Senate Bill 2792

AN ACT TO REQUIRE ADULT APPLICANTS FOR PUBLIC BENEFITS IN MISSISSIPPI TO COMPLY WITH MANDATORY COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE; TO PROVIDE THAT ANY SUCH PERSON WHO DOES NOT COMPLY SHALL BE INELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE PUBLIC ASSISTANCE FOR A PERIOD OF TIME BASED ON THE SERVICES OF NONCOMPLIANCE; TO PROVIDE PROCEDURES AND EXCEPTIONS FOR SUCH MANDATORY COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAMS TO BE DEVELOPED BY THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES; TO PROVIDE CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR WILLFUL VIOLATIONS OF SUCH REQUIREMENTS; TO MAKE IT UNLAWFUL FOR ANY STATE AGENCY TO PROVIDE ANY PUBLIC BENEFIT IN VIOLATION OF SUCH REQUIREMENTS; TO AMEND SECTION 43-17-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO SPECIFICALLY REQUIRE THE DIVISION OF MEDICAID, THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, THE OFFICE OF EMPLOYMENT SECURITY AND THE MISSISSIPPI HOUSING AUTHORITIES TO REQUIRE APPLICANTS OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS TO COMPLY WITH MANDATORY COMMUNITY SERVICE AS REQUIRED UNDER THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) Except as provided in subsection (7) of this section or where exempted by federal law, on or after July 1, 2014, any natural person eighteen (18) years of age or older who has applied for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits shall be required to participate in a community service program administered by the Mississippi Department of Human Services.

(2) The State Department of Human Services, in conjunction with the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, shall establish and administer a community service program with such standards and procedures deemed necessary to accomplish the requirements of this section. The State Department of Human Services shall establish a minimum number of hours of regulated community service to be required for persons receiving TANF benefits, to be determined by the age of the public benefit recipient, and which shall be a minimum of twenty (20) hours of community service per week for adult recipients. The Department of Human Services shall, on a monthly basis, issue a list of nonprofit 501(c)(3) programs which are eligible for community service work requirements under this section, and no eligible nonprofit program shall be required to accept a recipient of public assistance for community service but may be encouraged to do so. Volunteer service at a public or private school shall qualify for mandatory community service requirements under this section. Volunteer service at a church where the recipient of public assistance is a member shall not qualify for mandatory community service requirements under this section. The State Department of Human Services shall issue regulations prescribing forms and procedures for the verification of community service requirements by the TANF recipients.

(3) Any person receiving TANF benefits who does not comply with mandatory community service requirements shall be ineligible to receive the benefits for a period of time to be enforced by the agency head as follows:

(a) For the first noncompliance, a period of ninety (90) days;

(b) For the second noncompliance, a period of one hundred eighty (180) days; and

(c) For the third and subsequent noncompliance, a period of one (1) year, after which time the person shall be required to submit to a mandatory community service program before the person will be eligible to receive such TANF benefits.

(4) Any person receiving TANF benefits who refuses to submit to a mandatory community service program requirements shall be ineligible to receive such benefits for a period of one (1) year.

(5) This section shall be enforced without regard to race, religion, gender, ethnicity or national origin.

(6) Mandatory community service requirements under this section shall not be required:

(a) For a child under the age of sixteen (16);

(b) For a child age sixteen (16) to eighteen (18) who is attending elementary or secondary school full time;

(c) For a recipient who has medical documentation of being disabled or medical documentation of an inability to participate in employment or the mandatory community service program for more than ninety (90) days because of a mental or physical condition. An individual is not disabled for purposes of this paragraph if substance abuse is a contributing factor material to the determination of disability;

(d) For a recipient aged sixty-five (65) or older;

(e) For a parent with a child under the age of sixteen (16) if that child is in the home or a mother for postpartum recovery up to sixty (60) days after giving birth if that child is not in the home;

(f) For a pregnant recipient who, based on medical documentation, is severely restricted in her ability to participate in the mandatory community service program activities for the duration of the pregnancy;

(g) For the spouse of a recipient who is verified as disabled and living in the home with the spouse if it is verified that the spouse is needed in the home full time due to the extent of medical care required. An exemption under this subdivision shall not exceed a period of three hundred sixty-five (365) days without a review by a department caseworker;

(h) For a parent of a child who is verified as disabled and living in the home with the parent if it is verified that the parent is needed in the home due to the extent of medical care required. If the child attends school, the parent may be referred to the mandatory community service program with limitations. An exemption under this subdivision shall not exceed a period of three hundred sixty-five (365) days without a review by a department caseworker.

(7) It shall be unlawful for the Department of Human Services to provide any TANF benefits, in violation of this section. The Department of Human Services shall provide an annual report with respect to its compliance with this section.

(8) Any and all errors and significant delays caused by complying with this section shall be reported to the Governor who will monitor mandatory community service requirement errors and significant delays and report yearly on such errors and significant delays to ensure that the application of this section is not wrongfully denying benefits to legal residents of Mississippi.

(9) The provisions of this section shall be implemented after the date that the State Department of Human Services has received all federal waivers that are necessary to implement the provisions of this section from the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

(10) The Department of Human Services may promulgate rules in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act identifying exemptions under this section. The Executive Director of the State Department of Human Services may grant exemptions for extenuating circumstances beyond the exemptions provided for in this section. The department shall annually provide to the Legislature, at the same time as the Department of Human Services Budget Proposal, a report of the number of exemptions issued under this section and the individual reason for those exemptions.

SECTION 2. Section 43-17-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-17-1. (1) The State of Mississippi hereby accepts all of the mandatory provisions and benefits, with the exception of those provisions under which the state may exercise its options, of Title I of an act passed by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, entitled: "The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193)," and known as the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program.

(2) The Department of Human Services shall have all necessary authority to cooperate with the federal government in the administration of Public Law 104-193 and all subsequent federal amendments thereto, to administer any legislation pursuant thereto enacted by the State of Mississippi, and to administer the funds provided by the federal government and the State of Mississippi under the provisions of Section 43-17-1 et seq., for providing temporary assistance for needy families with minor children. The Department of Human Services shall have full authority to formulate state plans consistent with state law as necessary to administer and operate federal grant funds which provide temporary assistance for needy families with minor children under Title IV-A of the federal Social Security Act. The Department of Human Services shall identify in any state plan submitted to implement the TANF program those requirements or restrictions, including persons excluded from program participation which are required under federal law, and those program requirements or restrictions which the federal law authorizes but does not require.

(3) Any funds received by the State of Mississippi under the provisions of Public Law 104-193 shall be subject to appropriation by the Legislature and consistent with the terms and conditions required under such appropriation.

(4) The purpose of the Mississippi Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program shall be to:

(a) Provide assistance to needy families so that children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives when such care is beneficial and may be monitored on a random basis by the Department of Human Services or the State Department of Health;

(b) End the dependence of needy families on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work and marriage through, among other things, job placement, job training and job retention;

(c) Prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies and establish annual numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of these pregnancies;

(d) Encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families; and

(e) Prevent program fraud and abuse.

(5) The Department of Human Services shall develop outcome and output indicators for each program established under the authority of this section. These measures shall provide legislators and administrators with information which measures the success or failure of the department in implementing the programs implemented under the authority of this section. The department shall annually report to the Legislature the outputs and outcomes of these programs, with the first report due by December 15, 1997. Such reports shall include recommendations for making programs more effective or efficient which can be effected in accordance with federal law.

(6) Assistance may be granted under this chapter to any dependent child and a caretaker relative who are living in a suitable family home meeting the standards of care and health and work requirements fixed by the laws of this state, and the rules and regulations of the State Department of Human Services.

(7) The division, in conjunction with the Mississippi Department of Human Services, shall require compliance with mandatory community service programs, for all applicants for assistance and for all categories of recipients pursuant to the requirements of Section 1 of this act.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.