The FY04 budget requires the elimination of students as a categorial eligiblity reason for EAEDC; and rent allowance for EAEDC applicants and recipients. These changes were effective July 1, 2003 for all EAEDC applicants. This Field Operations Memo describes the actions taken by MIS to reduce or terminate active EEDC AU's.

The FY 04 budget requires the elimination of:

• Students as a categorical eligibility reason for EAEDC; and
• The rent allowance for EAEDC applicants and recipients.

Minimum wage increase affects Food Stamp work requirement; mortgage crisis relocation benefits not countable

Explains that rebates are noncountable income but are counted as assets under cash and Food Stamp programs, and the differences in how they are counted as assets in the different programs.

Educational assistance (loans, grants, scholarships, etc.) are not counted as income until actually received by the student, and then must be averaged over the period that it covers and counted accordingly. An example in the FYI shows that the combination of these two rules sometimes results in part of the assistance being disregarded.

Guidelines on when employee "flex accounts" are countable as income and when they are not countable as income.

Income tax refunds, Earned Income Credit, and Food Stamp and cash programs.

TAFDC and EAEDC: Recalculating lump sum disqualification periods when there has been domestic violence.

AFDC: Terminated employment and Supplemental Payments; Funeral Benefits for persons not receiving any benefits while alive; FS: correction of underpayments; EAEDC: counting of spouse's income and assets.

EAEDC; lump sum income; TAFDC: Child care for teen parent in foster care; All programs: how to count personal property for asset limit purposes.

Student financial aid verification forms; FS anf TAFDC: Aliens with DV code admitted through diversity lottery; FS: excess income of institutionalized child; FS: residents of battered women's shelters eligible for FS even if shelter provides meals; FS: timeframe for inputting addition of new family member to raise benefits; FS: handling of FS cases for refugees not receiving TAFDC.

FS: recertification of NPA AU's associated with TAFDC AU's; UI compensation is counted gross for all programs; procedures for placing pregnant homeless teens who do or do not receive TAFDC.

EAEDC: application is also application for Medicaid; AFDC: explanation of first cousin once removed; AFDC and EAEDC: treatment of tax refunds and EIC; AFDC: If applicant received final paycheck before application and is not working, do not count past paychecks even if received within last 4 weeks; FS: worker can  not submit SSN change and case reopen on same day or FS will not issue.

Leased vehicles not countable; treatment of tax refunds and EIC; TAFDC: how many pay stubs to use to calculate financial eligibility for extension for recipient who has just started working; FS: when to start counting ineligibility period for voluntary quit prior to application; FS: 60 days of job search counts for 12 calendar months regardless of whether case closes and reopens;  TAFDC: Sponsor deeming.

AFDC and EAEDC: certain types of payment refunds not considered countable income; AFDC: changing child from one grant to another in timely fashion; FS: voluntary quit provision applies only to head of household; procedures for issuing expedited FS.

FS: categorical eligibility based on receipt of income-eligible child care; FS: not categorically eligible based on TANF receipt in another state; Funeral benefits-- no reimbursement; All programs: Unemployment compensation counted in gross amount.