Revision: Jan. 20, 2023, 9:37 a.m.
SB 172-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2023 SESSION
23-0854
06/04
SENATE BILL 172-FN
AN ACT allowing court-appointed guardians to receive Temporary Assistance to Needy Families benefits.
SPONSORS: Sen. Carson, Dist 14; Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20; Sen. Whitley, Dist 15; Sen. Rosenwald, Dist 13; Sen. Soucy, Dist 18; Rep. Long, Hills. 23; Rep. McMahon, Rock. 17; Rep. W. MacDonald, Rock. 16
COMMITTEE: Health and Human Services
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ANALYSIS
This bill permits court-appointed guardians to receive Temporary Assistance to Needy Families benefits.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
23-0854
06/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Three
AN ACT allowing court-appointed guardians to receive Temporary Assistance to Needy Families benefits.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Public Assistance to Blind, Aged, Or Disabled Persons, and to Dependent Children; Definitions. Amend RSA 167:6, V to read as follows:
V. For purposes hereof, a person shall be eligible for aid to families with dependent children who is a needy child 17 years of age or under or 18 years of age, a full-time student in a secondary school as defined by the commissioner of the department of health and human services, and reasonably expected to complete the program before reaching 19 years of age; who has been deprived of parental support or care by reason of death, continued absence from the home, or physical or mental incapacity of a parent, or the unemployment of his or her parent who is the principal wage-earner; and who is living with his father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, stepsister, first cousin, nephew or niece, uncle, [or] aunt, or court appointed guardian (including relatives of half-blood, relatives of preceding generations as denoted by the prefixes of grand, great, or great-great, adoptive parents and their relatives to the same degree as blood relatives and spouses of the above relatives even after the marriage is terminated by death or divorce) in a place of residence in the state maintained by one or more of such relatives, or a court appointed guardian as his or their home; or who is an otherwise eligible parent or needy caretaker relative with whom such child lives. For purposes of this section, a child who meets the above requirements shall be eligible, even if the child was removed from the home of a relative as a result of a judicial determination and was placed in a foster home and care, when the care and placement of the child are the responsibility of the department of health and human services or another public agency which meets federal requirements and the state plan, and when the child received or would have been eligible to receive aid to families with dependent children in the month in which court proceedings were initiated except that such a child need not have lived with a specified relative. No person shall be eligible to receive such aid while receiving old age assistance, aid to the needy blind, or aid to the permanently and totally disabled.
2 New Hampshire Employment Program and Family Assistance Program; Definitions. Amend RSA 167:78, XXIII to read as follows:
XXIII. "Specified relative" means a father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, stepsister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, or niece (including relatives of half-blood, relatives of preceding generations as denoted by the prefixes of grand, great, or great-great, adoptive parents and their relatives to the same degree as blood relatives, and spouses of the above relatives even after the marriage is terminated by death or divorce) or court appointed guardian who provides care and parental control to a dependent child.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2024.
23-0854
1/5/23
SB 172-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT allowing court-appointed guardians to receive Temporary Assistance to Needy Families benefits.
FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ ] County [ ] Local [ ] None
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| Estimated Increase / (Decrease) | |||
STATE: | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 |
Appropriation | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Expenditures | $0 | $2,106,143 | $2,113,452 | $2,113,452 |
Funding Source: | [ ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ X ] Other - Federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Funds | |||
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METHODOLOGY:
This bill amends RSA 167:6, V to authorize children living with unrelated court appointed guardians to be eligible for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). In addition, the bill adds "court appointed guardian" to the current definition of "specified relative." The Department of Health and Human Services assumes that these changes will result in increased TANF utilization. Based on American Community Survey census data for 2021, NH has a population of 255,370 residents below the age of 18. Of those, 1.8 percent, or 4,597 children, lived with foster parents or other unrelated adults. According to data from the Department's Division for Children, Youth, and Families, 1,100 children are currently placed with foster parents. Therefore, as many as 3,497 children living with unrelated adults could be newly eligible for TANF as a result of this bill.
Despite the number of newly-eligible children identified above, the Department expects only 8.5 percent, or 297 children, will receive TANF as a result of the bill. The Department arrived at this number by calculating that 8.5 percent of currently eligible children living with grandparents receive TANF, and applying that percentage to the population that would be newly eligible under the bill. At an average yearly grant of $7,116, the annual cost for 297 children would be $2,113,452. As the TANF program is fully federally funded, these costs will be 100% federal. Since the bill has an effective date of January 1, 2024, the Department assumes only half of this amount, or $1,056,726, will be spent in FY24. However, other FY24 costs include an upgrade to the Department's New HEIGHTS eligibility system ($999,417) and an increase to the electronic benefits contract ($50,000) for total expenditures of $2,106,143 in FY24.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Department of Health and Human Services