Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) allows for a single custodial parent caring for a child under 12 months of age to be exempt from a work activity for a maximum of 12 months.  Missouri Rule and Regulation 13 CSR 40-2.315 allows this exemption for child under 12 months with no time limit. Exemption Code 02 has been developed to be able to identify those individuals who have received exemption code 01 for more than 12 months.

Exemption code 02 can only be generated by the system.

These exempt individuals are subject to the sixty (60) month lifetime limit on receipt of Temporary Assistance.

Exemption code 01-"Custodial Caretaker of a Child Under 12 Months of Age" is allowed for a custodial caretaker that is responsible for the care of the child under 12 months of age in the household.  The system tracks the number of months the exemption code 01 is being allowed for the payee.  Once the 12 month maximum is reached, the system will automatically change from exemption code "01" to exemption code "02".

In some cases the child under 12 months of age may not be included on the Temporary Assistance file.  When this occurs, a notice will be sent to the worker to confirm the payee continues to be responsible for the care of a child in the household.  The worker should review the case, determine the correct work requirement code and respond to validate system update.  It is imperative that work requirement codes are accurate.

INITIAL SYSTEM UPDATE

An initial report will be provided to each county for review.  After the initial clean-up of the system, workers will be notified monthly on cases that are claiming exemption 01 for more than 12 months and there is no child under the age of 12 months active on the Temporary Assistance case.  Instructions will be provided at that time how to respond to validate system update.

CODE SHEETS

Add exemption code 02-"Custodial Caretaker of a Child Under 12 Months of Age for MORE Than 12 months" to the IMU5 Code Sheet (4-99) under Field 13P2 EXEMPT REASONS.  Also add exemption code 02 to the Case Management Code Sheet (7-00) under EXEMPTIONS.

MANUAL UPDATE

Manual updates will be attached to memorandum IM-6 dated January 12, 2001, Permanently Disabled Individuals (Exemption Code 06).
 

• Review this memorandum with appropriate staff.

 
• Respond IMMEDIATELY to the Temporary Assistance Unit when notices of change from exemption code "01" to "02" is received.

 
• Add exemption code 02-"Custodial Caretaker of a Child Under 12 Months of Age for MORE Than 12 months" to the IMU5 Code Sheet (4-99) and to the Case Management Code Sheet (7-00).