§ 153.43. TANF deprivation of support or care requirements.
(a) General. If a child is living with both of his natural parents, the incapacity of either parent is the eligibility factor for TANF. If a child has been legally adopted, it is the lack of the support or care of the adoptive parent, and not of the natural parent, that is the eligibility factor for TANF. If a child is living with a parent and a stepparent, lack of support or care by the natural parent is the eligibility factor for TANF. Deprivation of support is not considered to exist in situations where the mother and the putative father of a child born out-of-wedlock are living together with the child and paternity has been established. For public assistance purposes, this is an intact family. The CAO documents a putative father’s claim of paternity for a child born out-of-wedlock who was born within this Commonwealth on an Acknowledgement of Paternity Form under § 153.44(e)(1) (relating to procedures). When the putative father claims paternity of a child who was born out-of-State, the CAO refers the putative father to the domestic relations section to file a domestic relations section Voluntary Statement of Paternity Form in accord with § 153.44(e)(2). When the putative father living with the child denies paternity, TANF may be established based on the absence of the child’s legal parent if all other eligibility requirements are met. A child is considered deprived of parental support or care if at least one parent is one of the following:
(b) Requirements relating to absence from the home. Continued absence from the home refers to desertion by a parent, legal, or other separation between the parents, and certain other circumstances of absence enumerated in § 153.44. It also describes the situation when a parent of a child born out-of-wedlock is not with the child.
(c) Requirements relating to physical or mental incapacity. Physical or mental incapacity exists when either one of the parents living with the child has a physical or mental defect, illness or impairment which substantially reduces or eliminates the ability of the parent to support or care for the child. The incapacity shall be proved.
(d) Unemployment of the parent. The lack of parental support or care for the child because of unemployment refers to the employment status of the parent who is the principal wage earner. The unemployment of the principal wage earner parent, as specified in § 153.44(d), will establish the TANF category for the needy child regardless of the extent to which the other parent is employed.
Authority The provisions of this § 153.43 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; the Federal TANF regulations in 45 CFR 260.10—265.10; and the Domestic Relations Code, 23 Pa.C.S. § § 4301—4381, 5103, 7101—7901 and 8101—8418.
Source The provisions of this § 153.43 amended through February 15, 1985, effective February 16, 1985, 15 Pa.B. 573; amended September 13, 2002, effective retroactively to March 3, 1997, 32 Pa.B. 4435. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (253074) and (264027).
Notes of Decisions Temporary Absence
By concluding that the language of § 151.43 did not allow Department to discontinue mother’s AFDC benefits, the Court overlooked § 147.22 which defines ‘‘temporary absence’’ as an absence of less than 30 days, where the revised custody order provided that the child would be out of mother’s custody and care for recurring periods far exceeding 30 days. Accordingly, the Department properly applied the general rule requiring the outright discontinuance of benefits if a recipient no longer meets eligibility conditions. Varner v. Department of Public Welfare, 736 A.2d 596 (Pa. 1999).
The Commonwealth Court erred by determining that the Department of Public Welfare must temporarily suspend, rather than discontinue, a mother’s benefits under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, because the regulatory scheme for AFDC requires eligibility to be determined prospectively on a month by month basis where the parents’ custody arrangement provided that the son would reside with his mother consecutively for 8 1/2 months of the year and with his father consecutively for the remaining 3 1/2 months of the year and, thus, the son was not temporarily absent, which is defined as an absence of less than 30 days under these circumstances. Varner v. Department of Public Welfare, 736 A.2d 596 (Pa. 1999).
Cross References This section cited in 55 Pa. Code § 151.43 (relating to requirements); 55 Pa. Code § 153.44 (relating to procedures); 55 Pa. Code § 178.11 (relating to categories of NMP-MA); 55 Pa. Code § 178.12 (relating to categories of MNO-MA); 55 Pa. Code § 181.41 (relating to categories of NMP-MA); 55 Pa. Code § 181.42 (relating to categories of MNO-MA); 55 Pa. Code § 181.261 (relating to gross earnings of a child); and 55 Pa. Code § 287.24 (relating to procedures).
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