COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 577
(By Senator Walker)
____________
[Originating in the Committee on Finance;
reported February 29, 2000.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections two, three, four, five, six,
seven, eight, nine, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen,
fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, nineteen and twenty, article
nine, chapter nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said
article by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twenty-one, all relating to the West Virginia works act;
amending legislative findings; amending and adding
definitions; deleting obsolete provisions; specifically
authorizing payment for support services; increasing certain
cash assistance to specified at-risk families; providing that
certain activities satisfy the article's work requirement;
conforming specific requirements to federal law; requiring
implementation of a plan to use educational resources of the state for the benefit of program participants; mandating that
support services be provided to assist participants in meeting
work requirements; clarifying existing provisions; increasing
the allowable amount of diversionary assistance; authorizing
public-private partnerships to provide family health insurance
to former participants; providing for confidentiality of
certain records; and establishing a rainy day fund for the
program.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine,
eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen,
nineteen and twenty, article nine, chapter nine of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended and reenacted; and that said article be further amended by
adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty-one, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 9. WEST VIRGINIA WORKS PROGRAM.
§9-9-2. Legislative findings; purpose.
(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that:
(1) The entitlement of any person to receive federal-state
cash assistance is hereby discontinued;
(2) At-risk families are capable of becoming self-supporting;
(3) A reformed assistance program should both expect and assist a parent and caretaker-relatives in at-risk families to
support their dependent children and children for which they are
caretakers;
(4) Every parent or caretaker-relative can exhibit responsible
patterns of behavior so as to be a positive role model;
(5) Every parent or caretaker-relative who receives cash
assistance has a responsibility to participate in an activity to
help them prepare for, obtain and maintain gainful employment;
(6) For a parent or caretaker-relative who receives cash
assistance and for whom full-time work is not feasible,
participation in some activity is expected to further themselves
himself or herself, their his or her family or their his or her
community;
(7) The state should promote the value of work and the
capabilities of individuals;
(8) Job development efforts should enhance the employment
opportunities of participants;
(9) An effective public education system is the key to long-
term self-support Education is the key to achieving and
maintaining life-long self-sufficiency; and
(10) A reformed assistance program should be structured to
achieve a clear set of outcomes; deliver services in an expedient,
effective and efficient manner; and maximize community support for participants. After five years, there is expected to be a decrease
in the following: (i) The number of persons receiving public
assistance; and (ii) the amount of time an individual remains on
public assistance.
(b) The goals of the program are to achieve more efficient and
effective use of public assistance funds; reduce dependency on
public programs by promoting self-sufficiency; and structure the
assistance programs to emphasize employment and personal
responsibility. The program is to be evaluated on the increase in
employment rates in the program areas; the completion of
educational and training programs; the increased compliance in
preventive health activities, including immunizations; and a
decrease in the case-load of division of personnel the department.
§9-9-3. Definitions.
In addition to the rules for the construction of statutes in
section ten, article two, chapter two of this code and the words
and terms defined in section two, article one of this chapter,
unless a different meaning appears from the context:
(a) "At-risk family" means a group of persons living in the
same household, living below the federally designated poverty
level, lacking the resources to become self-supporting and
consisting of a dependent minor child or children living with a
parent, stepparent or caretaker-relative; an "at-risk family" may include an unmarried minor parent and his or her dependent child or
children who live in an adult-supervised setting;
(b) "Beneficiary" or "participant" means any parent or
caretaker-relative in an at-risk family who receives cash
assistance for himself or herself and family members;
(c) "Cash assistance" means temporary assistance for needy
families; or diversionary assistance
(d) "Challenge" means any fact, circumstance or situation that
prevents a person from becoming self-sufficient or from seeking,
obtaining or maintaining employment of any kind, including physical
or mental disabilities, lack of education, testing, training,
counseling, child care arrangements, transportation, medical
treatment or substance abuse treatment;
(e) "Community or personal development" means activities
designed or intended to eliminate challenges to participation in
self-sufficiency activities. These activities are to provide
community benefit and enhance personal responsibility, including,
but not limited to, classes or counseling for learning life skills
or parenting, dependent care, job readiness, volunteer work,
participation in sheltered workshops or substance abuse treatment;
(f) "Department" means the state department of health and
human resources;
(g) "Division" means the division of human services;
(g) "Education and training" means any hours spent regularly
attending and preparing for classes in any approved course of
schooling or training, including job training, high school
equivalency, literacy, English as a second language or vocational
or post-secondary program, including two-year and four-year
programs.
(h) "Income" means money received by any member of an at-risk
family which can be used at the discretion of the household to meet
its basic needs: Provided, That income does not include:
(1) Supplemental security income paid to any member or members
of the at-risk family;
(2) Earnings of minor children; or
(3) Payments received from earned income tax credit or tax
refunds;
(4) Earnings deposited in an individual development account
approved by the department; or
(5) Any moneys specifically excluded from countable income by
federal law;
(i) "Personal responsibility contract" means a written
agreement entered into by the division department and a beneficiary
which establishes the responsibilities and obligations of the
beneficiary;
(j) "Secretary" means the secretary of the state department of health and human resources;
(k) "Subsidized employment" means employment with earnings
provided by an employer who receives a subsidy from the division
department for the creation and maintenance of the employment
position;
(l) "Support services" includes, but is not limited to, the
following services: Child care; medicaid; transportation
assistance; information and referral; resource development services
which includes assisting families to receive child support
enforcement and supplemental security income; family support
services which includes parenting, budgeting and family planning;
relocation assistance; and mentoring services;
(m) "Unsubsidized employment" means employment with earnings
provided by an employer who does not receive a subsidy from the
division department for the creation and maintenance of the
employment position;
(n) "Work" means unsubsidized employment, subsidized
employment, work experience, or community or personal development,
and education and training; and
(o) "Work experience" means unpaid structured work activities
that are provided in an environment where performance expectations
are similar to those existing in unsubsidized employment and which
provide training in occupational areas that can realistically be expected to lead to unsubsidized employment.
§9-9-4. Authorization for program.
(a) The secretary shall conduct the West Virginia works
program in accordance with this article and any applicable
regulations promulgated by the secretary of the federal department
of health and human services in accordance with federal block-grant
funding or similar federal funding stream. This program shall be
implemented to replace welfare assistance programs for at-risk
families in accordance with this article and within federal
requirements; to coordinate the transfer of all applicable state
programs into the temporary assistance to needy families West
Virginia works program; to expend only the funds appropriated by
the Legislature to establish and operate the program or any other
funds available to the program pursuant to any other provisions of
the code or rules; to establish administrative due process
procedures for revocation or termination proceedings; and to
implement such any other procedures as may be necessary to
accomplish the purpose of this article.
(b) The secretary may establish the program as one or more
pilot projects to test the policy being evaluated. Any pilot
project so established is to be consistent with the principles and
goals set forth in this article. The secretary shall determine the
counties in which to implement the provisions of this program, considering a fair representation of both rural and urban areas,
and may vary the program components to test the effectiveness,
efficiency and fiscal impact of each prior to statewide
implementation. The secretary shall structure the initial pilot
program, or programs to include a minimum of fifteen percent of the
state population that qualifies for temporary assistance for needy
families, or any successor program. The pilot program shall
eventually include a minimum of fifteen percent of the participants
eligible in other categories, as funds are available.
(c) (b) The West Virginia works program authorized pursuant to
this act does not create an entitlement to that program or any
services offered within that program, unless entitlement is created
pursuant to a federal law or regulation. The West Virginia works
program, and each component of that program established by this act
or the expansion of any component established pursuant to federal
law or regulation, is subject to the annual appropriation of funds
by the Legislature.
(d) (c) Copies of all rules proposed by the secretary shall
also be filed with the legislative oversight commission on health
and human resources accountability established pursuant to article
twenty-nine-e, chapter sixteen of this code.
(e) In conjunction with the performance evaluation of the
department of health and human resources scheduled during the interim of the Legislature in the year one thousand nine hundred
ninety-seven, the performance evaluation and research division of
the legislative auditor's office shall undertake a statistical
study evaluating the rates at which participants in the pilot
program established under this article move to unsubsidized
employment, subsidized employment and work experience, and report
findings to the joint committee on government operations not later
than the thirtieth day of October, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-seven. The performance evaluation and research division may
review and make recommendations with respect to the methodology
established by the secretary for evaluating the effectiveness,
efficiency and fiscal impact of the pilot project established
pursuant to this section.
(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this
section, the secretary shall implement, not later than the first
day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight,
modifications to the temporary assistance to needy families program
so that the method of calculating the amount of cash assistance for
which a participant's family is eligible, including treatment of
income and assets, does not vary depending on the participant's
county of residence: Provided, That nothing in this subsection may
be construed to require the expansion or statewide implementation
of the program created in this article until such time as the effectiveness, efficiency and fiscal impact of the program is
tested and evaluated.
§9-9-5. West Virginia works program fund.
There is hereby created continued a special account within the
state treasury to be known as the "West Virginia Works Program
Fund". Expenditures from the fund shall be used exclusively to meet
the necessary expenditures of the program, including wage
reimbursements to participating employers, temporary assistance to
needy families, payments for support services, employment-related
child care payments, transportation expenses and administrative
costs directly associated with the operation of the program.
Moneys paid into the account shall be from specific annual
appropriations of funds by the Legislature.
§9-9-6. Program participation.
(a) Unless otherwise noted in this article, all adult
recipients of cash assistance shall be required to participate in
the West Virginia works program in accordance with the provisions
of this article. The level of participation, services to be
delivered and work requirements shall be defined within the terms
of the personal responsibility contract and through rules
established by the secretary.
(b) To the extent funding permits, any individual exempt under
the provisions of section eight of this article may participate in the activities and programs offered through the West Virginia works
program.
(c) Support services other than cash assistance through the
works program may be provided to at-risk families to eliminate the
need for cash assistance.
(d) Cash assistance through the works program may be provided
to an at-risk family if the combined family income, as defined in
subsection (h), section three of this article, is below the income
and asset test levels established by the division department:
Provided, That any adult member of an at-risk family who receives
supplemental security income shall be excluded from the benefit
group: Provided, however, That an at-risk family that includes a
married man and woman and dependent children of either one or both
may receive an additional cash assistance benefit in an amount ten
percent greater than the cash assistance benefit provided to the
same size household in which there are no married adults the amount
of one hundred dollars: Provided further, That an at-risk family
shall receive an additional cash assistance benefit in an amount
equal to the amount of fifty dollars regardless of the amount of
child support collected in a month on behalf of a child or children
of the at-risk family, not to exceed fifty dollars as allowed by
federal law.
§9-9-7. Work requirements.
(a) Unless otherwise exempted by the provisions of section
eight of this article, the West Virginia works program shall
require that anyone who possesses a high school diploma, or its
equivalent, or anyone who is of the age of twenty years or more, to
work or attend an educational or training program for a minimum of
twenty hours per week at least the minimum number of hours per week
required by federal law under the work participation rate
requirements for all families in order to receive any form of cash
assistance. Participation in any education or training activity,
as defined in section three of this article, shall be counted
toward satisfaction of the work requirement imposed by this section
to the extent permissible under federal law and regulation:
Provided, That the participant is making satisfactory progress and
unless it is determined that allowing education to count toward the
required work activities would affect the state's ability to meet
federal work participation rates. In accordance with federal law
or regulation, the work, education and training requirements of
this section are waived for any qualifying participant with a child
under six years of age if the participant is unable to obtain
appropriate and available child care services. In order for any
participant to receive cash assistance, he or she shall enter into
a personal responsibility contracts contract pursuant to the
provisions of section nine of this article.
(b) The department of health and human resources and
representatives of all college and university systems of West
Virginia shall develop and implement a plan to utilize and expand
the programs available at the state's community and technical
colleges, colleges and universities to assist beneficiaries or
participants who are enrolled or wish to become enrolled in two and
four-year degree programs of postsecondary education to meet the
work activity requirements of the federal government or the
provisions of this article section.
(c) On or before the first day of December, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-nine, the department shall submit the plan and any
findings, conclusions and recommendations, together with drafts of
any legislation necessary to effectuate its recommendations, to the
legislative oversight commission on health and human resources for
consideration pursuant to the provisions of section nineteen of
this article.
(c) The secretary shall ensure that all necessary support
services are made available to participants in order to assist them
in meeting the work requirement imposed by this section, including
participation in education and training programs.
§9-9-8. Exemptions.
Participants exempt from the work requirements of the works
program pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be nevertheless are required to develop enter into a personal
responsibility contract. The secretary shall establish by rule
categories of persons exempt, but only from the work requirements
of the program, which. The categories shall include, but are not
limited to, the following:
(a) A parent caring for a dependent child with a
life-threatening illness;
(b) Individuals over the age of sixty years;
(c) Full-time students that who are less than twenty years of
age and are pursuing a high school diploma or its equivalent;
(d) Persons with a physical or mental incapacity or persons
suffering from a temporary debilitating injury lasting more than
thirty days, as defined by the secretary;
(e) Relatives providing in-home care for an individual that
who would otherwise be institutionalized; and
(f) Any woman during the last trimester of pregnancy and the
first six months after the birth of the child but in no case shall
the woman be exempt from the work requirements for more than a
total of six months: Provided, That, in the case of the birth of
the first child to said woman after said woman first becomes a cash
assistance recipient, the woman may be exempt up to the time her
child reaches twelve months of age Any female beneficiary who is
eighteen years of age or older, for a period of twelve months upon the birth of her first child while receiving cash assistance and
for a period of six months upon the birth of any additional child:
Provided, That any period of exemption from the work requirement
may include the last trimester of her pregnancy.
§9-9-9. Personal responsibility contract.
(a) Every eligible adult beneficiary shall participate in a
program orientation and the development, and subsequent revisions,
of a personal responsibility contract. The contract shall be
defined based on the assessed goals and challenges of the
participant:
(1) If the participant has a recent attachment to the work
force, the contract shall include provisions regarding required job
search activities, identified support services, level of benefits
requested and time limitation.
(2) If the participant does not have a recent attachment to
the work force, the contract shall identify the evaluation or
testing activities, and/ or job training activities necessary prior
to job search activities, identified support services, benefits
requested and time limitation.
(3) If it is determined that the participant is not able to
obtain or maintain gainful employment, the contract shall contain
appropriate provisions defining the activities that benefit the
participant, their his or her family or their his or her community.
(4) The participant's contract shall include the requirement
following requirements: That the participant develop and maintain,
with the appropriate health care provider, a schedule of preventive
care for their his or her dependent child or children, including
routine examinations and immunizations; assurance of school
attendance for school-age children under their his or her care;
assurance of properly supervised child care, including after-school
care; and establish establishment of paternity or actively pursue
active pursuit of child support, or both, if applicable and if
deemed considered necessary; and nutrition or other counseling,
parenting or family-planning classes.
(5) If the participant must overcome challenges prior to
employment, the contract shall include a list of the identified
challenges and an individual individualized plan for overcoming the
same them.
(6) If the participant is a teenage parent, the participant he
or she may work, but the contract shall include the requirements
that the participant:
(A) Remain in an educational activity to complete high school,
obtain a general equivalent equivalency diploma or obtain
vocational training and make satisfactory scholastic progress;
(B) Attend parenting classes or participate in a mentorship
program, or both, if appropriate; and
(C) Live at home with his or her parent or guardian or in some
other adult-supervised arrangements if they are he or she is an
unemancipated minor. parents
(7) If the participant is under the age of twenty years and
does not have a high school education diploma or its equivalent,
the contract shall include requirements to participate in mandatory
education or training which, if the participant is unemployed, may
include a return to high school, with satisfactory scholastic
progress required.
(b) In order to receive cash assistance, the participant shall
enter into a personal responsibility contract. If the participant
refuses to sign the personal responsibility contract, the
participant and family members shall be are ineligible to receive
cash assistance: Provided, That a participant who alleges that the
terms of a personal responsibility contract are inappropriate based
on the his or her individual circumstances of the participant may
request and shall be provided a fair and impartial hearing in
accordance with administrative procedures established by the
division department and due process of law. A participant who
signs a personal responsibility contract, or complies with a
personal responsibility contract, does not waive his or her right
to request and receive a due process hearing under this subsection.
(c) Personal responsibility contracts shall be drafted by the division department on a case-by-case basis; take into
consideration the individual circumstances of each beneficiary;
reviewed and reevaluated not less often than every two years
periodically, but not less than on an annual basis; and, in the
discretion of the division department, amended or extended on a
periodic basis.
§9-9-11. Breach of contract; notice; sanctions.
(a) The division department may refuse to extend or renew a
personal responsibility contract and the benefits received by the
beneficiary, or may terminate an existing contract and benefits, if
the division it finds any of the following:
(1) The employment of Fraud or deception by the beneficiary
in applying for or receiving program benefits;
(2) A substantial breach by the beneficiary of the
requirements and obligations set forth in the personal
responsibility contract; or
(3) A violation by the beneficiary of any provision of the
personal responsibility contract, this article, or any rule
promulgated by the secretary pursuant to this article.
(b) In the event the division department determines that a
personal responsibility contract or the benefits received by the
beneficiary are subject to revocation or termination, written
notice of the violation, revocation or termination, and the reason for the revocation or termination, shall be deposited in the United
States mail, postage prepaid and addressed to the beneficiary at
his or her last known address at least thirteen days prior to such
the termination or revocation. Such The notice shall state the
action of the division its reason or reasons for such termination
being taken by the department and grant to the beneficiary a
reasonable opportunity to be heard at a fair and impartial hearing
before the division department in accordance with administrative
procedures established by the division department and due process
of law.
(c) In any hearing granted conducted pursuant to the
provisions of this section, the beneficiary shall maintain has the
burden of proving that his or her benefits were improperly
terminated and shall bear his or her own costs, including attorneys
fees.
(d) The secretary shall determine by rule what constitutes de
minimis violations and those violations subject to sanctions and
maximum penalties. In the event the division department finds that
a beneficiary has violated any provision of this article, of his or
her personal responsibility contract or any applicable division
department rule, the division department shall impose sanctions
against the beneficiary as follows:
(1) For the first noncompliance violation, a one-third reduction of benefits for three months;
(2) For the second noncompliance violation, a two-thirds
reduction in of benefits for three months; and
(3) For the third noncompliance violation, a total termination
of benefits for a minimum period of six months.
(e) For any sanction imposed pursuant to subsection (d) of
this section, if the beneficiary corrects the violation or
otherwise comes into compliance occurs within thirteen days of the
date of the notice of the sanction, the reduction in benefits shall
not be imposed, but the noncompliance violation shall count in
determining the level of sanction to be imposed for any future
noncompliance violation. Once a reduction in benefits is in
effect, it shall remain in effect for the designated time period:
Provided, That if a participant incurs a second noncompliance
sanction during the time period of an imposed first noncompliance
sanction subsequent sanction before the sanction for a previous
violation has expired, the sanctions shall run concurrently: at
the second noncompliance sanction rate Provided, however, That if
during the time period of an imposed second noncompliance sanction,
a third noncompliance occurs, the third noncompliance sanction
shall be imposed and the participant's benefits shall be
terminated. If benefits are terminated, benefits may not be
provided until after the six-month time period and the noncompliance that caused the termination has been rectified or
excused a third violation occurs before the period for a previous
sanction has expired, benefits shall be terminated and may not be
reinstated until the six-month termination period has expired and
the violation which resulted in the third sanction has been either
corrected or excused.
§9-9-12. Diversionary assistance allowance in lieu of monthly cash
assistance.
(a) In order to encourage at-risk families not to apply for
ongoing monthly cash assistance from the state, the secretary may
issue one-time diversionary assistance allowances to families in an
amount not to exceed three the equivalent of four months of cash
assistance in order to enable such the families to become
immediately self-supporting. Provided, That receipt of such
allowance, regardless of amount, shall count as three months of the
sixty months designated under the provisions of section ten of this
article
(b) The secretary shall establish by rule the standards to be
considered in making diversionary assistance allowances.
(c) Nothing in this section shall may be construed to require
that the division department or any assistance issued pursuant to
this section be subject to any of the provisions of chapter
thirty-one or chapter forty-six-a of this code.
§9-9-13. Subsidized employment.
(a) To the extent that resources are available, an employer
may be paid a subsidy by the department for the employment of to
employ a parent or caretaker-relative of an at-risk family if the
employer agrees to hire the works program participant at the end of
the subsidized period. If the employer does not hire the
participant at the end of the subsidized period, the program shall
not use that employer for subsidized employment for the next twelve
months.
(b) If the division department determines that any an employer
establishes has demonstrated a pattern of discharging employees
hired pursuant to the provisions of this article section subsequent
to the expiration of the subsidized period without good cause, the
employer shall no longer be eligible for participation in the
subsidy subsidized employment program for a period to be determined
by the division department.
§9-9-14. Transitional assistance.
The West Virginia works program may provide transitional
assistance in the form of supportive services and allow at-risk
families to retain a portion of their cash assistance when they
have earnings below fifty percent of the federally designated
poverty level. For those at-risk families with earnings between
fifty and one hundred percent of the federally designated poverty level, supportive services may be continued their earnings are
below the federal poverty guideline, if considered appropriate by
the secretary.
§9-9-15. Interagency coordination.
The Legislature encourages the development of a system of
coordinated services, shared information and streamlined
application procedures between the program and the other agencies
within the department to implement the provisions of this article.
The secretary shall require the coordination of activities between
the program and the following agencies:
(a) The child support enforcement division for the purpose of
establishing paternity, promoting cooperation in the pursuit of
child support, encouraging noncustodial parents to get job search
assistance and determining eligibility for cash assistance and
support services;
(b) The bureau of public health for the purpose of determining
appropriate immunization schedules, delivery systems and
verification procedures; and
(c) The bureau of medical services for the purpose of
reporting eligibility for medical assistance and transitional
benefits.
The secretary may require the coordination of procedures and
services with any other agency he or she deems considers necessary to implement this program: Provided, That all agencies
coordinating services with the division department shall, when
provided with access to division department records or information,
abide by state and federal confidentiality requirements including
the provisions of section twenty of this article.
The secretary shall propose any rules, including emergency
rules, necessary for the coordination of various agency activities
in the implementation of this section.
§9-9-16. Intergovernmental coordination.
The commissioner of the bureau of employment programs and the
superintendent of the department of education shall assist the
secretary in the establishment of the West Virginia works program.
Prior to implementation of this program, each department shall
address in their its respective plans plan the method in which
their respective its resources will be devoted to facilitate the
identification of or delivery of services for participants and
shall coordinate their its respective programs with the division
department in the provision of services to participants and their
families. Each county board of education shall designate a person
to coordinate with the local department of health and human
resources office the board's services to participant families and
that person shall work to achieve coordination at the local level.
The secretary and the superintendent shall develop a plan for program implementation to occur with the use of existing state
facilities and county transportation systems within the project
areas whenever practicable. This agreement shall include, but not
be limited to, the use of buildings, grounds and buses. Whenever
possible, the supportive services, education and training programs
should be offered at the existing school facilities.
The commissioner shall give priority to participants of the
works program within the various programs of the bureau of
employment programs. The secretary and the commissioner shall
develop reporting and monitoring mechanisms between their
respective agencies.
§9-9-17. Public-private partnerships.
The secretary is authorized to may enter into agreements with
any private, nonprofit, charitable or religious organizations to
promote the development of the community support services necessary
for the effective implementation of this program, including
cooperative arrangements with private employers of former program
participants for the purpose of obtaining and maintaining
employer-based family health insurance coverage for former
participants and their spouses and dependent children through
direct payments to the employers out of funds appropriated for the
cooperative agreements.
§9-9-19. Legislative oversight.
The legislative oversight commission on health and human
resources accountability is charged with immediate and ongoing
oversight of the program created by this article. This commission
shall study, review and examine the work of the program, the
department and its staff; study, review and examine all rules
proposed by the department; and monitor the development and
implementation of the West Virginia works program. The commission
shall review and make recommendations to the Legislature and the
legislative rule-making review committee regarding any plan, policy
or rule proposed by the secretary, the division department or the
program.
§9-9-20. Confidentiality, fines and penalties.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this code or rules, all
records and information of the department regarding any beneficiary
or beneficiary's family members, including food stamps, child
support and medicaid records, shall be are confidential and shall
not be released, except under the following circumstances:
(1) If permissible under state or federal rules or
regulations;
(2) Upon the express written consent of the beneficiary or his
or her legally authorized representative;
(3) Pursuant to an order of any court of record of this state
or the United States based upon a finding that said the information is sufficiently relevant to a proceeding before the court to
outweigh the importance of maintaining the confidentiality
established by this section: Provided, That all confidential
records and information presented to the court shall after review
be sealed by the clerk and shall not be open to any person except
upon order of the court upon good cause being shown therefor for
the confidential records and information to be opened; or
(4) To a department or division of the state or other entity,
pursuant to the terms of an interagency or other agreement:
Provided, That any agreement specifically references this section
and extends its requirements for confidentiality to the other
entity receiving the records or information, its agents and
employees.
(b) Any person who knowingly and willfully releases or causes
to be released the confidential records and information described
in this section, except under the specific circumstances enumerated
in this section, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or
confined in the county or regional jail for not more than six
months, or both.
§9-9-21. Temporary assistance for needy families rainy day fund.
There is hereby established in the state treasury a special
fund designated as the "temporary assistance for needy families rainy day fund" into which the secretary shall cause to be
initially deposited the amount of thirty-six million dollars in
federal block grant moneys. The purpose of this fund shall be is
to serve as a safety net for the program established in this
article and it shall be used for continued support of the program
in the event of reduced federal funding, economic downturn, natural
disaster or other event which depletes the program's funds or makes
them otherwise unavailable, if determined by the secretary to be
necessary and appropriate under the circumstances.