Bill 2438

                    Current Status

Bill Number:               2438
Ratification Number:       332
Act Number:                323
Introducing Body:          House
Subject:                   Relating to public aid and assistance by
                           the Department of Social Services

(A323, R332, H2438)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 43-5-30, 43-5-65, AS AMENDED, 43-5-95, AND 43-5-148, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO PUBLIC AID AND ASSISTANCE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE CORRECTION OF ANY OVERPAYMENT OR UNDERPAYMENT OF ASSISTANCE UNDER THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT, TO DEFINE OVERPAYMENT AND UNDERPAYMENT, TO MAKE ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS FOR COMPLETION OF THE CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY, TO GRANT AID TO A CHILD OVER THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN IF HE IS A FULL-TIME STUDENT IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL OR IN THE SAME LEVEL OF VOCATIONAL OR TECHNICAL TRAINING AND WILL COMPLETE THE PROGRAM BEFORE REACHING AGE NINETEEN, AND TO DESIGNATE THE DATE ON WHICH ASSISTANCE BEGINS.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Overpayments, underpayments under Social

Security Act

SECTION 1. Section 43-5-30 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 43-5-30. (a) If an overpayment or underpayment is made under Title IV, Part A, of the Social Security Act (Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program [AFDC]), the department shall make every effort to correct such action in accordance with this chapter. If the agency decides to terminate benefits to a client and payments are made pending an appeal of the agency's decision, these payments must be considered overpayment if the agency's decision is upheld.

(b) Overpayment means a financial assistance payment received which exceeds the amount for which the client was eligible. Underpayment means a financial assistance payment received which is less than the amount for which the client unit was eligible.

(c) The agency can recover an overpayment by:

(1) receiving a payment from the client or

(2) by reducing the amount of any future aid payable to the client.

The adjustment in future aid shall not reduce the family's monthly income to less than ninety percent of the amount payable to a family of the same composition with no other income. If no payment is made for a month solely by reason of the recovery of an overpayment, that individual is still considered a recipient of assistance for that month for purposes of enrollment date.

(d) If an individual has received an overpayment and does not repay the agency and is no longer receiving aid so that future payments cannot be reduced, the agency shall make recovery by taking appropriate action under the laws of the State against the income or resources of the individual or family.

(e) Correction of underpayments of assistance must be made to current recipients and those who would be current recipients if the error causing the underpayment had not occurred. For the purposes of determining continued eligibility and amount of assistance, the retroactive corrective payments are not considered income or a resource in the month paid nor in the next following month."

Certificate must be accompanied by addressed envelope

SECTION 2. Subsections (e) and (f) of Section 43-5-65 of the 1976 Code are further amended to read:

"(e) If the certificate is mailed to the family, it must be accompanied by an addressed envelope for its return. In no event may the acts of mailing to the recipient or the recipient's return of a completed certificate to the department be substituted in lieu of a personal interview. In the event the certificate is not completed and returned within ten days after it is mailed or personally delivered to the family, contact must be made with the family and the certificate shall then be completed with the assistance of the department if necessary. If there is a refusal to cooperate in completing the certificate, aid is denied or terminated consistent with appropriate notice requirements. In all cases where assistance is withheld or terminated for the above reason, the department shall investigate the welfare of any dependent child affected and, if necessary, the department shall take action on behalf of the child.

(f) Each adult member of the family shall provide, under penalty of perjury the information necessary to complete the certificate. The certificates used by the department shall contain at the end in large type a statement in a form approved by the Attorney General that the applicant or recipient understands that he has an obligation to report immediately to the department any changes in income or resources, composition of household, address, or any other factor which may affect eligibility and that the declarations in the certificate are correct and complete to the best of the applicant's or recipient's knowledge or belief and are made under penalty of perjury. The statement shall clearly specify that failure to report changes in circumstances that may affect eligibility and grant amount within ten calendar days of the day on which the change becomes known to the recipient constitutes withholding of information and permits the department to recover any overpayment occasioned or caused by the withholding in accordance with Section 43-5-30. This application must be signed by the applicant or recipient of assistance or any person completing the application for an applicant or recipient unable to do so himself.

The person completing the application for an applicant or recipient unable to do so himself must sign a statement attesting to the fact that this section has been explained to the applicant and to the belief that the applicant understands."

Aid may be granted

SECTION 3. Section 43-5-95 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 43-5-95. Aid may be granted under the provisions of this section to or in behalf of an eligible child over the age of eighteen, if he is a full-time student in a secondary school, or in the equivalent level of vocational or technical training, and reasonably expected to complete the program before reaching age nineteen."

When assistance begins

SECTION 4. Section 43-5-148 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 43-5-148. Provided the eligible applicant is alive on the date the application is approved, assistance begins on the earlier of the two following dates:

(a) the date the award is authorized if that date is in the same month as the month of application; or

(b) the first day of the month in which the thirtieth day from the date of receipt of a completed and signed application falls."

Time effective

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect upon approval by the Governor.