2-024.01 Transitional Grant

468 NAC 2-024.01

An ADC case may receive up to five transitional grants, each grant being equal to 1/5 of the ADC Payment Standard for the family's size at the time the family becomes ineligible for an ADC grant payment if:

 

  1. The unit lost eligibility for a grant because of increased earnings or increased hours of employment of the parent or needy caretaker relative or guardian or conservator;

    Note: The parent or needy caretaker relative or guardian or conservator must be in the household.

  2. The unit meets the requirements to qualify for Transitional Medical Assistance (see 468 NAC 2-024.02);
  3. The unit must have lost eligibility for an ADC grant in the month immediately preceding the first month of eligibility for the transitional grant.  (A month in which the unit was eligible but did not receive a grant because of the $10 minimum does not qualify as a month of grant; the family must have actually received an ADC grant from Nebraska for the month immediately preceding ineligibility in order to receive transitional grants.)
  4. In order to continue to receive transitional grants for the full five-month period, the family must meet the following requirements:
    1. The family's earned income cannot exceed 185 percent of the federal poverty level for the family's size;
    2. The parent or needy caretaker relative or guardian or conservator must be employed;
    3. The family continues to reside in the State of Nebraska;
    4. The family must continue to include a dependent child (see 468 NAC 4-003);
    5. The family must remain ineligible to receive an ADC grant.

 

Before terminating eligibility for further transitional grants due to one of the reasons listed above, timely and adequate notice of adverse action must be sent.

 

There is no limit to the number of times a case may receive transitional grants as long as the family meets the requirements each time they lose eligibility for an ADC grant due to earnings.

 

In order to receive the transitional grant, the ADC unit must have received or have been financially eligible to receive a grant to which it was entitled in three of the six months preceding ineligibility.  This parallels the requirement which must be met before the unit enters TMA.  As with the requirement to enter TMA, the unit must have lost grant eligibility or potential grant eligibility due to income and at least a portion of the household’s income must be earned.

Because the transitional grant amount is1/5 of the family's ADC payment standard, you may at times have a fam
ily who qualifies for TMA but not for the transitional grants

For example, if a family received ADC grants for at least three of the previous six months (and perhaps then lost grant eligibility due to receipt of IUC benefits) but they did not receive an ADC grant in the month before the start of employment and receipt of earned income, they may still qualify for TMA by meeting the “3 of 6” test, but they would not qualify for a transitional grant.  For further examples, see 468-000-348.

Since a key element for receipt of the transitional grant is receipt of TMA, there are also some situations where the household may lose eligibility for an ADC grant for a reason unrelated to receipt of earned income (such as an Employment First sanction), subsequently obtain employment and then qualify for the transitional grants as well as TMA.  In situations such as this, the key factor to determine whether the household which is entering TMA also qualifies to receive a transitional grant is whether the household received an ADC grant in the month immediately preceding ineligibility.

For example, the household receives an ADC grant for December but the grant case (as well as MED for the parent) is closed effective January due to an EF sanction.  The parent calls on January 7th to advise that they have obtained full-time employment.  ADC/MA policy at 468 NAC 4-001.01A2a states that a sanctioned parent may be included in a TMA unit.  When you add the earned income to N-FOCUS and re-run an ADC/MED budget for January, the ADC/MED grant budget now fails due to the earned income.  N-FOCUS will create a TMA-G program case and will also run a transitional grant budget creating a transitional grant which is1/5 of the December ADC grant amount.

 

{6/28/11}