New and Pending Demonstration Project Proposals Submitted Pursuant to Section 1115(a) of the Social Security Act: March 1996

I. Background

Under Section 1115 of the Social Security Act (the Act), the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) may approve research and demonstration project proposals with a broad range of policy objectives. In exercising her discretionary authority, the Secretary has developed a number of policies and procedures for reviewing proposals. On September 27, 1994, we published a notice in the Federal Register (59 FR 49249) that specified (1) the principles that we ordinarily will consider when approving or disapproving demonstration projects under the authority in section 1115(a) of the Act; (2) the procedures we expect States to use in involving the public in the development of proposed demonstration projects under section 1115; and (3) the procedures we ordinarily will follow in reviewing demonstration proposals. We are committed to a thorough and expeditious review of State requests to conduct such demonstrations. On August 16, 1995, the Secretary published a notice in the Federal Register (60 FR 42574) exercising her discretion to request proposals testing welfare reform strategies in five areas. Since such projects can only incorporate provisions included in that announcement, they are not subject to

the Federal notice procedures. The Secretary proposed a 30 day approval process for those provisions. As previously noted, this notice lists all new or pending welfare reform demonstration proposals under section 1115. Where possible, we have identified the proposals being considered under the 30 day process. However, the Secretary reserves the right to exercise her discretion to consider any proposal under the 30 day process if it meets the criteria in the five specified areas and the State requests it or concurs.

II. Listing of New and Pending Proposals for the Month of March, 1996

As part of our procedures, we are publishing a monthly notice in the Federal Register of all new and pending proposals. This notice contains proposals for the month of March, 1996. Project Title: California--Work Pays Demonstration Project (Amendment). Description: Would amend Work Pays Demonstration Project by adding provisions to: reduce benefit levels by 10% (but retaining the need level); reduce benefits an additional 15% after 6 months on assistance for cases with an able-bodied adult; time-limit assistance to able- bodied adults to 24 months, and not increase benefits for children conceived while receiving AFDC. Date Received: 3/14/94. Type: AFDC. Current Status: Pending. Contact Person: Glen Brooks, (916) 657-3291.

Project Title: California--Work Pays Demonstration Project (Amendment). Description: Would amend the Work Pays Demonstration Project by adding provisions to not increasing AFDC benefits to families for additional children conceived while receiving AFDC. Date Received: 11/9/94. Type: AFDC. Current Status: Pending. Contact Person: Bruce Wagstaff, (916) 657-2367.

Project Title: California--Assistance Payments Demonstration Project/California Work Pays Demonstration Project (Amendment). Description: Would amend the Assistance Payments Demonstration Project/California Work Pays Demonstration Project by adding provisions to California to allow two additional AFDC benefit reductions: (1) Reduce the Maximum Aid Payment (MAP) by 4.9 percent across-the-board statewide; and (2) divide California counties into two regions based on housing costs, and reduce both the Need Standard and the MAP in the region with the lower costs. In addition, the State is requesting blanket authority for future reductions in AFDC payment levels in conjunction with welfare reform state law changes. Date Received: 3/13/96. Type: AFDC/Medicaid. Current Status: New. Contact Person: Bruce Wagstaff, (916) 657-2367.

Project Title: California - Assistance Payments Demonstration Project/California Work Pays Demonstration Project (Amendment). Description: Would amend the Assistance Payments Demonstration Project/California Work Pays Demonstration Project by adding provisions to allow one additional provision: income of a senior parent living in the same household with a minor parent with a dependent child will not be deemed to the minor parent's child. Date Received: 3/13/96. Type: AFDC. Current Status: New. Contact Person: Bruce Wagstaff, (916) 657-2367.

Project Title: Florida--Family Responsibility Act. Description: Statewide, would require dependent children and caretaker relatives under age 18 to remain in school; pay half the AFDC benefit increment for the first child conceived by an AFDC recipient and provide no cash benefits for a second or subsequent child; exclude from the AFDC budget child support payments for children subject to the family cap; require AFDC recipients not participating in JOBS or actively seeking employment to engage in 20 hours per week of community employment or work experience. Date Received: 10/4/95. Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid. Current Status: Pending. Contact Person: Sallie P. Linton, (904) 921-5572.

Project Title: Georgia--Jobs First Project. Description: In ten pilot counties, would replace AFDC payment with paid employment; extend transitional Medicaid to 24 months; eliminate 100 hour employment rule for eligibility determination in AFDC-UP cases. Date Received: 7/5/94. Type: AFDC. Current Status: Pending (not previously published). Contact Person: Nancy Meszaros, (404) 657-3608.

Project Title: Hawaii--Families Are Better Together. Description: Statewide, would eliminate 100-hour, attachment to the work force, 30 day unemployment and principal wage earner criteria for AFDC-UP families. Date Received: 5/22/95. Type: AFDC. Current Status: Pending. Contact Person: Patricia Murakami, (808) 586-5230.

Project Title: Illinois--Six Month Paternity Establishment Demonstration. Description: In 20 counties, would require the establishment of paternity, unless good cause exists, within 6 months of application or redetermination as a condition of AFDC and Medicaid eligibility for both mother and child; would deny Medicaid to children age 7 and under, exclude children from filing rules, and exempt Department from making protective payments to eligible children, when custodial parent has not cooperated in establishing paternity; delegate the establishment of paternity in uncontested cases to caseworkers who perform assistance payment or social service functions under title IV-A or XX. Date Received: 7/18/95. Title: AFDC/Medicaid. Current Status: Pending. Contact Person: Karan D. Maxson, (217) 785-3300.

Project Title: Indiana--Impacting Families Welfare Reform Demonstration--Amendments. Description: Statewide, proposes expansions and amendments to current demonstration to impose a lifetime 24-month limit on cash assistance and categorical Medicaid eligibility (12 months for resident alien); allow 1 month AFDC credit (to a maximum of 24 at any one time) for each 6 consecutive months full-time employment; count each month of AFDC receipt from another state within the previous 3 years as 1 month against the lifetime limit; restrict permissible ``specified relatives'' for AFDC children and minor parents; extend AFDC, Medicaid, and food stamp fraud disqualification penalties; establish 3 unexcused absences per year as the statewide definition of unacceptable school attendance; provide a voucher equal to 50% of assistance amount for family cap child for goods and services related to child care; divert AFDC grants to subsidize child care costs; establish an option for an employed AFDC recipient to receive guaranteed child care or an AFDC payment equal to the family's benefit before employment; require a child's mother to establish paternity as a condition of eligibility for the child and the caretaker; establish additional conditions of eligibility for AFDC; impose penalties for illegal drug

use; base CWEP hours on the combined value of AFDC and Medicaid assistance; make JOBS volunteers subject to the same sanctions as mandatory participants; continue eligibility for AFDC recipients until countable income reaches 100% of the federal poverty guidelines; expand voluntary quit definition and penalties; impose income limits on transitional Medicaid and child care and limit each to 12 months in a person's lifetime; with some exceptions, deny Medicaid under all coverage provisions to those determined ineligible as a result of AFDC welfare reform provisions; restrict Medicaid payments made to employees with employer's health care benefits to the lesser of the employee's insurance premium or the amount the state would otherwise pay; and require minor parents to live with a legally responsible adult and count the income and resources of non-parent adults. Additional provisions: Food Stamp recipients could be required to participate CWEP and job search; increase AFDC and Food Stamp penalties for non-compliance with CWEP and job search; require cooperation with child support as condition of eligibility for Food Stamps. Date Received: 12/14/95; Amendment received 2/6/96. Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid. Current Status: Pending. Contact Person: James H. Hmurovich, (317) 232-4704.

Project Title: Iowa--Family Investment Plan (Amendments). Description: Statewide, would amend the current Family Investment Plan Demonstration, changing the current JOBS exemption from parents with children younger than 6 months old to younger than 3 months old; for applicants who received AFDC in another state at any time during the 12 calendar months prior to application in Iowa, calculating benefits for 6 months using the prior state's need standard if its benefit level is lower than Iowa's; requiring minor parents to live with an adult parent or legal guardian; requiring parents age 19 and younger to attend parenting classes; requiring minor parents to participate in high school completion activities; disregarding earned income of full time students age 19 and younger; adopting the Section 416 Optional AFDC Fraud Control Program; and offering information to parents regarding family planning and the financial implications of having additional children. Date Received: 2/9/96. Type: AFDC. Current Status: Pending. Contact Person: Ann Weibers, (515) 281-7714. Project Title: Kansas--Actively Creating Tomorrow for Families Demonstration. Description: Would, after 30 months of participation in JOBS, make adults ineligible for AFDC for 3 years; replace $30 and 1/3 income disregard with continuous 40% disregard; disregard lump sum income and income and resources of children in school; count income and resources of family members who receive SSI; exempt one vehicle without regard for equity value if used to produce income; allow only half AFDC benefit increase for births of a second child to families where the parent is not working and eliminate increase for the birth of any child if families already have at least two children; eliminate 100-hour rule and work history requirements for UP cases; expand AFDC eligibility to pregnant women in 1st and 2nd trimesters; extend Medicaid transitional benefits to 24 months; eliminate various JOBS requirements, including those related to target groups, participation rate of UP cases and the 20-hour work requirement limit for parents with children under 6; require school attendance; require minors in AFDC and NPA Food Stamps cases to live with a guardian; make work requirements and penalties in the AFDC and Food Stamp programs more uniform; and increase sanctions for not cooperating with child support enforcement activities. Date Received: 7/26/94. Type: Combined AFDC/Medicaid. Current Status: Pending. Contact Person: Faith Spencer, (913) 296-0775.

Project Title: Maine--Welfare to Work Program. Description: Statewide, would require caretaker relatives to sign a family contract; require participation in parenting classes and health care services; provide one-time vendor payments in lieu of AFDC for the purpose of obtaining/retaining employment; provide voucher payments to both married and unmarried minor parents; limit JOBS exemptions; expand eligibility for Transitional Medicaid and Child Care and replace sliding-scale fees with flat-rate fees; reduce Transitional Medicaid reporting requirements; disregard entire value of one vehicle; and apply any federal savings to the JOBS program services. In selected sites, implement ASPIRE-Plus, a subsidized employment program, would cash out food stamps, divert AFDC benefits and pass through all child support collected to families who participate in ASPIRE-Plus. Date Received: 9/20/95. Type: AFDC/Medicaid. Current Status: Pending. Contact Person: Susan Dustin, (207) 287-3104.

Project Title: Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) (Amendment). Description: Would amend MFIP by adding Ramsey County as an MFIP site. MFIP provisions include: A consolidation of AFDC, Food Stamps, and the State's Family General Assistance program into one cash grant, with a single set of rules and procedures; eligibility based on net income only; an asset limit of $2,000, with an exemption for vehicles with a combined equity value of up to $4,500; elimination of the 100- hour and work history rules for two-parent families; a benefit equal to the maximum grant increased by 20 percent, minus net income (net income excludes 38 percent of gross earnings), but benefits may not exceed the maximum grant level, which equals the combined value of AFDC and Food Stamps; child care is paid directly to the child care provider, up to the county maximum rate; a 10 percent grant reduction for non-compliant parents; mandatory participation in MFIP employment and training services for non-exempt, long-term recipients. MFIP operates in seven counties and the amendment would add Ramsey County. Date Received: 3/29/96. Type: AFDC. Current Status: Pending. Contact Person: Chuck Johnson (612) 297-4727.

Project Title: New Hampshire--Earned Income Disregard Demonstration Project. Description: AFDC applicants and recipients would have the first $200 plus 1/2 the remaining earned income disregarded. Date Received: 9/20/93. Type: AFDC. Current Status: Pending. Contact Person: Avis L. Crane, (603) 271-4255.

Project Title: New Hampshire--New Hampshire Employment Program and Family Assistance Program. Description: Statewide, would replace AFDC with Employment Program administered by both Employment Security Agency and Family Assistance Program; require job search and other employment-related activities for first 26 weeks of receipt followed by work-related activities for 26 weeks; eliminate JOBS target group funding requirement and change JOBS reporting requirements; require recipients attending post-secondary or part-time

vocational training to participate in work-related activities; eliminate JOBS services priority for volunteers; establish limits for provision of transportation and other JOBS services based on activity and local conditions; eliminate remoteness as exemption from JOBS; require non-custodial parents to participate in JOBS; increase earned income disregard to 50%; eliminate AFDC-UP eligibility requirements; allow transitional case management for up to one year; raise resource limit to $2,000 and exclude one vehicle and life insurance policies; pass through child support directly to family; take SSI income into account in determining eligibility/payment; eliminate conciliation and apply JOBS sanction of 50% of AFDC benefits for three months followed by no payment for three months, allowing option to increase initial sanction up to 100%; exempt pregnant women from JOBS only during third trimester; for minor parents cases, include in assistance unit any parent or sibling living in the home; eliminate gross income test; disregard educational grants; allow emergency assistance for families with employment-related barriers; allow State to eliminate the certificate option for child care and development block grant funds and use of these funds for capital improvement; eliminate ceiling on At Risk Child Care funds; provide that FFP for AFDC not be reduced during life of demonstration; fund computer system modifications at 80% FFP; require pregnant recipients to cooperate with child support; require that AFDC apply for Medicaid as a unit and not individually; eliminate requirement of receipt of AFDC for 3 of last 6 months in order to receive transitional Medicaid; and allow State to require that some individuals be assigned to a managed care program; substitute outcome measures for JOBS participation rates; change participation requirements for parents with children under 6, UP recipients and minors; establish a medical deduction; increase the sanction for non- cooperation with child support; exempt individuals with significant employment barriers from JOBS; treat lump sum income and all real property, except a home, as a resource; and use 20% of gross earned income as a Medicaid disregard. Also contains various Food Stamp waivers. Date Received: 9/18/95. Type: AFDC. Current Status: Pending. Contact Person: Marianne Broshek, (603) 271-4442.

Project Title: New Hampshire--New Hampshire Employment Program. Description: In three pilot sites, would require work after 6 months of AFDC receipt; eliminate the exemption from JOBS for women in the second trimester of pregnancy; eliminate the JOBS exemption for caretaker of a child under 3 but not less than 1 year of age; replace the earned income disregard of $90 and $30 and 1/3 with a 50% disregard which is not time-limited; raise the resource limit for recipients to $2,000; disregard full value of one vehicle per adult for applicants and recipients; apply a full family sanction voluntarily quitting a job or refusing to accept a job; apply a sanction of reducing the payment standard by 30% for one month for failure to comply with JOBS in the first instance, by 60% in the second instance for one month, and in the third instance apply a full-family sanction for three months or until compliance; and require non-custodial parents to participate in JOBS. Date Received: 10/6/95. Type: AFDC. Current Status: Pending. Contact Person: Marianne Broshek, (603) 271-4442.

Project Title: Oklahoma--Welfare Self-Sufficiency Initiative. Description: In four pilots conducted in five counties each, would 1) extend transitional child care to up to 24 months; 2) require that all children through age 18 be immunized and require that responsible adults with preschool age children participate in parent education or enroll the children in Head Start or other preschool program; 3) not increase AFDC benefits after birth of additional children, but provide voucher payment for the increment of cash benefits that would have been received until the child is two years old; and 4) pay lesser of AFDC benefit or previous state of residence or Oklahoma's for 12 months for new residents. Date Received: 10/27/95. Type: AFDC. Current Status: Pending. Contact Person: Raymond Haddock, (405) 521-3076.

Project Title: Pennsylvania--School Attendance Improvement Program. Description: In 7 sites, would require school attendance as condition of eligibility. Date Received: 9/12/94. Type: AFDC. Current Status: Pending Contact Person: Patricia H. O'Neal, (717) 787-4081.

Project Title: Pennsylvania--Savings for Education Program. Description: Statewide, would exempt as resources college savings bonds and funds in savings accounts earmarked for vocational or secondary education and disregard interest income earned from such accounts. Date Received: 12/29/94. Type: AFDC. Current Status: Pending. Contact Person: Patricia H. O'Neal, (717) 787-4081.

Project Title: South Carolina--Family Independence Program. Description: Statewide, would, with exceptions, time limit AFDC benefits to families with able bodied adults to 24 months out of 120 months, not to exceed 60 months in a lifetime; eliminate increase in AFDC benefit resulting from birth of children 10 or more months after the family begins AFDC receipt, but provide benefits to such children in the form of vouchers for goods and services permitting child's mother to participate in education, training, and employment-related activities; eliminate deprivation requirements, principal earner provisions, work history requirements, and 100-hour rule for AFDC-UP; increase AFDC resource limit to $2,500 and disregard as resources one vehicle with a market value up to $10,000, the balance in an Individual Development Account (IDA) up to $10,000, and the cash value of life insurance; disregard from income up to $10,000 in lump sum payments deposited in an IDA within 30 days of receipt, earned income of children attending school, and interest and dividend income up to $400; require participation in a family skills training program; require certain AFDC recipients to submit to random drug tests and/or participate in alcohol or drug treatment; require children to attend school; increase amount of child support passed through to AFDC recipients; require more extensive information for child support enforcement purposes; modify JOBS exemptions and good cause criteria, and increase sanctions for non-compliance; make job search a condition of eligibility; allow non-custodial parents of AFDC children to participate in JOBS; pay transitional grant equaling 3 percent of the maximum family grant following employment; and provide transitional grant Medicaid and child care for 12 months from the date of employment for cases previously closed due to time limit. Date Received: 6/12/95. Type: AFDC. Current Status: Pending. Contact Person: Linda Martin (804) 737-6010.

Project Title: Utah--Single-Parent Employment Demonstration (Amendments).

Description: Would amend the current Single Parent Employment Demonstration (SPED), requiring preschool children to be immunized and other children to attend school; considering as a single filing unit each family with a child in common, including all children in the household related to either parent; permitting parents removed from the grant due to non-cooperation or fraud to remain eligible for JOBS services, including support services; and allowing a ``best estimate'' of earnings in lieu of actual earnings so long as estimate is within $100 of actual earnings. These amendments would initially be limited to the Kearns office and later expanded to other SPED sites. Date Received: 2/7/96. Type: AFDC. Current Status: Pending. Contact Person: Bill Biggs, (801) 538-4337.

III. Listing of Approved Proposals Since March 1, 1995

Project Title: North Carolina--Cabarrus County Work Over Welfare Demonstration Project. Contact Person: Kevin Fitzgerald, (919) 733-3055.

Project Title: Ohio--Ohio First. Contact Person: Joel Rabb, (614) 466-3196. Project Title: Oregon--Oregon Option.* Contact Person: Jim Neely, (503) 945-5607. * The provisions of two previously pending proposals, the Expansion of the Transitional Child Care Program and the Increased AFDC Motor Vehicle Limit, were consolidated into the approval of Oregon Option.

Project Title: Texas--Achieving Change for Texans. Contact Person: Kent Gummerman, (512) 438-3743.

IV. Requests for Copies of a Proposal

Requests for copies of an AFDC or combined AFDC/Medicaid proposal should be directed to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the address listed above. Questions concerning the content of a proposal should be directed to the State contact listed for the proposal.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program, No. 93562; Assistance Payments--Research)

Dated: April 1, 1996. Karl Koerper, Director, Division of Economic Independence, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation. [FR Doc. 96-8554 Filed 4-5-96; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4184-01-P