[Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 25, Volume 1] [Revised as of April 1, 2005] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 25CFR20.100] [Page 75-80] TITLE 25--INDIANS CHAPTER I--BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR PART 20_FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND SOCIAL SERVICES PROGRAMS--Table of Contents Subpart A_Definitions, Purpose and Policy Sec. 20.100 What definitions clarify the meaning of the provisions of this part? Subpart A_Definitions, Purpose and Policy Sec. 20.100 What definitions clarify the meaning of the provisions of this part? 20.101 What is the purpose of this part? 20.102 What is the Bureau's policy in providing financial assistance and social services under this part? 20.103 Have the information collection requirements in this part been approved by the Office of Management and Budget? Subpart B_Welfare Reform 20.200 What contact will the Bureau maintain with State, tribal, county, local, and other Federal agency programs? 20.201 How does the Bureau designate a service area and what information is required? 20.202 What is a tribal redesign plan? 20.203 Can a tribe incorporate assistance from other sources into a tribal redesign plan? 20.204 Must all tribes submit a tribal redesign plan? 20.205 Can tribes change eligibility criteria or levels of payments for General Assistance? 20.206 Must a tribe get approval for a tribal redesign plan? 20.207 Can a tribe use savings from a tribal redesign plan to meet other priorities of the tribe? 20.208 What if the tribal redesign plan leads to increased costs? 20.209 Can a tribe operating under a tribal redesign plan go back to operating under this part? 20.210 Can eligibility criteria or payments for Burial Assistance, Child Assistance, and Disaster Assistance and Emergency Assistance change? Subpart C_Direct Assistance Eligibility for Direct Assistance 20.300 Who qualifies for Direct Assistance under this subpart? 20.301 What is the goal of General Assistance? 20.302 Are Indian applicants required to seek assistance through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families? 20.303 When is an applicant eligible for General Assistance? 20.304 When will the Bureau review eligibility for General Assistance? 20.305 What is redetermination? 20.306 What is the payment standard for General Assistance? Determining Need and Income 20.307 What resources does the Bureau consider when determining need? 20.308 What does earned income include? 20.309 What does unearned income include? 20.310 What recurring income must be prorated? 20.311 What amounts will the Bureau deduct from earned income? 20.312 What amounts will the Bureau deduct from income or other resources? 20.313 How will the Bureau compute financial assistance payments? Employment Requirements 20.314 What is the policy on employment? 20.315 Who is not covered by the employment policy? 20.316 What must a person covered by the employment policy do? 20.317 How will the ineligibility period be implemented? 20.318 What case management responsibilities does the social services worker have? 20.319 What responsibilities does the general assistance recipient have? Tribal Work Experience Program (TWEP) 20.320 What is TWEP? 20.321 Does TWEP allow an incentive payment? 20.322 Who can receive a TWEP incentive payment? 20.323 Will the local TWEP be required to have written program procedures? Burial Assistance 20.324 When can the Bureau provide Burial Assistance? 20.325 Who can apply for Burial Assistance? 20.326 Does Burial Assistance cover transportation costs? Disaster Assistance 20.327 When can the Bureau provide Disaster Assistance? 20.328 How can a tribe apply for Disaster Assistance? Emergency Assistance 20.329 When can the Bureau provide Emergency Assistance payments? 20.330 What is the payment standard for Emergency Assistance? [[Page 76]] Adult Care Assistance 20.331 What is Adult Care Assistance? 20.332 Who can receive Adult Care Assistance? 20.333 How do I apply for Adult Care Assistance? 20.334 What happens after I apply? 20.335 What is the payment standard for Adult Care Assistance? Subpart D_Services to Children, Elderly, and Families 20.400 Who should receive Services to Children, Elderly, and Families? 20.401 What is included under Services to Children, Elderly, and Families? 20.402 When are protective services provided? 20.403 What do protective services include? 20.404 What information is contained in a social services assessment? Subpart E_Child Assistance 20.500 Who is eligible for Child Assistance? How Child Assistance Funds Can Be Used 20.501 What services can be paid for with Child Assistance funds? 20.502 Can Child Assistance funds be used to place Indian children in residential care facilities? 20.503 When can Child Assistance funds be used for Indian adoption or guardianship subsidies? 20.504 What short-term homemaker services can Child Assistance pay for? 20.505 What services are provided jointly with the Child Assistance Program? Foster Care 20.506 What information is required in the foster care case file? 20.507 What requirements must foster care providers meet? 20.508 What must the social services agency do when a child is placed in foster care, residential care or guardianship home? 20.509 What must the social services worker do when a child is placed in foster care or residential care facility? 20.510 How is the court involved in child placements? 20.511 Should permanency plans be developed? 20.512 Can the Bureau/tribal contractors make Indian adoptive placements? 20.513 Should Interstate Compacts be used for the placement of children? 20.514 What assistance can the courts request from social services on behalf of children? 20.515 What is required for case management? 20.516 How are child abuse, neglect or exploitation cases to be handled? Subpart F_Administrative Procedures 20.600 Who can apply for financial assistance or social services? 20.601 How can applications be submitted? 20.602 How does the Bureau verify eligibility for social services? 20.603 How is an application approved or denied? 20.604 How is an applicant or recipient notified that benefits or services are denied or changed? 20.605 What happens when an applicant or recipient appeals a decision under this subpart? 20.606 How is an incorrect payment adjusted or recovered? 20.607 What happens when applicants or recipients knowingly and willfully provide false or fraudulent information? Subpart G_Hearings and Appeals 20.700 Can an applicant or recipient appeal the decision of a Bureau official? 20.701 Does a recipient receive financial assistance while an appeal is pending? 20.702 When is an appeal hearing scheduled? 20.703 What must the written notice of hearing include? 20.704 Who conducts the hearing or appeal of a Bureau decision or action and what is the process? 20.705 Can an applicant or recipient appeal a tribal decision? Authority: 25 U.S.C. 13; Pub. L. 93-638; Pub. L. 98-473; Pub. L. 102-477; Pub. L. 104-193; Pub. L. 105-83. Source: 65 FR 63159, Oct. 20, 2000, unless otherwise noted. Adult means an Indian person age 18 or older. Adult care assistance means financial assistance provided on behalf of an Indian adult who is not eligible for any other state, federal, or tribal assistance as documented in the case file and who requires non- medical personal care and supervision due to advanced age, infirmity, physical condition or mental impairment. Appeal means a written request for correction of an action or decision of a specific program decision by a Bureau [[Page 77]] official (Sec. 20.700) or a tribal official (Sec. 20.705). Applicant means an Indian individual by or on whose behalf an application for financial assistance and/or social services has been made under this part. Application means the written or oral process through which a request is made for financial assistance or social services. Assistant Secretary means the Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs. Authorized representative means a parent or other caretaker relative, conservator, legal guardian, foster parent, attorney, paralegal acting under the supervision of an attorney, friend or other spokesperson duly authorized and acting on behalf or representing the applicant or recipient. Bureau means the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the United States Department of the Interior. Bureau Standard of Assistance means payment standards established by the Assistant Secretary for burial, disaster, emergency, TWEP and adoption and guardian subsidy. In accordance with Public Law 104-193, the Bureau standard of assistance for general assistance is the state rate for TANF in the state where the applicant resides. Where the Bureau provides general assistance on a reservation that extends into another state, the Bureau will provide general assistance to eligible Indians based on the standard of assistance where the applicant resides if the applicant is not eligible for state general assistance or TANF. The Bureau standard of assistance for adult care assistance is the state rate for adult care assistance in the state where the applicant resides. The Bureau standard of assistance for foster care is the state rate for foster care in the state where the applicant resides as provided by Title IV of the Social Security Act (49 Stat. 620). Burial assistance means a financial assistance payment made on behalf of an indigent Indian who meets the eligibility criteria to provide minimum burial expenses according to Bureau payment standards established by the Assistant Secretary. Case means a single type of assistance and/or service provided to an individual or household in response to an identified need which requires intervention by social services. Case management means the activity of a social services worker in assessing client and family problem(s), case planning, coordinating and linking services for clients, monitoring service provisions and client progress, advocacy, tracking and evaluating services provided, such as evaluation of child's treatment being concurrent with parent's treatment, and provision of aftercare service. Activities may also include resource development and providing other direct services such as accountability of funds, data collection, reporting requirements, and documenting activities in the case file. Case plan means a written plan with time limited goals which is developed and signed by the service recipient and social services worker. The case plan will include documentation of referral and disapproval of eligibility for other services. The plan must incorporate the steps needed to assist individuals and families to resolve social, economic, psychological, interpersonal, and/or other problems, to achieve self-sufficiency and independence. All plans for children in foster care or residential care must include a permanency plan which contains a time specific goal of the return of the child to the natural parents or initiation of a guardianship/adoption. Child means an Indian person under the age of 18 except that no person who has been emancipated by marriage will be deemed a child. Child assistance means financial assistance provided on behalf of an Indian child, who has special needs as specified in Sec. 20.100. In addition, assistance includes services to a child who requires placement in a foster home or a residential care facility in accordance with standards of payment levels established by the state or county in which the child resides. Further, assistance includes services to a child in need of adoption or guardianship in accordance with payment levels established by the Assistant Secretary. Designated representative means an official of the Bureau who is designated by a Superintendent to hold a hearing as prescribed in Sec. Sec. 20.700 through 20.705 and who has had no prior involvement [[Page 78]] in the proposed decision under Sec. 20.603 and whose hearing decision under Sec. Sec. 20.700 through 20.705 will have the same force and effect as if rendered by the Superintendent. Disaster means a situation where a tribal community is adversely affected by a natural disaster or other forces which pose a threat to life, safety, or health as specified in Sec. Sec. 20.327 and 20.328. Emergency means a situation where an individual or family's home and personal possessions are either destroyed or damaged through forces beyond their control as specified in Sec. 20.329. Employable means an eligible Indian person who is physically and mentally able to obtain employment, and who is not exempt from seeking employment in accordance with the criteria specified in Sec. 20.315. Essential needs means shelter, food, clothing and utilities, as included in the standard of assistance in the state where the eligible applicant lives. Extended family means persons related by blood, marriage or as defined by tribal law or custom. Family assessment means a social services assessment of a family's history and present abilities and resources to provide the necessary care, guidance and supervision for individuals within the family's current living situation who may need social service assistance and/or services. Financial Assistance means any of the following forms of assistance not provided by other federal, state, local or tribal sources: (1) Adult Care Assistance for adults who require non-medical personal care and supervision; (2) Burial Assistance for indigent burials; (3) Child Assistance for any child with special needs, in need of placement in a foster home or residential care facility, or in need of adoption or guardianship; (4) Disaster Assistance; (5) Emergency Assistance for essential needs to prevent hardship caused by burnout, flooding of homes, or other life threatening situations that may cause loss or damage of personal possessions; (6) General Assistance for basic essential needs; or (7) Tribal Work Experience Program for participants in work experience and training. Foster care services means those social services provided to an eligible Indian child that is removed from his or her home due to neglect, abandonment, abuse or other maltreatment and placed in a foster home. Services must also be extended to the affected family members and foster parent(s) with a goal of reuniting and preserving the family. General Assistance means financial assistance payments to an eligible Indian for essential needs provided under Sec. Sec. 20.300 through 20.319. Guardianship means long-term, social services and court approved placement of a child. Head of household means a person in the household that has primary responsibility and/or obligation for the financial support of others in the household. In the case of a two parent household, one will be considered the head of household for the purpose of making an application for benefits. Homemaker services means non-medical services provided by social services, in the absence of other resources, to assist an eligible Indian in maintaining self-sufficiency, and preventing placement into foster care or residential care. Examples of services included in homemaker services are: cleaning an individual's home, preparing meals for an individual, and maintaining or performing basic household functions. Household means persons living together who may or may not be related to the ``head of household.'' Indian means: (1) Any person who is a member of an Indian tribe; or (2) In the Alaska service area only, any person who meets the definition of ``Native'' as defined under 43 U.S.C. 1602(b): ``A citizen of the United States and one-fourth degree or more Alaska Indian (including Tsimshian Indians not enrolled in the Metlakatla Indian Community) Eskimo, or Aleut blood, or combination thereof. The term includes any Native as so defined either or both of whose adoptive parents are [[Page 79]] not Natives. It also includes, in the absence of proof of a minimum blood quantum, any citizen of the United States who is regarded as an Alaska Native by the Native village or Native group of which he claims to be a member and whose father or mother is (or, if deceased, was) regarded as Native by any village or group. Any decision of the Secretary regarding eligibility for enrollment shall be final.'' Indian court means Indian tribal court or Court of Indian Offenses. Indian tribe means an Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, or community which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States because of their status as Indians. Individual Self-sufficiency Plan (ISP) means a plan designed to meet the goal of employment through specific action steps and is incorporated within the case plan for the general assistance recipient. The plan is jointly developed and signed by the recipient and social services worker. Near Reservation means those areas or communities designated by the Assistant Secretary that are adjacent or contiguous to reservations where financial assistance and social service programs are provided. Need means the deficit after consideration of income and other resources necessary to meet the cost of essential need items and special need items as defined by the Bureau standard of assistance for the state in which the applicant or recipient resides. Permanency plan means the documentation in a case plan which provides for permanent living alternatives for the child in foster care, a residential care facility, or in need of adoption or guardianship. Permanency plans are developed and implemented in accordance with tribal, cultural, and tribal/state legal standards when the parent or guardian is unable to resolve the issues that require out-of-home placement of the child. Protective services means those services necessary to protect an Indian who is the victim of an alleged and/or substantiated incident of abuse, neglect or exploitation or who is under the supervision of the Bureau in regard to the use and disbursement of funds in his or her Individual Indian Money (IIM) account. Public assistance means those programs of financial assistance provided by state, tribal, county, local and federal organizations including programs under Title IV of the Social Security Act (49 Stat. 620), as amended, and Public Law 104-193. Recipient is an eligible Indian receiving financial assistance or social services under this part. Recurring income means any cash or in-kind payment, earned or unearned, received on a monthly, quarterly, semiannual, or annual basis. Regional Director means the Bureau official in charge of a Regional Office. Reservation means any federally recognized Indian tribe's reservation, pueblo, or colony, including Alaska Native regions established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (85 Stat. 688). Residential care services means those rehabilitation services provided to an eligible Indian child that is removed from his or her home due to lack of resources in the home to care for him or her and placed in a residential care facility. Resources means income, both earned and unearned, and other liquid assets available to an Indian person or household to meet current living costs, unless otherwise specifically excluded by federal statute. Liquid assets are those properties in the form of cash or other financial instruments which can be converted to cash, such as savings or checking accounts, promissory notes, mortgages and similar properties, and retirements and annuities. Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior. Service area means a geographic area designated by the Assistant Secretary where financial assistance and social services programs are provided. Such a geographic area designation can include a reservation, near reservation, or other geographic location. ``The Assistant Secretary has designated the entire State of Alaska as a service area.'' Services to children, elderly and families means social services, including protective services provided through the [[Page 80]] social work skills of casework, group work or community development to assist in solving social problems involving children, elderly and families. These services do not include money payments. Special needs means a financial assistance payment made to or on behalf of children under social services supervision for circumstances that warrant financial assistance that is not included in the foster care rates; for example, respite care, homemaker service, day care service, and may include basic needs (special diets) which are not considered as a medical need where other resources are not available. Superintendent means the Bureau official in charge of an agency office. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) means cash assistance provided under Title XVI of the Social Security Act (49 Stat. 620), as amended. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) means one of the programs of financial assistance provided under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA). Tribal governing body means the federally recognized governing body of an Indian tribe. Tribal redesign plan means a tribally designed method for changing general assistance eligibility and/or payment levels in accordance with 25 U.S.C.A. Sec. 13d-3. Tribal Work Experience Program (TWEP) means a program operated by tribal contract/grant or self-governance annual funding agreement, which provides eligible participants with work experience and training that promotes and preserves work habits and develops work skills aimed toward self-sufficiency. The Bureau payment standard is established by the Assistant Secretary. Unemployable means a person who meets the criteria specified in Sec. 20.315. [65 FR 63159, Oct. 20, 2000; 65 FR 76563, Dec. 7, 2000, as amended at 66 FR 15030, Mar. 15, 2001]