§ 145.43. Requirements.
(a) General. The following are the general TANF age requirements:
(1) The child shall conform with one of the following age requirements:
(i) Be under 18 years of age.
(ii) Be under 18 years of age or under 19 years of age and a full-time student in a secondary school or in the equivalent level of vocational or technical training.
(b) Attending school or training. The following will constitute TANF age requirements for youths attending school or training:
(1) The youth under 19 years of age will be considered to have met the requirement of attending secondary school or an equivalent course of vocational training full time, if the youth is carrying a program of supervised education or vocational training approved by the authorities of the school district or by the Department of Education. The program may be part of the regular school program, or one especially arranged for the individual youth’s educational or vocational needs and approved by the school authorities. A vocational training course may be under section 2508.3 of the School Code BVR (5813.3), in a program under the Economic Opportunity Act, or in an organized training program under recognized sponsorship with a specified vocational training objective (for example, apprenticeships or training arrangements sponsored by business or industrial firms).
(2) Full-time attendance will not be deemed interrupted when the youth is temporarily absent for reasons accepted under the laws of the State on compul-sory school attendance, or for reasons accepted under the regulations of the secondary school or vocational training program in which the youth is enrolled.
(3) TANF payment will be made for the following:
(i) The months in which the youth is not in secondary school or training because of official vacations, provided that the youth will again attend full-time secondary school, or an equivalent vocational or technical school, when the official vacation is over.
(ii) The month the youth completes or discontinues secondary school or equivalent vocational or technical school before reaching 19 years of age.
(4) The date the secondary school or equivalent vocational or technical school records show the youth ended full-time status as a student or trainee will be the date of completion or discontinuance of secondary school or an equivalent vocational or technical school.
Authority The provisions of this § 145.43 amended under sections 201(2), 403(b) and 432 of the Public Welfare Code (62 P. S. § § 201(2), 403(b) and 432); the Support Law (62 P. S. § § 1971—1977); Titles I and III of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Pub. L. No. 104-193) (PRWORA), creating the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program, and amending 42 U.S.C.A. § § 601—619, 651—669(b) and 1396u-1; and the Federal TANF regulations in 45 CFR 260.10—265.10.
Source The provisions of this § 145.43 amended November 7, 1981, effective November 6, 1981, 11 Pa.B. 3962; amended September 13, 2002, effective retroactively to March 3, 1997, 32 Pa.B. 4435. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (268298) and (268311) to (268312).
Notes of Decisions Section 145.43(b) does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution by unreasonably creating one class of unborn children that is entitled to assistance and one class that is not so entitled where the Department’s interpretation of the provision results in the denial of benefits for more than one additional member to a welfare recipient who is pregnant with twins. The Equal Protection Clause applies to ‘‘persons,’’ but that term does not include the unborn. Barr v. Department of Public Welfare, 435 A.2d 678 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1981).
Although Federal regulations require that benefits must be granted for a dependent child and 55 Pa. Code § 145.43(b) states that an unborn child will be considered a dependent child, the latter provision simply establishes an administratively efficient method to dispense benefits; it does not grant an unborn child the same right to assistance as that afforded a dependent child. Barr v. Department of Public Welfare, 435 A.2d 678 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1981).
The date assistance is authorized is the first payment date after the pregnancy is established with the county board of assistance, rather than the first payment date after the pregnancy is diagnosed by a physician. Nauss v. Department of Public Welfare, 398 A.2d 757 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1979).
Cross References This section cited in 55 Pa. Code § 140.32 (relating to applicable income); 55 Pa. Code § 140.513 (relating to eligibility end date); 55 Pa. Code § 151.41 (relating to policy); 55 Pa. Code § 168.17 (relating to eligible children); and 55 Pa. Code § 178.12 (relating to categories of MNO-MA).
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