1. (a) For the purposes of determining the number of months counted toward the 60-month limit on eligibility for ATAP benefits, under AS 47.27.015(a)(1) and 47.27.030(b), and the 24-month deadline for participating in work activities, under AS 47.27.030(b) and 47.27.035(a), a month for which ATAP cash assistance is issued is considered as one month, regardless of the amount of the cash assistance or whether that assistance is prorated for a partial month. However, if the family is later determined to be ineligible for ATAP cash assistance in a month and is under direction to repay to the state the entire amount of the cash assistance for that month, that month does not count. In addition, if the family does not use the most recent monthly payment of cash assistance, and either returns that payment to the department or requests that the payment be cancelled, that month does not count. The following are considered to be months of ATAP cash assistance:

   1. (1) a month for which an adult is subject to a penalty under 7 AAC 45.980; and

   2. (2) a month for which an adult is required by 7 AAC 45.195 to be included in the mandatory filing unit, but

      1. (A) under AS 47.27.015(g), that adult is ineligible for assistance because of the adult's alien status; or
      2. (B) under 7 AAC 45.255, the needs of that adult may not be included in the ATAP eligibility determination or payment calculation because of that adult's failure or refusal to meet Social Security Administration enumeration requirements.

2. (b) When an adult in a family has received a total of 60 months of assistance funded by a program operated under Title I of P.L. 104-193 (Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996), including ATAP, the department will, upon the family's request, determine the family's eligibility for an exemption under AS 47.27.015 and 7 AAC 45.610. The department will verify months of assistance received from other programs operated under Title I of P.L. 104-193 by contacting the state or tribal family assistance program that issued the assistance. Unless the department determines, under sec. 3, ch. 96, SLA 2000, that special circumstances exist, a family is not eligible for consideration for an extension under AS 47.27.015 and 7 AAC 45.610 if, under a federally approved tribal family assistance program, the family

   1. (1) is eligible for assistance;
   2. (2) is eligible to request an extension; or
   3. (3) has been denied an extension.
3. (c) A month during which the family resides in an Alaska Native village or on an Indian reservation does not count toward the 60-month limit if, during that month, the village or reservation meets the requirements of 42 U.S.C. 608(a)(7)(D). A family's residence for a month is determined by where the family resides when the cash assistance payment is issued for that month. For the purposes of this subsection, "Alaska Native village" means a village listed in 43 U.S.C. 1610 or 1615 (secs. 11 and 16 of the ANCSA) or a village within this state that is eligible to receive services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs. To determine the unemployment status of the adults living in a village or on a reservation, the department will use the most current state or federal statistical data available, consistent with federal law; if a village is less than 20 miles one way by road from an urban place with a population of 2,500 or more, or is within or contiguous to a larger Alaska Native village, this determination will include the unemployment status of that urban place or that larger village.
4. (d) Repealed 6/27/2002.
5. (e) Repealed 6/27/2002.

(Eff. 7/1/97, Register 142; am 6/27/2002, Register 162; am 1/7/2005, Register 173)

Authority: AS 47.05.010, AS 47.27.030