1. Poverty Law 1, MFIP-S Income Lecture Adjunct Professor Monica Bogucki
Poverty Law 1, MFIP-S Income Lecture Adjunct Professor Monica Bogucki Copyright 2019 Monica Bogucki, BSW, JD

2. MFIP Assistance Unit
256J.24 FAMILY COMPOSITION; ASSISTANCE STANDARDS; EXIT LEVEL.
§Subdivision 1.MFIP assistance unit. An MFIP assistance unit is either a group of individuals with at least one minor child who live together whose needs, assets, and income are considered together and who receive MFIP assistance, or a pregnant woman and her spouse who receive MFIP assistance.

3. MFIP Mandatory Assistance Unit Members
Minn. Stat. 256J.24, Subd. 2.Mandatory assistance unit composition. Except for minor caregivers and their children who must be in a separate assistance unit from the other persons in the household, when the following individuals live together, they must be included in the assistance unit:
(1) a minor child, including a pregnant minor;
(2) the minor child's minor siblings, minor half siblings, and minor stepsiblings;
(3) the minor child's birth parents, adoptive parents, and stepparents; and
(4) the spouse of a pregnant woman.
A minor child must have a caregiver for the child to be included in the assistance unit.

4. Individuals Excluded from MFIP Assistance Unit, Minn. Stat. 2556J
Individuals Excluded from MFIP Assistance Unit, Minn. Stat. 2556J.24, Subd. 3
Subd. 3.Individuals who must be excluded from an assistance unit. (a) The following individuals who are part of the assistance unit determined under subdivision 2 are ineligible to receive MFIP:
(1) individuals who are recipients of Supplemental Security Income or Minnesota supplemental aid;
(2) individuals disqualified from the food stamp or food support program or MFIP, until the disqualification ends;
(3) children on whose behalf federal, state or local foster care payments are made, except as provided in sections 256J.13, subdivision 2, and 256J.74, subdivision 2;
(4) children receiving ongoing Northstar kinship assistance payments under chapter 256N;
(5) children receiving ongoing monthly adoption assistance payments under chapter 256N or 259A; and
(6) individuals disqualified from the work participation cash benefit program until that disqualification ends.
(b) The exclusion of a person under this subdivision does not alter the mandatory assistance unit composition.

5. Some Individuals May Elect to be Included in the Assistance Unit
Minn. Stat. 256J.24, subd. 4
Subd. 4.Individuals who may elect to be included in the assistance unit. (a) The minor child's eligible caregiver may choose to be in the assistance unit, if the caregiver is not required to be in the assistance unit under subdivision 2. If the eligible caregiver chooses to be in the assistance unit, that person's spouse must also be in the unit.
(b) Any minor child not related as a sibling, stepsibling, or adopted sibling to the minor child in the unit, but for whom there is an eligible caregiver may elect to be in the unit.
(c) A foster care provider of a minor child who is receiving federal, state, or local foster care maintenance payments may elect to receive MFIP if the provider meets the definition of caregiver under section 256J.08, subdivision 11. If the provider chooses to receive MFIP, the spouse of the provider must also be included in the assistance unit with the provider. The provider and spouse are eligible for assistance even if the only minor child living in the provider's home is receiving foster care maintenance payments.
(d) The adult caregiver or caregivers of a minor parent are eligible to be a separate assistance unit from the minor parent and the minor parent's child when:
(1) the adult caregiver or caregivers have no other minor children in the household;
(2) the minor parent and the minor parent's child are living together with the adult caregiver or caregivers; and
(3) the minor parent and the minor parent's child receive MFIP, or would be eligible to receive MFIP, if they were not

6. Is the income included or excluded?
General Rule is income is included unless it is specifically excluded.

7. Three Basic Types of Income
Earned Income, Minn. Stat. 256P.01, subd.3, 256J.08, subd. 6
Unearned Income ,Minn. Stat. 256P.06, subd 3(2) Minn. Stat. 256J.08, subd. 86, Minn. Stat. 256P.01, subd 5
In-kind income, Minn. Stat. 256J.08, subd. 49, Minn. Stat. 256P.01, subd. 4
Minn. Stat. 256J.21

8. Earned Income Cash or in-kind income earned through employment
Minn. Stat. 256P.01, subd. 3
Minn. Stat. 256J.21

9. Unearned Income Unearned income includes: Interest, dividends
Capital gains from sale of real property
Rent, contract for deed payments(in excess of principal and interest)
Income from trusts, excludes special needs and supplemental needs trusts
Interest income on loans
Cash prizes
Unemployment insurance
Retirement, survivors and disability insurance (RSDI)

10. Unearned income continued
Retirement benefits
Cash assistance through: General Assistance program, Child care assistance program, MFIP, Group Residential Housing
Tribal payments
Income from rehabilitation programs that meet or exceed minimum wage
Income from U.S. armed forces
Child support-child case assistance, general assistance, GRH
See Minn. Stat. 256JP.06 subd. 3

11. In-Kind income (DHS Bulletin 19-11-02)
Obtained through employment activities.
Counted as income
Obtained through other sources-NOT counted as income Minn. Stat. 256J.21, subd 2(13)
Example-non-profit pays landlord directly for tenant’s past due rent

12. Deeming of income, Minn. Stat. 256J.37, subd 1, subd 1b, subd. 2
Count income of someone who is financially responsible but may not be living in the household
Examples: Affidavit of support for immigration purposes

13. Excluded Income
The following assistance unit members are exempt from having their earned income count towards the income of the assistance unit.
Children under six years old.
Caregivers under 20 years of age enrolled at least half-time in school
Minors enrolled in school full-time
Minn. Stat. 256P.02 subd. 2

14. Client’s Duty to Report Income and other changes
The client must report any employment changes to his/her job counselor within 3 days. Minn. Stat. 256J.55 subd. 2 Must report changes within 10 days Minn. Stat. 256J.30 subd. 9, Minn. Stat. 256P et. seq. Household Report Forms, Recertification forms See State of Minnesota Department of Human Services website for forms- available in multiple languages.

15. Participant has a duty to provide necessary verification
Participant has a duty to verify necessary verification. Minn. Stat. 256P.04, 256J.32
Agency will accept personal statement for verification
Some items to verified:
Income
Assets
Assistance unit members and relationships to each other
Change in household composition
Change in work status……….

16. Ellie is a foster parent of two children. She receives $1200
Ellie is a foster parent of two children. She receives $ per month for the care of these two foster children. Ellie is also the single parent of two minor children. She wants to know if the foster payments will reduce her MFIP benefits?

17. Sallie started working for a company that pays her for mileage and parking expenses incurred as part of her work. Sally is worried this will reduce her MFIP benefits. Will this reduce her MFIP benefits?

18. Sam has a 10 year-old-son who is receiving SSI benefits $ 771
Sam has a 10 year-old-son who is receiving SSI benefits $ per month. Sam also has a 12-year-old son. Sam will be applying for MFIP benefits. Sam wants to know how the SSI benefits will impact his MFIP application?

19. Sam is not receiving SSI benefits
Sam is not receiving SSI benefits. He and his two sons are receiving MFIP benefits. They live in Housing and Urban Development subsidized housing. How will this affect their MFIP benefits? Minn. Stat. 256J.37 subd. 3a

20. Sam and his two sons are living in Housing and Urban Development subsidized housing. How will this affect his MFIP benefits? Minn. Stat. 256J.37 subd. 3A(B)(A)
Subd. 3a. Rental subsidies; unearned income. (a) Effective July 1, 2003, the agency shall count $50
of the value of public and assisted rental subsidies provided through the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) as unearned income to the cash portion of the MFIP grant. The full amount of the
subsidy must be counted as unearned income when the subsidy islessthan $50. The income from thissubsidy

21. Molly is on MFIP benefits
Molly is on MFIP benefits. Molly needed extra money this month to go to her father’s funeral in Indiana. She sold her stereo system for $ She wants to know if this will reduce her MFIP benefits.

22. AmeriCorps income
Amy is a single parent of one child. She just finished college. She is a full-time participant in the AmeriCorps program. She will be teaching in an inner-city high school in Minneapolis. She is worried about finances. She will get cash payments from AmeriCorps is $ 12,000 per year. Can she get MFIP benefits?

23. Jenny just received a favorable decision in a housing case
Jenny just received a favorable decision in a housing case. Her award is $20, She is debating on whether to get this in cash or have the landlord buy her a $ 20,000 home. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each option? How would this impact her grant?

24. John and Betsy filed a rent escrow action against their landlord and have received the following damages from the landlord. They want to know how this will affect their MFIP grant. $ punitive damages $ rent rebate $ moving expenses- landlord will pay the moving company directly

25. LEGAL AVAILABILITY
If the individual has legal access to income, then this income counts as income for purposes of MFIP eligibility.
What happens if the income is legally unavailable?
What are some examples of legally unavailable income?
Minn. Stat. 256J.21 subd. 1
Legally Available means a person’s right under the law to secure, possess, dispose of, of control income or property. Minn. Stat. 256J.08, subd. 51

26. Earned Income Tax Credit
Ann filed her income taxes and will receive $1,000 in earned income tax credit.
How will this impact her MFIP grant?

27. Minn. Renter’s refund
Ann is filing for her Minnesota Renter’s Refund. She will receive $ in a renter’s refund.
How will this impact her MFIP benefits?

28. MICHELLE’S PARENTS ARE WILLING TO LOAN HER $2500
MICHELLE’S PARENTS ARE WILLING TO LOAN HER $ TO HELP HER FINISH SCHOOL. MICHELLE IS WORRIED THIS WILL REDUCE HER MFIP GRANT. PLEASE ADVISE HER?

29. Molly is a single mother of a three year old son. She receives $700
Molly is a single mother of a three year old son. She receives $ per month in Retirement, Survivors, Disability Insurance based on her disability. She wants to know if she is eligible for MFIP?

30. Mary is a single parent of a three year old son. She receives $771
Mary is a single parent of a three year old son. She receives $ from Supplemental Security Income based on her disability. She wants to know if she will be eligible for MFIP?