Subdivision 1.Minor child or pregnant woman.

The assistance unit must include at least one minor child or a pregnant woman. If a minor child is a recipient of Supplemental Security Income or Minnesota supplemental aid, the assistance unit is eligible for MFIP, but the needs of the minor child receiving Supplemental Security Income or Minnesota supplemental aid must not be taken into account when the county agency determines the amount of the assistance payment to be paid to the assistance unit.

Subd. 2.Physical presence.

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Terms Used In Minnesota Statutes 256J.13

  • Absent parent: means a minor child's parent who does not live in the same home as the child. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Agency: has the meaning given in section 256P. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Applicant: means a person who has submitted to a county agency an application and whose application has not been acted upon, denied, or voluntarily withdrawn. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Application: means the submission by or on behalf of a family to a county agency of a completed, signed, and dated form, prescribed by the commissioner, that indicates the desire to receive assistance. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Caregiver: means a minor child's birth or adoptive parent or parents and stepparent who live in the home with the minor child. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Family: includes :

    (1) the following individuals who live together: a minor child or a group of minor children related to each other as siblings, half siblings, stepsiblings, or adoptive siblings, together with their natural, adoptive parents, stepparents, or caregiver as defined in subdivision 11; and

    (2) a pregnant woman with no other children. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08

  • Home: means the primary place of residence used by a person as the base for day-to-day living and does not include locations used as mail drops. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Income: means cash or in-kind benefit, whether earned or unearned, received by or available to an applicant or participant that is not property under section 256P. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • MFIP: means the assistance program authorized in this chapter. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Minor: means an individual under the age of 18. See Minnesota Statutes 645.451
  • Minor child: means a child who is living in the same home of a parent or other caregiver, is not the parent of a child in the home, and is either less than 18 years of age or is under the age of 19 years and is a full-time student in a secondary school or pursuing a full-time secondary level course of vocational or technical training designed to fit students for gainful employment. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Month: means a calendar month and "year" means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; and "year" is equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
  • Parent: means a child's biological or adoptive parent who is legally obligated to support that child. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Participant: includes any of the following:

    (1) a person who is currently receiving cash assistance or the food portion available through MFIP;

    (2) a person who withdraws a cash or food assistance payment by electronic transfer or receives and cashes an MFIP assistance check or food coupons and is subsequently determined to be ineligible for assistance for that period of time is a participant, regardless whether that assistance is repaid;

    (3) the caregiver relative and the minor child whose needs are included in the assistance payment;

    (4) a person in an assistance unit who does not receive a cash and food assistance payment because the case has been suspended from MFIP; and

    (5) a person who receives cash payments under family stabilization services under section 256J. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08

  • Person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44

A minor child and a caregiver must live together except as provided in the following paragraphs.

(a) The physical presence requirement is met when a minor child is required to live away from the caregiver’s home to meet the need for educational curricula that cannot be met by, but is approved by, the local public school district, the home is maintained for the minor child’s return during periodic school vacations, and the caregiver continues to maintain responsibility for the support and care of the minor child.

(b) The physical presence requirement is met when an applicant caregiver or applicant minor child is away from the home due to illness or hospitalization, when the home is maintained for the return of the absent family member, the absence is not expected to last more than six months beyond the month of departure, and the conditions of clause (1), (2), or (3) apply:

(1) when the minor child and caregiver lived together immediately prior to the absence, the caregiver continues to maintain responsibility for the support and care of the minor child, and the absence is reported at the time of application;

(2) when the pregnant mother is hospitalized or out of the home due to the pregnancy; or

(3) when the newborn child and mother are hospitalized at the time of birth.

(c) The absence of a caregiver or minor child does not affect eligibility for the month of departure when the caregiver or minor child received assistance for that month and lived together immediately prior to the absence. Eligibility also exists in the following month when the absence ends on or before the tenth day of that month. A temporary absence of a caregiver or a minor child which continues beyond the month of departure must not affect eligibility when the home is maintained for the return of the absent family member, the caregiver continues to maintain responsibility for the support and care of the minor child, and one of clauses (1) to (7) applies:

(1) a participant caregiver or participant child is absent due to illness or hospitalization, and the absence is expected to last no more than six months beyond the month of departure;

(2) a participant child is out of the home due to placement in foster care as defined in sections 260B.007, subdivision 7, and 260C.007, subdivision 18, when the placement will not be paid under title IV-E of the Social Security Act, and when the absence is expected to last no more than six months beyond the month of departure;

(3) a participant minor child is out of the home for a vacation, the vacation is not with an absent parent, and the absence is expected to last no more than two months beyond the month of departure;

(4) a participant minor child is out of the home due to a visit or vacation with an absent parent, the home of the minor child remains with the caregiver, the absence meets the conditions of this paragraph and the absence is expected to last no more than two months beyond the month of departure;

(5) a participant caregiver is out of the home due to a death or illness of a relative, incarceration, training, or employment search and suitable arrangements have been made for the care of the minor child, or a participant minor child is out of the home due to incarceration, and the absence is expected to last no more than two months beyond the month of departure;

(6) a participant caregiver and a participant minor child are both absent from Minnesota due to a situation described in clause (5), except for incarceration, and the absence is expected to last no more than one month beyond the month of the departure; or

(7) a participant minor child has run away from home, and another person has not made application for that minor child, assistance must continue for no more than two months following the month of departure.