PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 2195, 2274 PRINTER'S NO. 2324
No. 1720 Session of 1983
INTRODUCED BY WACHOB, BARBER, HOEFFEL, LASHINGER, GREENWOOD,
RICHARDSON, MANDERINO, O'DONNELL, ITKIN, OLIVER, PERZEL,
KUKOVICH, KASUNIC, HARPER, FATTAH, MICHLOVIC, TELEK,
RAPPAPORT, DeWEESE, STUBAN, WIGGINS, ZWIKL, WOZNIAK,
AFFLERBACH, KOWALYSHYN, LESCOVITZ, BATTISTO, TRUMAN,
R. C. WRIGHT, PISTELLA, PRESTON, IRVIS, CARN AND LEVIN,
NOVEMBER 16, 1983
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, DECEMBER 12, 1983
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31, No.21), entitled "An
2 act to consolidate, editorially revise, and codify the public
3 welfare laws of the Commonwealth," further providing for
4 eligibility for benefits; AND AUTHORIZING ADDITIONAL PUBLIC <--
5 ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS ON ACCOUNT OF OR ON BEHALF OF PREGNANT
6 WOMEN.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. Section 405.1(e) of the act of June 13, 1967
10 (P.L.31, No.21), known as the Public Welfare Code, amended April
11 8, 1982 (P.L.231, No.75), is amended and the section is amended
12 by adding a clause to read:
13 Section 405.1. Work Registration Program.--* * *
14 (e) The department shall, within twelve months of the
15 effective date of this act, establish a Statewide program which
16 will have as its primary purpose, the obtaining of bona fide
17 employment for non-exempt assistance applicants and recipients.
1 The program may be substituted for the registration required by
2 subsection (a). The program shall include, but not be limited to
3 referral to private employment agencies under contract with the
4 department and the establishment of an employment officer in
5 county board of assistance offices. Persons participating in
6 educational or vocational training programs or sheltered
7 workshops shall not be required to participate in this program
8 if it interferes with the training program.
9 * * *
10 (i) The department shall provide funds to reasonably cover
11 the cost of transportation needed for a recipient or applicant
12 to fulfill the requirements of this section.
13 Section 2. Section 432(3) of the act, amended April 8, 1982
14 (P.L.231, No.75), is amended to read:
15 Section 432. Eligibility.--Except as hereinafter otherwise
16 provided, and subject to the rules, regulations, and standards
17 established by the department, both as to eligibility for
18 assistance and as to its nature and extent, needy persons of the
19 classes defined in clauses (1), (2), and (3) shall be eligible
20 for assistance:
21 * * *
22 (3) Other persons who are citizens of the United States, or
23 legally admitted aliens and who are chronically needy or
24 transitionally needy persons. A person who meets the income and
25 resource requirements for general assistance shall be classified
26 as either chronically needy or transitionally needy.
27 (i) Chronically needy persons are those persons chronically
28 in need who may be eligible for an indeterminate period as a
29 result of medical, social or related circumstances and shall be
30 limited to:
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1 (A) A child who is under age eighteen [or who is attending a
2 secondary or equivalent vocational or technical school full-time
3 and may reasonably be expected to complete the program before
4 reaching age nineteen].
5 (B) A person who is over forty-five years of age.
6 (C) A person who has a serious [physical or mental] handicap
7 which [prevents him or her from working in any substantial
8 gainful activity as determined in accordance with standards
9 established by the department] is a substantial barrier to
10 employment such as a physical or mental disability or
11 incapacity, learning disability, emotional disturbance,
12 illiteracy, inability to speak or understand English, or a
13 physical or mental condition which requires maintenance
14 medication. The department shall establish standards to
15 determine a serious handicap. The department may require that
16 documentation of disability or handicap be submitted from a
17 physician or psychologist and shall assist a person who appears
18 to have such a handicap to obtain needed documentation. The
19 department may also order at the department's expense a person
20 to submit to an independent examination as a condition of
21 receiving assistance under this clause. The department shall
22 determine eligibility within thirty days from the date of
23 application. Persons discharged from mental institutions shall
24 be classified as chronically needy [in accordance with <--
25 department regulations]. <--
26 (D) A person who is a caretaker. This category of persons
27 shall include persons whose presence is required in the home to
28 care for [another person as determined in accordance with
29 department regulations] a child under age eighteen or an adult
30 who needs care due to age, disability or illness.
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1 (E) A person suffering from drug or alcohol abuse who is
2 currently undergoing active treatment in an approved program. No
3 individual shall qualify as chronically needy under this clause
4 for more than nine months.
5 (F) A person who is employed full-time and who does not have
6 earnings in excess of current grant levels or a person who is
7 employed in a sheltered workshop and does not receive earnings
8 in excess of current grant levels.
9 (G) Any person who is ineligible for unemployment
10 compensation and whose income falls below the assistance
11 allowance level as a result of a natural disaster as determined
12 by the department.
13 (H) Any person who has previously been employed part time or <--
14 full time for at least forty-eight months consecutively or
15 nonconsecutively out of the previous eight years and does not
16 qualify for or has exhausted his or her unemployment
17 compensation benefits prior to applying for assistance.
18 (I) Any person who does not otherwise qualify as chronically
19 needy, and who is receiving general assistance on the date this
20 section is enacted into law and who has not refused a bona fide
21 job offer or otherwise failed to comply with all employment
22 requirements of this act and regulations promulgated thereunder.
23 Such person must comply with all employment requirements of this
24 act and regulations promulgated thereunder. If after the date
25 this section is enacted into law a person's general assistance
26 grants are terminated, then that person may not subsequently
27 qualify for general assistance under this clause except when
28 such person has been terminated from employment through no fault
29 of his own and has not met the minimum credit week
30 qualifications of the act of December 5, 1936 (2nd Sp.Sess.,
19830H1720B2324 - 4 -
1 1937 P.L.2897, No.1), known as the "Unemployment Compensation
2 Law." If it is determined that the classification of persons
3 according to their status on the date of enactment as provided
4 in this clause is invalid, then the remainder of this act shall
5 be given full force and effect as if this clause had been
6 omitted from this act, and individuals defined in this clause
7 shall be considered transitionally needy if otherwise eligible.
8 No person shall qualify for general assistance under this clause
9 after December 31, 1982.
10 (J) A pregnant woman unless eligible for aid to dependent
11 children.
12 (K) A person who as a consequence of abuse by spouse,
13 companion or family member, does not have access to financial
14 support either through withholding by the abuser, separation
15 from the abuser or loss of employment, to recover from or avoid
16 victimization and is receiving assistance from a spouse or
17 sexual abuse agency or program.
18 (L) A person separated from the military service within the
19 last twenty-four months and ineligible for unemployment
20 compensation benefits.
21 (M) A person who is actively participating in an educational
22 or vocational training program designed to improve employability
23 which can be completed in a period not to exceed two years. The
24 department shall establish standards for educational and
25 vocational training programs.
26 (N) A person who for three or more consecutive years has
27 worked for his or her family in the family home; is not
28 gainfully employed or is underemployed; has had or would have
29 difficulty finding employment; and has depended on the income of
30 a family member and has lost that income as the result of
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1 separation, divorce or the death or disability of that family
2 member.
3 (O) Unemployed parents of a child under age eighteen who are
4 providing care for the child and who do not qualify for Aid to
5 Families with Dependent Children.
6 (P) Parents of children in foster care who are receiving
7 child welfare services.
8 (ii) Assistance for chronically needy persons shall continue
9 as long as the person remains eligible. Redeterminations shall
10 be conducted on at least an annual basis and persons capable of
11 work, even though otherwise eligible for assistance to the
12 chronically needy, would be required to register for employment
13 and accept employment if offered as a condition of eligibility
14 except as otherwise exempt under section 405.1.
15 (iii) Transitionally needy persons are those persons who are
16 otherwise eligible for general assistance but do not qualify as
17 chronically needy and are certified as fully employable by the
18 Office of Vocational Rehabilitation in the Department of Labor
19 and Industry. Assistance for transitionally needy persons shall
20 be authorized [only once in any twelve-month period in an amount
21 not to exceed the amount of ninety days' assistance] for up to
22 ninety days in a twelve-month period and need not be received
23 consecutively.
24 * * *
25 SECTION 3. THE ACT IS AMENDED BY ADDING A SECTION TO READ: <--
26 SECTION 438. PREGNANT WOMEN.--CASH ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS,
27 EQUAL TO THAT AVAILABLE FOR A SINGLE CHILD SHALL BE MADE ON
28 ACCOUNT OF OR ON BEHALF OF PREGNANT WOMEN. THIS AMOUNT IS TO BE
29 IN ADDITION TO ALL PAYMENTS AND BENEFITS FOR WHICH A RECIPIENT
30 IS OTHERWISE ELIGIBLE. PREGNANT WOMEN SHALL BE TREATED AS
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1 ELIGIBLE FOR AID FOR FAMILIES WITH DEPENDENT CHILDREN AND
2 MEDICAL ASSISTANCE TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT UNDER FEDERAL LAW.
3 Section 3 4. Section 441.1 of the act, added July 31, 1968 <--
4 (P.L.904, No.273), is amended to read:
5 Section 441.1. Persons Eligible for Medical Assistance.--The
6 following persons shall be eligible for medical assistance:
7 (1) Persons who receive or are eligible to receive cash
8 assistance grants under this article[;].
9 (2) Persons who meet the eligibility requirements of this
10 article for cash assistance grants except for citizenship,
11 durational residence and any eligibility condition or other
12 requirement for cash assistance which is prohibited under Title
13 XIX of the Federal Social Security Act[; and].
14 (3) The medically needy.
15 (4) Transitionally needy persons who are not eligible for
16 cash assistance by reason of section 432.3 shall be eligible for
17 medical assistance benefits as if they were receiving cash
18 benefits.
19 Section 4 5. Section 442.1 of the act, amended April 8, 1982 <--
20 (P.L.231, No.75), is amended to read:
21 Section 442.1. The Medically Needy; Determination of
22 Eligibility.--A person shall be considered medically needy if
23 he:
24 (1) Resides in Pennsylvania, regardless of the duration of
25 his residence or his absence therefrom; and
26 (2) Meets the standards of financial eligibility established
27 by the department with the approval of the Governor. In
28 establishing these standards the department shall take into
29 account (i) the funds certified by the Budget Secretary as
30 available for medical assistance for the medically needy; (ii)
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1 pertinent Federal legislation and regulations; and (iii) the
2 cost of living. [Transitionally needy persons who are not
3 eligible for cash assistance by reason of section 432(3)(iii)
4 shall be considered medically needy if otherwise eligible].
5 Section 5 6. This act shall take effect in 30 days. <--
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