Testing for the Illegal Use of a Controlled Substance by Applicants and Recipients of Temporary Assistance

PURPOSE: This rule adds the requirement that applicants for Temporary Assistance and recipients for the payment of Temporary Assistance who are age eighteen (18) or older and are the head-of-household whose screening for illegal use of a controlled substance establishes reasonable cause to believe the individual engages in the illegal use of a controlled substance must submit to a urine dipstick five- (5-) panel drug test. This rule also establishes the individual’s ineligibility for Temporary Assistance pursuant to the drug testing requirement. (1) The Family Support Division shall require an individual to submit to a urine dipstick five- (5-) panel drug test when the Family Support Division determines there is reasonable cause to believe the individual is engaging in the illegal use of a controlled substance. The determination of reasonable cause shall be based upon the screening process set forth in 13 CSR 40-2.410. (A) The division or its designee shall notify the individual in writing, at the individual’s last known address as contained within the division records, of the reasonable cause determination that requires the individual to submit to a urine dipstick five- (5-) panel drug test. (B) The division or its designee shall notify the individual in writing of the location of the test and the date by which the test must be completed and of the drug testing process. (C) The division or its designee shall make the test available either within the individual’s county of residence as known to the division or in an adjacent county if the testing location is within twenty-five (25) miles of the individual’s residence, whichever is closer. (D) The individual must provide verification of identity when submitting to the drug test. Acceptable forms of identity verification include: U.S. passport; driver’s license issued by the state or U.S. territory with a photograph or other identifying information; certificate of degree of Indian blood; school identification card; U.S. military card or draft card with photograph; identification card issued by federal, state, or local government; Native American tribal document. (2) Drug Testing Protocols. (A) All urine samples collected under this program shall be collected and analyzed by a qualified contractor of the state of Missouri with laboratory facilities that comply with the standards of the National Institute on Drug Abuse/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or other appropriate accrediting institution. The collection and analysis shall include the initial screening of the urine dipstick five- (5-) panel test and when necessary a confirmation test analyzed by a laboratory that complies with the standards of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. All samples confirmed by the laboratory as non-negative shall be interpreted as positive or negative by a medical review officer licensed by the American Association of Medical Review Officers, American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Medical Review Officer Certification Council, or American Society of Addiction Medicine. (B) The laboratory must screen and test for the substances set forth in 13 CSR 402.400(16). Said testing must screen, at a minimum, for the levels of such substances as provid ed by 1 CSR 30-7.010(5), as may be amended from time-to-time. (3) The division shall not provide Temporary Assistance to or on behalf of an individual who is required to submit to a drug test and who refuses to cooperate with any part of the drug testing process. (A) A refusal to cooperate with the testing process shall include one (1) or more of the following: 1. Failure to provide a sample for drug testing within the required time frame; 2. Failure to fully comply with the drug testing process as directed by the Family Support Division or its designee; 3. Failure to appear for drug testing at the designated location and time; 4. Failure to contact or cooperate with any medical review process; 5. Failure to provide verification of identity; 6. Failure to complete any documents or consent forms required by the Family Support Division or its designee, the drug testing provider, the Department of Mental Health, or the substance abuse treatment provider; 7. Failure to provide a sufficient amount of urine for testing; or 8. Failure to provide a urine sample at the correct temperature. (B) The individual is ineligible for Temporary Assistance for a period of three (3) years from the date of a positive test, test refusal, or an administrative hearing decision if a hearing is requested and the division is affirmed. The hearing process is set forth in 13 CSR 402.440. (4) The division shall not provide Temporary Assistance to or on behalf of an individual who tests positive for illegal use of a controlled substance and fails to enter, participate, and successfully complete an appropriate substance abuse treatment program as set forth in 13 CSR 40-2.430. The individual is ineligible for Temporary Assistance for a period of three (3) years from the date of a positive test or an administrative hearing decision if a hearing is requested and the division is affirmed. The hearing process is set forth in 13 CSR 40-2.440. (5) An individual subject to drug testing who has a positive drug result may, at his or her expense, have the positive drug test result confirmed. The individual must make this request for testing within ten (10) days from notification of the positive test result. (6) The division may require a urine dipstick five- (5-) panel drug test six (6) months after the date the recipient entered the substance abuse treatment program as defined in 13 CSR 40-2.430. If the individual tests positive, the individual is ineligible for Temporary Assistance for a period of three (3) years from the date of a positive test or an administrative hearing decision if a hearing is requested and the division is affirmed. The hearing process is set forth in 13 CSR 40-2.440. (7) The amount of assistance that would otherwise be required to be provided under the Temporary Assistance Program to the family members of an individual to whom sections (3), (4), and (6) apply shall be reduced by the amount which would have otherwise been made available to the individual who has been declared ineligible. (8) The division shall add an otherwise eligible individual who has been declared ineligible for Temporary Assistance as set forth in 13 CSR 40-2.400 through 13 CSR 40-2.430 to the Temporary Assistance household after the three- (3-) year period of ineligibility has elapsed. The individual is subject to the rules as set forth in 13 CSR 40-2.400 through 13 CSR 40-2.450. AUTHORITY: section 208.027, RSMo Supp. 2014.* Original rule filed June 29, 2012, effective Feb. 28, 2013. Amended: Filed Nov. 3, 2014, effective April 30, 2015. *Original authority: 208.027, RSMo 2011.