House Bill 2245
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Florida House of Representatives - 2000 HB 2245
By the Committee on Children & Families and Representative
Murman
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to rulemaking authority for the
3 Department of Children and Family Services;
4 amending s. 393.066, F.S.; providing rulemaking
5 authority relating to supported living services
6 for the developmentally disabled; amending s.
7 409.919, F.S.; providing rulemaking authority
8 relating to Medicaid for the department in
9 addition to that provided for the Agency for
10 Health Care Administration; creating s.
11 409.953, F.S.; providing rulemaking authority
12 relating to the Refugee Assistance Program;
13 amending ss. 414.085, 414.095, 414.13, and
14 414.15, F.S.; providing rulemaking authority
15 relating to income eligibility standards,
16 temporary cash assistance, required
17 immunizations, and diversion payments under the
18 WAGES Program; providing an effective date.
19
20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
21
22 Section 1. Subsection (9) of section 393.066, Florida
23 Statutes, is amended to read:
24 393.066 Community services and treatment for persons
25 who are developmentally disabled.--
26 (9) The department may adopt rules to ensure
27 compliance with federal laws or regulations that apply to
28 services provided pursuant to this section. The department may
29 adopt rules for supported living services to limit the number
30 of nonrelated clients who may live in a single dwelling unit.
31 The department may adopt rules that specify the maximum
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Florida House of Representatives - 2000 HB 2245
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1 density of supported living dwelling units within the smallest
2 identifiable geographical area in which the dwelling units are
3 located, which may be a city block, subdivision, neighborhood,
4 apartment complex, or mobile home park. The department may
5 not, however, restrict the ability of clients to choose to
6 live in dwelling units with a number of residents that exceeds
7 the maximum established by rule. The department may not
8 restrict clients from choosing to live in a geographic area in
9 excess of the maximum density established by rule.
10 Section 2. Section 409.919, Florida Statutes, is
11 amended to read:
12 409.919 Rules.--The agency and the Department of
13 Children and Family Services shall adopt any rules necessary
14 to comply with or administer ss. 409.901-409.920 and all rules
15 necessary to comply with federal requirements. In addition,
16 the Department of Children and Family Services shall adopt and
17 accept transfer of any rules necessary to carry out its
18 responsibilities for receiving and processing Medicaid
19 applications and determining Medicaid eligibility, and for
20 assuring compliance with and administering ss. 409.901-409.906
21 as such sections relate to those responsibilities.
22 Section 3. Section 409.953, Florida Statutes, is
23 created to read:
24 409.953 Rulemaking authority.--The Department of
25 Children and Family Services shall adopt rules pursuant to
26 chapter 120 as necessary to establish and carry out
27 eligibility requirements for the Refugee Assistance Program.
28 Section 4. Section 414.085, Florida Statutes, is
29 amended to read:
30 414.085 Income eligibility standards.--For purposes of
31 program simplification and effective program management,
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1 certain income definitions, as outlined in the food stamp
2 regulations at 7 C.F.R. s. 273.9, shall be applied to the
3 WAGES Program as determined by the department to be consistent
4 with federal law regarding temporary cash assistance and
5 Medicaid for needy families, except as to the following:
6 (1) Participation in the WAGES Program shall be
7 limited to those families whose gross family income is equal
8 to or less than 130 percent of the federal poverty level
9 established in s. 673(2) of the Community Services Block Grant
10 Act, 42 U.S.C. s. 9901(2).
11 (2) Income security payments, including payments
12 funded under part B of Title IV of the Social Security Act, as
13 amended; supplemental security income under Title XVI of the
14 Social Security Act, as amended; or other income security
15 payments as defined by federal law shall be excluded as income
16 unless required to be included by federal law.
17 (3) The first $50 of child support paid to a custodial
18 parent receiving temporary cash assistance may not be
19 disregarded in calculating the amount of temporary cash
20 assistance for the family, unless such exclusion is required
21 by federal law.
22 (4) An incentive payment to a participant authorized
23 by a local WAGES coalition shall not be considered income.
24
25 The department is authorized to adopt rules governing the
26 administration of this section and may establish criteria
27 related to income inclusions, income exclusions, income
28 deductions, budgeting criteria, participant money management,
29 eligibility verification criteria, processing timeframes, and
30 other eligibility criteria that the department deems necessary
31 to implement this section.
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Florida House of Representatives - 2000 HB 2245
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1 Section 5. Subsection (20) is added to section
2 414.095, Florida Statutes, and paragraph (c) is added to
3 subsection (13) of said section, to read:
4 414.095 Determining eligibility for the WAGES
5 Program.--
6 (13) CALCULATION OF LEVELS OF TEMPORARY CASH
7 ASSISTANCE.--
8 (a) Temporary cash assistance shall be calculated
9 based on average monthly gross family income, earned and
10 unearned, less any applicable disregards. The resulting
11 monthly net income amount shall be subtracted from the
12 applicable payment standard to determine the monthly amount of
13 temporary cash assistance.
14 (b) A deduction may not be allowed for child care
15 payments.
16 (c) The department is authorized to adopt rules
17 governing the administration of this subsection and may
18 establish criteria related to type of budgeting, conversion
19 factors, verification of income, treatment of self-employment
20 income, treatment of child support income, and treatment of
21 other sources of income.
22 (20) RULES.--The department is authorized to adopt
23 rules governing the administration of this section and may
24 establish criteria regarding verification requirements and
25 limitations on eligibility.
26 Section 6. Section 414.13, Florida Statutes, is
27 amended to read:
28 414.13 Immunizations.--Each applicant who has a
29 preschool child must begin and complete appropriate childhood
30 immunizations for the child as a condition of eligibility. At
31 the time of application and redetermination of eligibility,
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1 the department shall advise applicants and participants of the
2 availability of childhood immunizations through the county
3 health department. Each participant who has a preschool child
4 must verify compliance with the section. If a participant
5 fails to provide such verification, the child for whom such
6 verification is not provided shall be removed from
7 consideration for purposes of calculating the assistance
8 available to the family. If the child subject to this
9 requirement is the only child in the family, participation in
10 the program shall be terminated until verification of
11 compliance is provided. The department shall waive this
12 requirement if the failure to immunize the child is because of
13 religious reasons or other good cause, as defined in rules
14 adopted by the department.
15 Section 7. Subsection (7) is added to section 414.15,
16 Florida Statutes, to read:
17 414.15 Diversion.--
18 (1) A segment of applicants do not need ongoing
19 temporary cash assistance, but, due to an unexpected
20 circumstance or emergency situation, require some immediate
21 assistance in meeting a financial obligation while they are
22 securing employment or child support. These immediate
23 obligations may include a shelter or utility payment, a car
24 repair to continue employment, or other assistance which will
25 alleviate the applicant's emergency financial need and allow
26 the person to focus on obtaining or continuing employment.
27 (2) Up-front diversion shall involve four steps:
28 (a) Linking applicants with job opportunities as the
29 first option to meet the assistance group's need.
30 (b) Where possible, offering one-time help as an
31 alternative to welfare.
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1 (c) Screening applicants to respond to emergency
2 needs.
3 (d) Performing up-front fraud prevention
4 investigations, if appropriate.
5 (3) Before finding an applicant family eligible for
6 up-front diversion funds, the department must determine that
7 all requirements of eligibility would likely be met.
8 (4) The department shall screen each applicant family
9 on a case-by-case basis for barriers to obtaining or retaining
10 employment. The screening shall identify barriers that, if
11 corrected, may prevent the family from receiving temporary
12 cash assistance on a regular basis. Assistance to overcome a
13 barrier to employment is not limited to cash, but may include
14 vouchers or other in-kind benefits.
15 (5) The diversion payment shall be limited to an
16 amount not to exceed 2 months' temporary cash assistance,
17 based on family size.
18 (6) The family receiving up-front diversion must sign
19 an agreement restricting the family from applying for
20 temporary cash assistance for 3 months, unless an emergency is
21 demonstrated to the department. If a demonstrated emergency
22 forces the family to reapply for temporary cash assistance
23 within 3 months after receiving a diversion payment, the
24 diversion payment shall be prorated over the 2-month period
25 and subtracted from any regular payment of temporary cash
26 assistance for which the applicant may be eligible.
27 (7) The department is authorized to adopt rules
28 governing the administration of this section and may establish
29 guidelines related to screening criteria, referrals to
30 community resources, restrictions on receipt of up-front
31 diversion and transitional services, definitions of emergency
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1 services, verification requirements, and processing
2 timeframes.
3 Section 8. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
4 law.
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7 HOUSE SUMMARY
8
Provides rulemaking authority for the Department of
9 Children and Family Services relating to supported living
services for developmentally disabled persons, the
10 Medicaid program, the Refugee Assistance Program, and
provisions of the WAGES Program relating to income
11 eligibility standards, temporary cash assistance,
required immunizations, and diversion payments.
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