(Revised 6/02 ML 2797)
(N.D.A.C. 75-02-01.2-35(1)
The state is prohibited from providing cash assistance to households that include an adult who has received assistance for a total of 60 months, whether or not the months were consecutive.
Countable months of TANF assistance received by a household from North Dakota since July 1, 1997, or from any other state TANF program or tribal TANF program, will be used to determine when a household reaches the 60-month lifetime limit except for the following:
A month in which an adult received TANF assistance while residing in an Indian reservation county that had an unemployment rate of 50 percent or greater as defined at NDAC 75-02-01.2-35.1 will not count towards the 60-month lifetime limit.
A month in which an individual is sanctioned or disqualified does not count against the lifetime limit since the individual’s needs are removed from the TANF grant.
Months that are suspended due to the receipt of an extra check, from a recurring source, do not count toward the lifetime limit.
The state will use the month count of the adult household member who has received the most countable months of TANF cash assistance.
Any month in which a TANF grant has been paid and is later determined to be a partial or complete overpayment shall be considered a month of TANF assistance and is a count month.
The county social service agency must contact all states and Indian tribes in which an adult or minor head of household previously received TANF or Tribal TANF assistance to verify the number of countable months of assistance received.
Under federal law, the number of households that may be exempted from the TANF lifetime limit, by the state, may not exceed 20% of the average monthly number of households receiving TANF assistance.
Households that include an adult who has reached the 60-month lifetime limit may be allowed an exemption to the TANF lifetime limit in accordance with Section 17-45-15-25, TANF Lifetime Limit – Exemption Criteria.