Determining eligibility. Employability status.

(a) Impairment to employability required. No person shall be eligible for assistance pursuant to SAGA unless such person is unemployable, as described in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, or transitional, as described in subsections (d) and (e) of this section. (b) Medical unemployability. A person shall be considered unemployable due to medical impairment when such person provides the department with current medical and vocational information, including information concerning such person's employment history, verifying that such person: (1) Has been diagnosed with one or more physical or mental illnesses or conditions and: (A) One or more of such illnesses or conditions are expected to last not less than six months; (B) One or more of such illnesses or conditions, individually or collectively, prevent such person from working or participating in education or training; and (C) One or more of such illnesses or conditions are severe, as determined by the department or the department's designee after consulting a schedule of medical-disability standards maintained and made available to the public by the department; (2) Meets the disability requirements established by the Social Security Administration; or (3) Has received an award letter from the Social Security Administration granting SSI or SSDI benefits, but has not yet received such benefits. (c) Non-medical unemployability. A person shall be considered unemployable due to considerations apart from medical impairment when such person provides the department with current information, including, when necessary, information concerning such person's employment history, verifying that such person: (1) Is sixty-five years of age or older or is under sixteen years of age and emancipated by a court of appropriate jurisdiction or legally married; (2) Is needed at home to care for an incapacitated spouse or child, or a child under two years of age, provided such person verifies that: (A) The incapacitated person (i) receives SSI or Social Security benefits based on disability or blindness, or (ii) has a physical or mental illness or impairment, or combination thereof, that is expected to last not less than thirty days and is of such a debilitating nature that, in the case of a spouse, it precludes such spouse from engaging in employment on a predictable basis with reasonable regularity, or, in the case of a child, it requires care by an adult at unpredictable times with reasonable regularity or on a substantially continuous basis; and (B) No other household member of the spouse or child, as the case may be, can provide such care. (3) Has been granted but is pending receipt of Social Security income or cash assistance from any program administered by the department other than SAGA; (4) Is a VISTA volunteer; (5) Is a full-time student in good standing at a high school or another secondary school offering an equivalent level of vocational or technical training; (6) Is fifty-five years of age or older and has worked less than six months, cumulatively, during the five years immediately preceding such person's application for assistance; or (7) Is (A) unmarried, (B) between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one, (C) living with an active TFA assistance unit, and (D) no longer a member of such TFA assistance unit due to attaining the age of eighteen. (d) Long-term transitional persons. A person shall be considered transitional due to long-term impairment when such person: (1) Provides the department with current medical and vocational information, including information concerning such person's employment history, verifying that such person has one or more documented, severe physical or mental illnesses or conditions that, individually or collectively, are expected to preclude employment for a period of not less than six months; and (2) Submits to and cooperates with a medical review for the purpose of determining whether such person's impairments meet any of the criteria for medical unemployability, as described in subsection (b) of this section. (e) Short-term transitional persons. (1) A person shall be considered transitional due to short-term impairment when such person provides the department with current medical and vocational information, including information concerning such person's employment history, verifying that such person: (A) Has one or more documented physical or mental illnesses or conditions that, individually or collectively, are expected to preclude employment for a period of not less than two months but fewer than six months; and (B) Has a recent connection to the labor market or: (i) Was institutionalized as a resident of (I) an acute care or chronic disease hospital, (II) a nursing home, (III) a correctional facility, or (IV) a residential treatment facility, halfway house or group home for not less than forty-five days during each of three of the five calendar quarters immediately preceding the month such person applied for assistance; (ii) Was receiving cash assistance pursuant to SAGA, SSI, SSDI or AABD for not less than three of the five calendar quarters immediately preceding the month such person applied for assistance; (iii) Graduated from a full-time secondary school, such as a high school or a vocational or technical school, not earlier than six months prior to the month such person applied for assistance; or (iv) Was needed in the home to care for his or her child under two years of age for not less than three of the five calendar quarters immediately preceding the month such person applied for assistance. (2) For purposes of this subsection, "chronic disease hospital" means a facility for the treatment or care of persons with prolonged illnesses, and "recent connection to the labor market" means that a person: (A) Worked and earned not less than five hundred dollars in each of three of the five calendar quarters immediately preceding the month such person applied for assistance, regardless of the dates on which payment was received for such work; (B) Collected unemployment compensation at any time during the six months immediately preceding the date such person applied for assistance; or (C) Had sufficient wage credits to qualify for unemployment compensation at any time during the six months immediately preceding the date such person applied for assistance but was unable to collect such compensation because (i) he or she was unable to work or unavailable for suitable work, or (ii) such compensation was withheld for the purpose of recouping a previous overpayment of unemployment compensation. (f) Petition for reconsideration. (1) Any person previously determined to be transitional pursuant to subsection (d) or (e) of this section may file a petition for reconsideration of the department's determination that such person does not qualify as unemployable. Such petition shall be filed not later than sixty days after such person's assistance is discontinued due to the expiration of the period of time such person was determined to be transitional, and may be filed while such person is still receiving assistance. (2) Each petition for reconsideration filed pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection shall include the name, date of birth, Social Security number and the signature of the petitioner, the date on which such petition was signed and a written statement explaining why the petitioner believes he or she is unemployable. Such petition may include any of the following: (A) Medical or psychiatric reports; (B) Reports from counselors; (C) Photographs of the petitioner; (D) Evidence concerning the petitioner's education, vocational training or work history; (E) A statement offered by the petitioner's friend or family member, or by another person with knowledge of the petitioner's circumstances, explaining his or her relationship to the petitioner and the specific reasons he or she believes the petitioner is unemployable; and (F) Any other information relevant to the petitioner's ability to find and maintain employment. (3) Any petition for reconsideration filed with a regional office shall be forwarded to the department's central office for consideration and the issuance of a decision. Assistance shall not be continued beyond the time the department previously determined the petitioner would be transitional while such a petition is pending, nor shall assistance be reinstated upon the filing of such a petition after assistance was discontinued due to the expiration of such time. (4) Prior to rendering a decision on such petition, the department may: (A) Request additional medical or vocational information from the petitioner, including information concerning the petitioner's work history; (B) Require that the petitioner appear for an in-person interview to discuss his or her employment status; and (C) Require verification of any information contained in a statement or document submitted to the department that the department has reason to question. (5) In reaching a decision on a petition for reconsideration, the department may consider the petitioner's mental and physical health, age, educational background, work history and how each such factor relates to the petitioner's ability to work, but may not grant a petition based on the petitioner's inability to find employment due to labor market conditions, lack of transportation or any other factor that is not a criterion used in determining whether a person is unemployable. (6) The department's central office shall issue a written decision on each petition for reconsideration not later than sixty days after such petition was filed with the department. Such decision shall be forwarded to the regional office of appropriate jurisdiction and notice of such decision shall be provided to the petitioner and any authorized representative of such petitioner. Any favorable decision on such petition shall be implemented by the regional office not later than ten days after the date on which such decision was forwarded to the regional office by (A) granting assistance, if such assistance was previously discontinued, and (B) issuing a corrective assistance payment, if necessary, retroactive to either the first day of the month in which such petition was filed, or the first day of the month during which the department determines the petitioner became unemployable and was not receiving assistance to which he or she was entitled, whichever is earlier. Any adverse decision on such petition shall be final and may not be appealed. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to interfere with an assistance unit member's right to request a fair hearing on the department's initial determination that such member does not qualify as unemployable, or to appeal a hearing officer's decision following such a fair hearing to the Superior Court.