stamps, whether the recipient will continue to receive food stamps, and, if so, the amount of food stamps.

(4) The names and telephone numbers of all caseworkers to whom the recipient's case or cases are assigned or will be transferred, an explanation of which type of case each worker will be handling, and the effective date of the transfer.

(5) An explanation of the recipient's responsibilities to report income and household circumstances, the process by which quarterly reporting forms are sent to recipients, where and to whom the reports should be returned, the deadline by which reports must be returned, instructions on how to fill out the reports, an explanation of what the recipient should do if he or she does not receive the form, advice on how to prove the report was returned by the recipient such as by keeping a copy, and an explanation of the effects of failure to file reports.

(6) If the recipient will continue to receive a grant, an explanation of the recipient's new fiscal month and a statement as to when the recipient will receive his or her grant.

(7) An explanation of Kidcare, Family Assist, Family Care, and the 12 month extension of medical assistance that is available when a grant is cancelled due to earned income.

(8) An explanation of the medical assistance the person may be eligible for when the 12 month extension expires and how to request or apply for it.

(9) An explanation of the availability of a child care subsidy to all families below the child care assistance program's income limit, how to apply for the benefit through the Child Care Resource and Referral or site-administered child care program or both, the nature of the child care program's sliding scale co-payments, the availability of the 10% earned income disregard in determining eligibility for child care assistance and the amount of the parent co-payment, the right to use the subsidy for either licensed or license exempt legal care, and the availability of benefits when the parent is engaged in an education and training program.

(10) (Blank).

(11) (Blank).

(11a) (Blank).

(12) (Blank).

(13) An explanation of the availability of payment for initial expenses of employment and how to request or apply for it.

(14) An explanation of the job retention component and how to participate in it, and an explanation of the recipient's eligibility to receive supportive services to participate in education and training programs while working.

(15) A statement of the types of assistance that will be provided to the person automatically or continued and a statement of the types of assistance for which the person must apply or reapply.

(16) If the recipient will not continue to receive a cash grant and the recipient has assigned his or her right to child support to the Illinois Department, an explanation of the recipient's right to continue to receive child support enforcement services, the recipient's right to have all current support paid after grant cancellation forwarded promptly to the recipient, the procedures by which child support will be forwarded, and the procedures by which the recipient will be informed of the collection and distribution of child support.

(17) An explanation of the availability of payments if the recipient experiences a decrease in or loss of earned income during a calendar quarter as to which the monthly grant was previously budgeted based upon the higher income.

(18) If the recipient will not continue to receive a cash grant, an explanation of the procedures for reapplying for cash assistance if the person experiences a decrease in or loss of earned income.

(19) An explanation of the earned income tax credit and the procedures by which it may be obtained and the rules for disregarding it in determining eligibility for and the amount of assistance.

(20) An explanation of the education and training opportunities available to recipients.

(b) The information listed in subsection (a) shall be provided to the recipient on an individual basis during an in-person meeting with a representative of the Illinois Department. The individual in-person meeting shall be held at a time which does not conflict with the recipient's work schedule within 30 days of the date the recipient begins working. If the recipient informs the Illinois Department that an in-person meeting would be inconvenient, the Illinois Department may provide the information during a home visit, by telephone, or by mail within 30 days of the date the recipient begins working, whichever the client prefers.

(c) At the conclusion of the meeting described in subsection (b), the Illinois Department shall ensure that all case transfers and calculations of benefits necessitated by the recipient's employment or receipt of earned income have been performed, that applications have been made or provided for all benefits for which the person must apply or reapply, and that the person has received payment for initial expenses of employment.

(d) 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 Illinois Department and an in-person meeting shall be waived.

(Source: P.A. 93-598, eff. 8-26-03.)