2009 Louisiana Laws TITLE 46 Public welfare and assistance :: RS 46:460.8 Tanf eligibility; teen parent living arrangements; work participation requirements; submission of waiver

§460.8.  TANF eligibility; teen parent living arrangements; work participation requirements; submission of waiver

A.(1)  Any recipient of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Block Grant (TANF) benefits who is less than eighteen years of age, is not married, and is a custodial parent shall live in an approved adult-supervised living arrangement with his or her child, except when evidence is presented to a caseworker of the Department of Children and Family Services that the teen parent, or his or her child, has been subjected to emotional or physical abuse.  If the caseworker determines that the teen parent, or his or her child, has been subjected to the abuse of an adult with whom they are living in a primary relationship and that under the circumstances the teen, and his or her child, would be safer living outside the present adult-supervised living arrangement, then the teen parent and child shall be allowed to live outside such living arrangement temporarily.  If the teen parent leaves his or her such living arrangement, the caseworker shall monitor the teen's case no less frequently than once a month and shall assist the teen parent in locating another approved adult-supervised living arrangement, taking into consideration the needs and concerns of the teen parent and child.  The teen parent shall be allowed to receive TANF benefits on behalf of himself or herself, and his or her child, while temporarily living outside an adult-supervised living arrangement as provided in this Subsection.

(2)  Work-eligible, minor parents with children who have not yet received a high school diploma or equivalency shall attend school or related education classes designed to obtain a high school diploma or its equivalent.  School attendance shall be the primary work activity for those minor parents who do not have a high school diploma or equivalency.  These expectations shall become part of the recipient's Family Success Agreement.  Minor parents who fail to participate in these activities are subject to sanction for non-participation and are considered to be out of compliance with a Family Success Agreement.

B.  The secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services may temporarily exempt from the work participation requirements any female who is in a two-parent TANF family who presents sufficient evidence to support a claim that she has been incapable of maintaining a job or regularly reporting to her place of employment because she is a victim of domestic violence and has been forced to move into a shelter or another protective environment outside her home.

C.  The secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services shall not implement any provision of this Section if it is determined that implementation will jeopardize full federal funding for or participation in any program until a waiver is obtained allowing the state to implement such provisions.  The secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services shall apply for any waiver determined necessary to carry out the provisions of this Section within ninety days after enactment of this Section.  Further, the secretary shall promulgate any rules and regulations necessary to carry out the intent of this Section within sixty days after receiving notice of the approval of any waiver submitted.

Acts 1997, No. 774, §1; Acts 2003, No. 58, §1.