Bill > A3324

Introduced Session

This bill would revise the requirements for cash assistance benefits under the Work First New Jersey (WFNJ) program. The bill revises language setting forth the general purposes and goals of the WFNJ program to provide that the purpose of the program is to provide recipients with the opportunities, training, and work skills needed to help elevate them out of poverty. The bill removes certain language concerning how the program interacts with young parents and how the system can be disruptive to the family structure, as well as language stating that the program is consistent with federal law by including a time limit on benefits, work requirements, enhanced measures to determine paternity, enhanced child support collection, sanctions for noncompliance with program requirements, incentives for teenage parents to complete school, and restrictions on eligibility for aliens. The bill additionally removes language providing that WFNJ benefits will only be available when other forms of support and maintenance are unavailable. The bill expands the work requirements under the program to promote the use of educational, training, work-study, internship, and other opportunities that will lead to the recipient's removal from, and sustainable avoidance of, poverty. Recipients will be permitted to forgo work opportunities for good cause or for other opportunities that will better enable the recipient to emerge from, and sustainably avoid, poverty. The bill requires that good cause be considered broadly in consideration of the recipient's health, safety, family needs, financial considerations, and other factors determined by the commissioner. The bill removes a requirement that recipients continuously and actively seek employment. The bill reduces the hourly requirement for work activity from 40 hours per week to 30 hours per week, and provides that the maximum aggregate requirement is 20 hours per week for assistance units with a child under six years of age. Current law provides for a deferral from the work activity requirement for parents and relatives caring for a child under 12 weeks of age; the bill extends this deferral to apply to parents and relatives caring for a child under one year of age. The bill provides that an individual who is otherwise eligible for general assistance benefits under WFNJ will not be deemed ineligible for public assistance solely on the grounds that the individual is enrolled in an institution of higher education. The bill will allow recipients engaging in alternative work experience to engage in unpaid work and training with either a for-profit or nonprofit employer; current law only allows placement with nonprofit or charitable employer. An assignment to a for-profit employer may not exceed six months, and will be conditioned on the assignment likely leading to full-time employment with the employer. The bill limits the amount of time a recipient may be assigned to alternative work experience with any employer to no more than six months in a 12-month period. The bill similarly limits the amount of time a recipient may be assigned to community work experience to no more than six months in a 12-month period. The bill adds language clarifying that, when determining whether good cause exists to excuse noncompliance with program requirements, good cause is to be considered broadly in consideration of the recipient's health, safety, family needs, financial considerations, and other factors as determined by the commissioner. Furthermore, the bill clarifies that an applicant will not be deemed ineligible for benefits on the grounds that the applicant's eligibility is the result of a cessation of employment, unless the applicant intentionally and voluntarily leaves employment, without good cause, within 30 days prior to the date of application for benefits, for the sole purpose of qualifying for WFNJ benefits. Under current law, an applicant shall not be eligible for benefits when the applicant's eligibility is the result of a voluntary cessation of employment without good cause, as determined by the commissioner, within 90 days prior to the date of application for benefits. The bill will expand the earned income disregard for the purposes of the program. Current law provides that, for recipients employed 20 or more hours a week, and certain recipients with a disability who are unable to work more than 20 hours per week, 100 percent of earned income is disregarded for the first month in which it would be counted as earned income; the disregard drops to 75 percent for the next six consecutive months after that, and to 50 percent for each consecutive month of employment after that. In the case of recipients working less than 20 hours per month, the disregard is 100 percent for the first full month of employment and 50 percent for each continuous month of employment after that. The bill revises the earned income disregard to allow a 100 percent disregard for the first two full months of employment in which the earned income would be counted. This income disregard applies to all employment, regardless of the number of hours worked. The disregard would then drop to 75 percent for six cumulative months of employment, and to 50 percent for each month of employment thereafter. If a recipient loses employment then becomes reemployed, the two months of 100 percent income disregard and the six months of 75 percent income may be reapplied no more than once every 12-months; otherwise, the 50 percent income disregard will apply. The bill revises the eligibility criteria for aliens, which currently makes various distinctions on who is eligible based on the individual's date of entry into the United States, country of origin, length of time in the United States, whether the individual is a veteran, whether the individual is a victim of domestic violence, and whether the individual has satisfied certain work requirements, among other factors. The bill revises the term to refer to "eligible immigrants" and provide that the term applies to all immigrants who otherwise meet program requirements and are lawfully present in the United States. The term will include individuals who are "qualified aliens" or "lawfully present" for the purposes of federal law, individuals granted relief from federal immigration laws under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and any other non-citizen or non-national of the United States who is otherwise authorized to live in the United States. The bill revises the requirements to provide additional supportive services to program recipients. Current law provides that assistance may be provided as a last resort when no other source of support is available. The bill would revise this standard to allow for the provision of additional services in appropriate circumstances, as determined by the commissioner. Currently, additional assistance is limited to child care services, transportation assistance, an allowance for work-related expenses, and extended Medicaid eligibility. The bill provides that recipients receiving parenting support services are to be provided with educational materials, referrals, and other support to identify, access, and enroll in quality child care services for their dependent children. The bill requires that, when a recipient has reached 24 months of benefits, welfare agencies are to offer additional case management and supportive services to the recipient, based on an assessment of the barriers to the recipient securing employment. The bill provides that the full amount of child support provided to the assistance unit for which federal reimbursement is waived is to pass through to the unit. Child support that passes through to the unit will not count as income. The bill also excludes federal income tax refunds, State income tax refunds, homestead rebates, and other sources as determined by the Commissioner via regulation from the definition of income. In addition to revising the definition of income, the bill also provides that the definition of resources is not to include: 1) funds in an individual retirement account established under State or federal law, or interest or dividend earnings from such an account, for any recipient who has not reached full retirement age; and 2) any retirement accounts excluded from consideration as a resource in the Supplemental Nutrition Program in the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008. Furthermore, if an applicant or recipient meets the resource eligibility standards to qualify for benefits under the State Medicaid program or the NJ FamilyCare program, the applicant or recipient is to be deemed to meet the resource eligibility standards to qualify for benefits under the Work First New Jersey program. The bill also clarifies that the period of time an applicant is to be deemed ineligible for benefits due to a voluntary assignment or transfer of income or resources within one year prior to the time of application for benefits is not to exceed the value of the income or resource divided by the monthly standard of need, or twelve months, whichever value is less. Income and resources received by a recipient are not be used to prospectively disqualify a recipient from assistance and are to be considered only in the month received and at the time of any new application except in the case of a voluntary assignment or transfer of income or resources. The bill also clarifies that the agreement a recipient must sign stating that repayment of benefits will be made, in the event of receipt of income or resources, includes the receipt of General Assistance repayment subject to a Supplemental Security Income Interim Assistance Reimbursement Agreement, but excludes repayment from unemployment benefits and other government benefits. The bill adds a provision to existing law, concerning the sanctions that may be imposed for noncompliance with program requirements, to specify that any sanctions imposed are to be applied only to the pro-rata share of an adult recipient who is noncompliant, and will not apply to any other adult or child members of the assistance unit who are compliant with program requirements, which members will continue to be eligible for their full pro-rata share of cash assistance benefits. If the cases of all the adult members of the assistance unit are closed for noncompliance, the dependent child members will still receive their pro-rata share of assistance benefits as a dependent child-only unit. The bill removes provisions in existing law that outline a schedule of sanctions, beyond the reduction of the pro-rata share of the noncompliant adult for one month. Under the bill, if the adult fails to come into compliance by the end of the sanction month, the adult's pro-rata share shall continue to be suspended until the adult demonstrates an intent to comply. The bill also increases the age of a dependent child from 16 to 19 for which failure to comply with the requirement for school attendance or other work activity participation, without good cause, would result in a sanction. Further, the bill provides for a specific reduction, 50 percent, in the dependent child's pro-rata share of cash assistance benefits for one month for such non-compliance. Under current law, a household receiving emergency assistance benefits is to continue to receive benefits for one month immediately following the case closure. The bill expands this to also include cash assistance cases that are suspended. The bill removes provisions of existing law that allow funding for a WFNJ-funded appropriate living arrangement to continue for one month immediately following a case closure, if the recipient is less than 18 years of age and is in the living arrangement because the recipient is unable to live with a parent, guardian, or other adult relative. The bill removes provisions of existing law that render an entire assistance unit ineligible for cash assistance benefits for a period of two months if an adult recipient in the unit voluntarily quits a job without good cause. Under the bill, a sanctioned assistance unit or recipient that returns to compliance within 60 days is to be provided the balance of any benefit amounts withheld or reduced during the period in which the assistance unit or recipient was out of compliance, in addition to any amounts to which the assistance unit or recipient is otherwise eligible. Further, a sanctioned assistance unit or recipient that returns to compliance more than 60 days after the sanction date is to be provided the balance of any benefit amounts withheld or reduced during the period after which the assistance unit or recipient demonstrated an intent to comply, in addition to any amounts to which the assistance unit or recipient is otherwise eligible. Ordinarily, recipients are allowed a lifetime total of 60 months of benefits. The bill provides that, in the event any adult in an assistance unit loses eligibility on the grounds that the individual reached the 60-month cap, that loss of eligibility will not affect the eligibility of any other recipient in the assistance unit, including, but not limited to, a minor child who is receiving assistance. Current law provides for certain exceptions to this 60-month limit. The bill revises the exceptions involving employment to provide that they will apply to any form of employment, not just full-time employment. The bill expands the existing exceptions to include any parent of a minor child who was in compliance with program requirements for the six months of enrollment immediately preceding the date the recipient reached the 60-month limit. Under the bill, any benefit received for months during which a State of Emergency or Public Health Emergency exists are not to be considered for purposes of any time limit provisions. Current law also provides for an extension to the 60-month benefit limit, including up to 12 additional months of benefits, in certain cases. The bill allows for an extension under this additional circumstance: the recipient is the parent of a dependent child who is a member of the recipient's household, which recipient has remained in compliance with the requirements of the program for, at a minimum, the six months of enrollment immediately preceding the date the recipient reaches the 60-month time limit. Furthermore the bill also provides that following this 12-month extension, a recipient may receive an additional 12 months of assistance under the same circumstance; or if the recipient meets other criteria, as determined by the commissioner, which criteria demonstrate that the extension is necessary for the recipient to protect the health, safety, or well-being of the family, including but not limited to preservation of family unity. The bill provides that organizations that receive State or local economic incentives will be required to partner with local community organizations to provide work activity opportunities and other appropriate services to WFNJ recipients, including training, work-study opportunities, internships, and job retention and advancement services. The bill removes outdated language in the definition of "dependent child" that required a child in school or vocational training to reasonably be expected to complete the school or training. The bill establishes a new joint reporting requirement for the Commissioner of Human Services and the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development concerning various aspects of the program. The Commissioner of Human Services will be required to make changes to the program based on the data gathered in order to improve the performance of the program. The bill repeals section 3 of P.L.1997, c.14 (C.44:10-46), which concerned benefits for recipients in the State less than 12 months, and which was invalidated by court ruling and currently has no force or effect. Finally, the bill provides for a schedule of increases in WFNJ benefit levels. For the period commencing July 1, 2022 and continuing through July 1, 2026, the benefit level in effect as of the effective date of the bill is to be annually increased by any increase in the consumer price index for all urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W) as calculated by the federal government for the 12 months prior to the March 31 preceding that July 1, plus an additional amount equal to 20 percent of the difference between the benefit level in effect as of the effective date of the bill and 50 percent of the federal poverty level in effect as of the effective date of the bill. Commencing July 1, 2027, the benefit level is to be annually increased by any amount as is necessary to make the benefit level equivalent to at least 50 percent of the federal poverty level in effect on that July 1. Commencing July 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of Human Services is to assess the real cost of living and actual deprivation as reflected in the standard of need established pursuant to section 9 of P.L.1997, c.13 (C.44:10-42), and other cost of self-sufficiency measures. The assessment is to be transmitted to the Legislature by the commissioner for consideration when deciding on appropriations to fund cash assistance benefits to recipients. The bill will take effect 120 days after the date of enactment.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Daniel Benson (D)*,  Angela Mcknight (D)*,  Britnee Timberlake (D)*,  Mila Jasey (D),  Angelica Jimenez (D),  Raj Mukherji (D),  Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D), 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Human Services Committee (on 03/07/2022)

Official Document