All GA recipients are required to register for work, look for
work, work to the extent of available employment, and otherwise fulfill
the work requirements, unless the applicant is exempt from such requirements
as provided below.
A. Employment; rehabilitation. All unemployed applicants and household
members who are 16 years of age or older and who are not attending
a full-time primary or secondary school intended to lead to a high
school diploma will be required to accept any suitable job offer and/or
meet with job counselors, attend employment workshops and rehabilitative
services, except as provided below (see "exemptions"). Applicants
must demonstrate to the Administrator that they are available for
work and are actively seeking employment.
(1) A "suitable job" means any job which the applicant is mentally and
physically able to perform. "Available for work" means that applicants
must make themselves available for work during normal business hours
prevailing in the area and show that no circumstance exists which
would prevent them from complying with the work requirement.
B. Verification. Unemployed applicants or applicants employed on a part-time
basis must provide verifiable documentation of their pursuit of employment
at the time of each application. At a minimum, such documentation
will consist of a list of the employers contacted, the date and time
of the application contact, and the name of the employer representative
contacted. "Pursuit of employment" means actually submitting a written
application or applying for a job in person when reasonable or submitting
a written application or letter of inquiry to employers.
(1) For the duration of any repeat applicant's period of unemployment
or partial employment, the Administrator will establish the number
of employers per week to whom each nonexempt applicant shall be required
to apply in order to fulfill his or her work search requirements.
The number of weekly employer contacts required by the Administrator
shall be reasonably related to the number of potential employers in
the region and the number of hours per week the applicant has available
for work search activities after considering all time the applicant
must devote to existing employment obligations, workfare obligations,
and required classroom or on-site participation in job training, educational,
or rehabilitation programs. Fulfillment of these requirements will
not be expected at the time of the initial application but will be
a condition of eligibility for subsequent assistance.
C. Ineligibility. After being granted assistance at the time of initial
application, applicants will be considered ineligible for further
assistance for 120 days if they, without just cause:
(1) Refuse to register for employment with the Maine Job Service;
(2) Refuse to search diligently for employment when the search is reasonable
and appropriate; recipients who unreasonably seek work at the same
places repeatedly will not be considered to be performing a diligent
work search and will be disqualified;
(3) Refuse to accept a suitable job offer;
(4) Refuse to participate in an assigned training, education or rehabilitation
program that would assist the applicant in securing employment;
(5) Fail to be available for work; or
(6) Refuse to participate or participate in a substandard manner in the municipal work program (see §
85-5.6).
D. Ineligibility due to job quit or discharge for misconduct. No initial
or repeat applicant who has quit his or her full-time or part-time
job without just cause or who has been discharged from employment
for misconduct (see definition in Appendix I) will be eligible to receive GA of any kind for 120 days
from the date the applicant is separated from employment [22 M.R.S.
§§ 4301(8), 4316-A (1-A)].
E. Just cause. Applicants will be ineligible for assistance for 120
days if they refuse to comply with the work requirements of this section
without just cause. With respect to any work requirement, just cause
will be considered to exist when there is reasonable and verifiable
evidence that:
(1) The applicant has a physical or mental illness or disability which
prevents him/her from working;
(2) The work assignment pays below minimum wages;
(3) The applicant was subject to sexual harassment;
(4) The applicant is physically or mentally unable to perform required
job tasks, or to meet piece work standards;
(5) The applicant has no means of transportation to or from work or a
training or rehabilitation program;
(6) The applicant is unable to arrange for necessary childcare or care
of ill or disabled family members; or
(7) Any reason found to be good cause by the Maine Department of Labor,
or any other verifiable reason the Administrator considers reasonable
and appropriate will be accepted as just cause [22 M.R.S. § 4316-A(5)].
F. Applicant's burden of establishing just cause. If the Administrator
finds that the applicant has violated a work-related rule without
just cause, it shall be the responsibility of the applicant to establish
the presence of just cause (22 M.R.S. § 4316-A).
G. Eligibility regained. Persons who are disqualified for 120 days because
they violated a work requirement may regain their eligibility if and
only when they become employed or otherwise satisfy the Administrator
that they are complying with the work requirement by fulfilling the
work requirement(s) the person violated.
(1) For the purpose of regaining eligibility by becoming employed, "employment"
shall mean employment by an employer as defined in 26 M.R.S. § 1043
or the performance of a service for an employer who withholds from
the employee a social security tax pursuant to federal law.
(2) The special provisions regarding the opportunity to regain eligibility after a disqualification for workfare violations are detailed in §
85-5.6, under "Eligibility regained."
H. Dependents.
(1) Failure of an otherwise eligible person to comply with the work requirements
shall not affect the eligibility of any member of the person's
household who is not capable of working, including:
(b)
An elderly, ill, or disabled person; and
(c)
A person whose presence is required in order to provide care
for any child under six years of age or for any ill or disabled member
of the household [22 M.R.S. § 4309(3)].
(2) If one or more member(s) of a household is disqualified and assistance
is requested for those remaining members of the household who are
dependents, the eligibility of those dependents will be calculated
by dividing the maximum level of assistance available to the entire
household by the total number of household members.
I. Exemptions. The above work requirements do not apply to any person
who is elderly, physically or mentally ill or disabled. Any person
whose presence is required to care for any preschool age child or
for any ill or disabled member of the household is also exempt from
these requirements.
(1) The requirements of this section will not be imposed so as to interfere
with an applicant's existing employment, ability to pursue a
bona fide job offer, ability to attend an interview for possible employment,
classroom participation in a primary or secondary educational program
intended to lead to a high school diploma, classroom or on site participation
in a training program which is either approved by the Department of
Labor (DOL) or determined by the DOL to be expected to assist the
applicant in securing employment, or classroom participation in a
degree-granting program operated under the control of the DOL.
Each applicant is responsible to make a good faith effort to utilize every available or potential resource that may reduce his or her need for GA (see §
85-2.2, definition of "resources"). Persons who refuse or fail to make a good faith effort to secure a potential resource after receiving written notice to do so are disqualified from receiving assistance until they make an effort to secure the resource. Applicants are required to prove that they have made a good faith effort to secure the resource (22 M.R.S. § 4317).
A. Minors.
(1) A minor under the age of 18 who has never married and is applying
independently for GA and who is pregnant or has a dependent child
or children will be eligible to receive GA only if the minor is residing
in the home of his or her parent, legal guardian or other adult relative,
in which case the entire household will be evaluated for eligibility.
Exceptions to this limitation on eligibility will be made when:
(a)
The minor is residing in a foster home, maternity home, or other
adult-supervised supportive living arrangement; or
(b)
The minor has no living parent or the whereabouts of both parents
are unknown; or
(c)
No parent will permit the minor to live in the parent's
home; or
(d)
The minor has lived apart from both parents for at least one
year before the birth of any dependent child; or
(e)
The DHHS determines that the physical or emotional health or
safety of the minor or the minor's dependent child or children
would be jeopardized if the minor and his or her child or children
lived with a parent; or
(f)
The DHHS determines, in accordance with its regulation, that
there is good cause to waive this limitation on eligibility [22 M.R.S.
§ 4309(4)].
(2) Any person under the age of 25 who is applying independently from
his or her parents for GA will be informed that until he or she reaches
the age of 25, the applicant's parents are still legally liable
for his or her support and the municipality has the right to seek
recovery from the parents of the cost of all assistance granted to
such a recipient to the extent his or her parents are financially
capable of repaying the municipality (22 M.R.S. § 4319).
(3) With regard to such application, the municipality may seek verification
of the applicant's need for GA by contacting his or her parents.
If the applicant's parents declare a willingness to provide the
applicant with his or her basic needs directly, and there is no convincing
evidence that the applicant would be jeopardized by relying on his
or her parents for basic needs, the Administrator may find the applicant
not to be in need of GA for the reason that his or her needs can be
provided by a legally liable relative.
B. Mental or physical disability. Any applicant who has a mental or
physical disability must make a good faith effort to utilize any medical
or rehabilitative services which have been recommended by a physician,
psychologist or other professional retraining or rehabilitation specialist
when the services are available to the applicant and would not constitute
a financial burden or create a physical risk to the individual.
C. Written notice; disqualification. The Administrator will give each
applicant written notice whenever the applicant is required to utilize
any specific potential resource(s). Any applicant who refuses to utilize
potential resources, without just cause, after receiving written seven-day
notice will be ineligible for further assistance until he/she has
made a good faith effort to utilize or obtain the resources. GA will
not be withheld from the applicant pending receipt of a resource if
the applicant has made, or is in the process of making, a good faith
effort to obtain the resource.
D. Forfeiture of benefits. Any applicant who forfeits receipt of, or
causes a reduction in, benefits from another public assistance program
due to fraud, misrepresentation, a knowing or intentional violation
of program rules or a refusal to comply with that program's rules
without just cause will be ineligible to receive GA to replace the
forfeited benefits. To the extent the forfeited benefits can be considered
income under GA law, the value of the forfeited benefits will be considered
income that is available to the applicant for the duration of the
forfeiture.
(1) To the extent the forfeited benefits were provided in the form of
a specific, regularly issued resource of a calculable value rather
than in the form of income, that resource, up to its forfeited value,
need not be replaced with GA for a period of 120 days from the date
of the forfeiture — unless the municipality is prohibited by
federal or state law from considering the forfeited resource as available
with respect to local public assistance programs (22 M.R.S. § 4317).
No one will have his or her GA terminated, reduced, or suspended
prior to being given written notice and an opportunity for a fair
hearing (22 M.R.S. §§ 4321-4322). Each person will
be notified in writing of the reasons for his or her ineligibility,
and any person disqualified for not complying with the ordinance will
be informed in writing of the period of ineligibility.
A. Work requirement. Applicants/recipients who do not comply with a work requirement are disqualified from receiving assistance for a period of 120 days (unless they regain their eligibility) (see §§
85-5.5 and
85-5.6). If an applicant/recipient is provided assistance and does not comply with the work requirement, the applicant/recipient shall be disqualified for 120 days following the end of the period covered by the grant of assistance. The Administrator shall give recipients written notice that they are disqualified as soon as the Administrator has sufficient knowledge and information to render a decision of ineligibility.
B. Fraud. Persons who commit fraud are disqualified from receiving GA for a period of 120 days (see §
85-6.4, "Fraud"). The Administrator shall give recipients written notice that they are ineligible as soon as the Administrator has sufficient knowledge and information to render a decision. If the disqualification for fraud is issued before the expiration of a grant of assistance, the period of ineligibility shall commence on the day following the end of the period covered by the grant of assistance. If fraud is discovered after the period covered by the grant of assistance has expired, the period of ineligibility will commence on the day of the written notice of ineligibility.
An applicant who is found ineligible for unemployment compensation
benefits because of a finding of fraud by the Department of Labor
pursuant to 26 M.R.S. § 1051(1) is ineligible to receive
general assistance to replace the forfeited unemployment compensation
benefits for the duration of the forfeiture established by the Department
of Labor (22 M.R.S. § 4317).