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Public Act 91-0331
HB2216 Enrolled LRB9104473WHdv
AN ACT to amend the Illinois Public Aid Code by changing
Sections 9A-8 and 11-20.1 and adding Section 9A-8.1.
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 9A-8 and 11-20.1 and adding Section 9A-8.1
as follows:
(305 ILCS 5/9A-8) (from Ch. 23, par. 9A-8)
Sec. 9A-8. Operation of Program.
(a) At the time of application or redetermination of
eligibility or sanction or termination of eligibility under
Article IV, as determined by rule, the Illinois Department
shall provide information in writing and orally regarding the
education, training and employment program to all applicants
and recipients. The information required shall be
established by rule and shall include, but need not be
limited to, including:
(1) education (including literacy training),
employment and training opportunities available, the
criteria for approval of those opportunities, and the
right to request changes in the personal responsibility
and services plan to include those opportunities;
(1.1) a complete list of all activities that are
approvable activities, and the circumstances under which
they are approvable, including work activities, substance
abuse or mental health treatment, activities to escape
and prevent domestic violence, caring for a medically
impaired family member, and any other approvable
activities, together with the right to and procedures for
amending the responsibility and services plan to include
these activities;
(1.2) the rules concerning the lifetime limit on
eligibility, including the current status of the
applicant or recipient in terms of the months of
remaining eligibility, the criteria under which a month
will not count towards the lifetime limit, and the
criteria under which a recipient may receive benefits
beyond the end of the lifetime limit;
(2) supportive services including child care and
the rules regarding eligibility for and access to the
child care assistance program, transportation, initial
expenses of employment, job retention, books and fees,
and any other supportive services;
(3) the obligation of the Department to provide
supportive services;
(4) the rights and responsibilities of
participants, including exemption, sanction,
reconciliation, and good cause criteria and procedures,
termination for non-cooperation and reinstatement rules
and procedures, and appeal and grievance procedures; and
(5) the types and locations of child care services.
(b) The Illinois Department shall notify the recipient
in writing of the opportunity to volunteer to participate in
the program.
(c) (Blank).
(d) As part of the personal plan for achieving
employment and self-sufficiency, the Department shall conduct
an individualized assessment of the participant's
employability. Except as to participation in the Get-A-Job
Program, no participant may be assigned to any component of
the education, training and employment activity prior to such
assessment, provided that a participant may be assigned up to
4 weeks of Job Search prior to such assessment. The plan
shall include collection of information on the individual's
background, proficiencies, skills deficiencies, education
level, work history, employment goals, interests, aptitudes,
and employment preferences, as well as factors affecting
employability or ability to meet participation requirements
(e.g., health, physical or mental limitations, child care,
family circumstances, domestic violence, substance abuse, and
special needs of any child of the individual). As part of
the plan, individuals and Department staff shall work
together to identify any supportive service needs required to
enable the client to participate and meet the objectives of
his or her employability plan. The assessment may be
conducted through various methods such as interviews,
testing, counseling, and self-assessment instruments. The
assessment process shall include standard literacy testing
and a determination of English language proficiency for those
who display a potential need for literacy or language
services. For those individuals subject to a job search
demonstration, there may be an abbreviated assessment, as
defined by rule. Based on the assessment, the individual will
be assigned to the appropriate activity. The decision will
be based on a determination of the individual's level of
preparation for employment as defined by rule.
(e) Recipients determined to be exempt may volunteer to
participate pursuant to Section 9A-4 and must be assessed.
(f) As part of the personal plan for achieving
employment and self-sufficiency under Section 4-1, an
employability plan for recipients shall be developed in
consultation with the participant. The Department shall have
final responsibility for approving the employability plan.
The employability plan shall:
(1) contain an employment goal of the participant;
(2) describe the services to be provided by the
Department, including child care and other support
services;
(3) describe the activities, such as component
assignment, that will be undertaken by the participant to
achieve the employment goal; and
(4) describe any other needs of the family that
might be met by the Department.
(g) The employability plan shall take into account:
(1) available program resources;
(2) the participant's support service needs;
(3) the participant's skills level and aptitudes;
(4) local employment opportunities; and
(5) the preferences of the participant.
(h) A reassessment shall be conducted to assess a
participant's progress and to review the employability plan
on the following occasions:
(1) upon completion of an activity and before
assignment to an activity;
(2) upon the request of the participant;
(3) if the individual is not cooperating with the
requirements of the program; and
(4) if the individual has failed to make
satisfactory progress in an education or training
program.
Based on the reassessment, the Department may revise the
employability plan of the participant.
(Source: P.A. 89-6, eff. 3-6-95; 89-289, eff. 1-1-96; 89-626,
eff. 8-9-96; 90-17, eff. 7-1-97.)
(305 ILCS 5/9A-8.1 new)
Sec. 9A-8.1. Improvement of information to applicants
and recipients. The Illinois Department shall annually
review all procedures and written materials that it has in
place for purposes of compliance with subsection (a) of
Section 9A-8 and Section 11-20.1 requiring the Illinois
Department to provide full and timely information to
applicants and recipients of aid under Article IV of this
Code about their opportunities, rights and responsibilities
under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and
related programs. As part of this annual review, the
Illinois Department shall provide copies of all procedures
and materials to the Family Self Sufficiency Advisory Council
or any successor advisory body containing a similar number
and assortment of advocates, providers, contractors, clients,
and citizens. The Family Self Sufficiency Advisory Council
or successor advisory body shall review the existing
procedures and materials in light of program rules, recent
changes in the law or rules, and experience in the field, and
it shall suggest changes to the Illinois Department. The
Illinois Department shall produce new or revised procedures
and materials, or ratify the existing ones, for use beginning
each October 1. If the Illinois Department rejects changes
suggested by the Family Self Sufficiency Advisory Council, it
shall explain the reasons in a written response.
(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 will continue to receive a grant and,
if so, the amount of the grant, and, if not, whether the
recipient would be eligible for a cash grant under
another public assistance program.
(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
including the application of the earned income and child
care disregards.
(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 monthly reporting, including
the recipient's responsibilities to report income and
household circumstances on a monthly basis, the process
by which quarterly monthly 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 and the automatic 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 payments to
supplement the child care disregard and the procedures by
which they may be obtained.
(10) (Blank). An explanation of transitional child
care benefits, including how to apply for transitional
child care benefits, how, to whom, and under what
circumstances transitional child care benefits will be
paid and an application for transitional child care
benefits.
(11) (Blank). Information concerning the assistance
available from the Child Care Resource and Referral
Project and a referral to the local Child Care Resource
and Referral Project office or phone number if the
recipient needs help locating child care.
(11a) (Blank). Information regarding the length of
time the recipient can expect to receive child care
disregards or child care benefits funded by the Illinois
Department and an explanation of how and when to apply
for other sources of publicly funded child care benefits
to replace child care disregards or child care benefits
funded by the Illinois Department.
(12) (Blank). An explanation of Project Chance
child care benefits and how to request or apply for them.
(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 Project Chance 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
transitional 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 and the recipient
is receiving a cash grant.
(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.
(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.
(Source: P.A. 87-630.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.
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