Unless otherwise stated in this section, the definitions set forth in North Dakota Century Code section 50-09-01 apply to this chapter. Additionally, in this chapter, unless the context or subject matter requires otherwise:

1. "Applicant" means an individual who is seeking a benefit under this chapter.

2. "Asset" means any kind of property or property interest, whether real, personal, or mixed, whether liquid or illiquid, and whether or not presently vested with possessory rights.

3. "Assistance" includes cash, payments, vouchers, and other forms of benefits designed to meet a family's ongoing basic needs, but does not include nonrecurring, short-term benefits, work subsidies, supportive services provided to families who are employed, and refundable earned income tax credits.

4. "Benefit month" means the calendar month for which eligibility and benefits are computed.

5. "Benefits" means the amount issued for a household.

6. "Caretaker relative" means the relative so designated by the household who: a. Lives with an eligible dependent child; b. Is a pregnant woman, caretaker relative to no dependent child; or

1. c. Lives with a dependent child, under age eighteen and receiving supplemental security income benefits, who is the last child in the home.7. 'Child only case' means a case in which the only eligible individual is a dependent child and the caretaker relative is ineligible as a nonlegally responsible caretaker, or as a legally responsible caretaker due to being a supplemental security income recipient, a disqualified alien, a disqualified fleeing felon, a disqualified parole violator, a disqualified probation violator, or disqualified for committing fraud.8. 'Child support agency' has the same meaning as defined in North Dakota Century Code section 14-09-09.10.9. 'Department' means the North Dakota department of health and human services.10. 'Dependent child' means a needy child:- a. Who lives in the home of a relative by birth, marriage, or adoption;
2. b. Who has been deprived of parental support or care by reason of:
3. (1) The continued absence of a parent from the home, other than absence occasioned solely by reason of the performance of active duty in the uniformed services of the United States;
4. (2) The death of a parent; or
5. (3) The physical or mental incapacity of a parent; and
6. c. Who is:
7. (1) Under the age of eighteen; or
8. (2) Under the age of nineteen and a full-time student in a secondary school or a vocational or technical school that is equivalent to a secondary school, if, before the end of the calendar month in which the student attains age nineteen, the student may reasonably be expected to complete the program of such school.11. 'Earned income' means income currently received as wages, salaries, commissions, or profits from activities in which a household member is engaged through either employment or self-employment. There must be an appreciable amount of personal involvement and effort, on the part of the household, for income to be considered earned.12. 'Eligible caretaker relative' means a caretaker relative who:- a. If, related to an eligible dependent child as a brother or sister, is not under sixteen years of age;
9. b. If deprivation of parental support or care is by reason of the incapacity or disability of a parent, is the incapacitated or disabled parent or the eligible dependent child's other parent, but not stepparent;
10. c. If deprivation of parental support or care is by reason of the death or continued absence of a parent, is the eligible dependent child's other parent, but not stepparent;
11. d. Is not a recipient of supplemental security income benefits; and

12. e. Is in financial need;

13. f. Is a pregnant woman, caretaker relative to no other dependent or legally responsible caretaker child, who or whose husband is incapacitated; or

14. g. Is related to a dependent child by birth, whether by whole or half-blood, by marriage, or by adoption, and who is within the fifth degree of relationship to that child.13. 'Family' includes:- a. An individual or group of related individuals within a household whose needs are recognized in a grant of benefits through temporary assistance for needy families;
15. b. The parents of any dependent child and all brothers and sisters of any dependent child, whether by whole or half-blood, marriage, or adoption, any child, parent of an eligible dependent child, or other caretaker relative who receives supplemental security income benefits;
16. c. An alien who does not meet citizen and alienage requirements;
17. d. An alien who is ineligible for temporary assistance for needy families benefits because of the application of sponsor-to-alien deeming;
18. e. An individual who is ineligible for temporary assistance for needy families benefits as the result of the imposition of a sanction or disqualification; and
19. f. An individual who is a household member who is a legal dependent or a legally responsible caretaker of a member of the household, but does not include roomers or boarders.14. 'Full-time student' means a student who:- a. If in a secondary school, is enrolled in classes which, if completed, will earn the student four or more units of credit;
20. b. If in a vocational or technical school under state operation, a college, or a university, is enrolled in classes that, if completed, will earn the student twelve or more semester hours of credit during a regular term or six or more semester hours of credit during a summer term at an educational facility operating on a semester system, or twelve or more quarter hours of credit during a regular term or six or more quarter hours of credit during a summer term at an educational facility operating on a quarter system;
21. c. If in a private vocational or technical school, is enrolled in classes which, according to a written statement from school officials, constitutes full-time enrollment;
22. d. Is enrolled in an accredited alternative high school, correspondence courses, or adult basic education, according to a written statement from school officials or who is home schooled; or
23. e. Is an individual participating in job corps, whether an adult or a child.15. 'Housing costs' means the full amount of rent or, if purchasing a home, the full amount of the mortgage, property insurance, property taxes, special assessments, repairs, and improvements of the home.16. 'Ineligible caretaker relative' means a caretaker relative who is not an eligible caretaker relative.17. 'Legally responsible' means having a legal duty for the financial support of another individual.

18. "Lives in the home of a relative" means a circumstance that arises when a relative assumes and continues responsibility for the day-to-day care and control of a child in a place of residence maintained by the relative (whether one or more) as the relative's own home. It includes situations in which the child or the relative requires medical treatment that requires a special living arrangement. It also includes situations in which the child is temporarily absent from the home, with a plan to return, when the child:

a. Physically resides in the home, but is under the jurisdiction of a court and is receiving probation services or protective supervision;

b. Receives education while in an educational boarding arrangement in another community if needed specialized services or facilities are unavailable in the home community or if transportation problems make school attendance near home difficult or impossible;

c. Receives services at a summer camp such as Camp Grassick, receives services at an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder summer camp, or receives extended hospital stays during the summer months;

d. Receives special education at the school for the deaf or school for the blind, whether as a day student or a boarding student, except that a boarding student's needs are limited to those maintenance items that are not provided by the school; or

e. Receives education at a boarding school in another community, provided the child was not placed in that setting following removal from the child's home by court order following a determination the child was abused, neglected, or deprived, except the child is entitled to a clothing and personal needs allowance only if that allowance is made available for the child's use on a regular basis.

19. "Parent" means the child's mother or father, whether by birth or adoption, but does not mean:

a. An individual whose parental rights have been terminated with respect to that child; or

b. A stepparent.

20. "Part-time student" means an individual enrolled in a secondary school, vocational school, correspondence courses, technical school, college, or university, or who is home schooled, who is not a full-time student.

21. "Proper individual" means any individual of sufficient maturity and understanding to act responsibly on behalf of the applicant.

22. "Prospective budgeting" means the determination of a household's benefits based on income and circumstances for the benefit month.

23. "Prudent person concept" means a method or program administration that relies upon individual staff members:

a. To exercise judgment in requesting, reviewing, and weighing information provided by an applicant, recipient, or any source of verification; and

b. To be attentive, vigilant, cautious, perceptive, and governed by reason and common sense.

24. "Recipient" means an individual who receives cash assistance under this chapter.

25. "Relative by birth, marriage, or adoption" means an individual related to the dependent child by birth, whether by blood or half-blood, by marriage including a marriage that has been

terminated by death or divorce, or by adoption, as father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, stepsister, uncle, aunt, or first cousin.

1. 26. 'Sanction penalty month' means the month in which a sanctioned individual's financial needs may be removed from a household's temporary assistance for needy families grant.

2. 27. 'Special item of need' means an additional benefit paid to a temporary assistance for needy families household to reimburse certain expenses that are not included in the basic standard of need. These items include health insurance premiums, car seats, essential service, house allowance, and catastrophic events.

3. 28. 'Standard employment expense allowance' means twenty-seven percent of earned income, or one hundred eighty dollars, whichever is greater, to be first disregarded from the earned income of any child or adult relative applying for benefits under this chapter, or any other individual whose needs are taken into account in determining eligibility under this chapter, but whose earned income is not required to be wholly disregarded as the income of a child who is a full-time student or a part-time student who is not a full-time employee.

4. 29. 'Stepparent' means an individual married to a parent of a child after the birth or adoption of the child, but who is not also a parent of that child by either birth or adoption.

5. 30. 'Supplemental security income' means a program administered under title XVI of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.].

6. 31. 'Supportive services' means services and benefits approved by the department and provided to a household based on eligibility for job opportunities and basic skills program activities, transition assistance, kinship care assistance, post temporary assistance for needy families, or diversion as outlined in this chapter.

7. 32. 'Temporary assistance for needy families' means a program administered under North Dakota Century Code chapter 50-09 and title IV-A of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.] during periods beginning July 1, 1997.

8. 33. 'Temporary assistance for needy families household' means an individual or group of individuals who reside together and includes at least one individual in receipt of temporary assistance for needy families.

9. 34. 'Unearned income' means income that is not earned income.

History: Effective December 9, 1996; amended effective July 1, 1997; January 1, 2003; June 1, 2005; January 1, 2011; January 1, 2014; April 1, 2024; April 1, 2026.