UPSTATE & NYC MESSAGE  

DSS-4357EL                                                                 
WGIUPD                  GENERAL INFORMATION SYSTEM               05/11/01  
                   DIVISION:  Temporary Assistance 

GIS 01 TA/DC016                                                           
                                                                          
TO:  		Commissioners; TA Directors; CAP Coordinators, and  Employment Coordinators
                                         
FROM:  	Patricia A. Stevens, Deputy Commissioner                           
      		Division of Temporary Assistance                                   
SUBJECT:  54-Month Time Limit Letter                                     
                                                                         
EFFECTIVE DATE:  Immediately                                            
CONTACT PERSON:  1-800-343-8859 Central/PA Policy Team 4-9344                                                                                     

The 54-Month Time Limit Letter is ready for production. Beginning next week, all recipients at the 54-month time limit count will receive this informational letter. ADM-01-03 (Exemptions to the State Sixty-Month Time Limit/Evaluation for Safety Net Assistance) introduced a draft version of the 54-month time limit letter. The WMS Tracking Function automatically sends this informational letter to all Family Assistance recipients who have received 54 months of assistance. The letter informs recipients about the State Sixty-Month Time Limit and reminds them of the need to take action to achieve self-sufficiency and independence. Information on receiving non-cash Safety Net Assistance after the Sixty-Month limit is also provided. A copy of the letter follows:

	              IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE

			54 MONTH TIME LIMIT LETTER
			Case Type: Family Assistance

			Case Number:
			Loc. Off./Unit/Worker:
			
			General Telephone No. for
			Questions or Help:

			Line 1.  TIME LIMIT COUNT:
			Line 2.  AS OF:
____________________________________________________________________________

Dear Temporary Assistance Recipient,

	We are writing to let you know that your federal welfare benefits are nearing their end and that we can help you in your efforts to become self-sufficient. This letter is for informational purposes only. Your benefits are not being changed.
 
	The Welfare Reform Act of 1997 limited the amount of time an individual could receive Temporary Assistance through Family Assistance (FA), the Child                                                                              
Assistance Program (CAP), cash Safety Net Assistance (SNA), or non-cash Safety Net Assistance/Federal Participating (non-cash SNA/FP). An adult individual may not receive more than sixty-months of assistance through one or  any combination of these assistance programs. The purpose of this letter is to inform you about the number of months that now apply to the time limit on your Temporary Assistance case and help you plan for the future effect that the time limit may have upon you.

	The "Time Limit Count" in Line 1 reports the number of months we have counted for your case. According to our records, you or some one in your assistance case has received assistance through one or some combination of  FA, CAP, cash SNA or non-cash SNA/FP for fifty-four months as of the date shown in Line 2. This is the count for you or for the individual in your Temporary Assistance case who has received benefits from any combination of these assistance programs for the longest period of months since December, 1996 as of the date in line 2. After an adult individual has received sixty-months of assistance through any combination of FA, CAP, cash SNA or non-cash SNA/FP, that individual and everyone else in the household must be transferred to non-cash Safety Net Assistance /Federally Non-Participating (SNA/FNP), if there is continuing eligibility and need.

	With your Time Limit Count approaching sixty months, it is all the more important that you take the steps necessary to achieve self-sufficiency and independence.

	If your need continues beyond the sixty-month limit, you will begin receiving non-cash SNA/FNP on the first day of the month after the month that an individual in your case reaches the sixty-month limit. For example if your Time Count report for November 2000 is 54, your case would reach a count of sixty in six months or May 2001. Beginning  in June 1, 2001 your case would start receiving non-cash SNA/FNP, if there was continuing eligibility and need for benefits. There is no time limit on non-cash SNA/FNP.

	This notice is only to inform you about the time limit. Your worker will send you a separate notice from this one before the change to non-cash SNA/FNP. If you are unable to work when you reach the sixty-month limit you may be eligible for a time limit exemption. Cases granted a time limit exemption will not be transferred to non-cash SNA/FNP and benefits will continue to be issued under the current category of assistance. Information on time limit exemptions will be sent to you in a separate notice, if you are still receiving assistance when your time limit count reaches 58 months.

	You should keep track of your time limit count. The time limit is a lifetime limit, so if you do not need public asssitance for several years, then again find yourself in need, your time limit count will begin at the count reached in your last assistance month. For example, if your time limit count in July 2001 is 56 and your case is closed in July, you would start with a time limit count of 56 months if you should require assistance in some future month.

	The Client Information Booklets that you received when your case was opened or recertified contains more information on the time limits. If you have more questions regarding this information, ask your worker.