(a) The ability of the spouse of a public assistance applicant or recipient or the parent or stepparent of a minor to support such individual must be determined.

1. (1) If the parent or stepparent of a minor for whom public assistance is requested is living outside the minor's household, the applicant must be referred to the child support enforcement unit established pursuant to Part 347 of this Title. If the applicant or recipient is pregnant with or is the mother of an out-of-wedlock minor child, the applicant and/or recipient must cooperate in establishing paternity and securing support for the child, unless the child has been surrendered to the local social services commissioner for the purpose of adoption or, for a period not to exceed 90 days after birth of the child, when such surrender for adoption is under consideration. If there are no minor children, but the applicant's spouse resides outside the household, the applicant must petition a court of appropriate jurisdiction for spousal support.
2. (2) If the spouse or parent of an applicant resides with the public assistance household, the income of the spouse or parent must be applied in accordance with section 352.30 of this Part.

3. (3) If the stepparent of a child receiving assistance is living in the child's home and not applying as a member of the assistance unit, all the earned and unearned income of the stepparent, after applying the following disregards, is considered available to the assistance unit:

   1. (i) the first $75 of the stepparent's gross earned income, if he or she is employed full-time or part-time and throughout the month (according to the industry standard), shall be disregarded;
   2. (ii) an amount for the support of the stepparent and other individuals who are living in the home, but whose needs are not taken into account in making the public assistance eligibility determination, if those other individuals were or could be claimed by the stepparent as dependents for purposes of determining the stepparent's Federal personal income tax liability. This disregarded amount shall equal the standard of need, including special needs, for a family group of the same size and composition as the stepparent and the other dependent individuals not in the assistance unit;
   3. (iii) verified alimony and child support payments actually paid to individuals not living in the household; and
   4. (iv) amounts actually paid by the stepparent to individuals not living in the home but who are claimed by him as dependents for purposes of determining his Federal personal income tax liability.
4. (4) If the stepparent of a child receiving public assistance is living outside of the child's home, the income of that stepparent may not be assumed to be available to the stepchild. However, when a stepparent refuses to voluntarily provide support for the stepchild, appropriate steps must be taken to obtain an order of support from the Family Court.
5. (5) The income of a stepparent receiving supplemental security income (SSI) is not considered to be available to the ADC assistance unit.