Budgeting in unusual circumstances

1. Except as provided in subsection 3, if an eligible child lives in the home of a relative who is not the child's parent, the relative is ineligible if the relative's spouse also lives in the home. 2. If an eligible child lives in the home of a relative who is not the child's parent, and the spouse of that relative does not also live in the home, the relative: a. Must be excluded from the household if the relative's income and assets would cause the household to be ineligible; and b. May be included in the household if the relative requests inclusion and the relative's income and assets do not cause the household to be ineligible. 3. Except as provided in subsection 5, if an eligible child lives in the home of a relative who is not the child's parent, but who is, and could in the absence of that child be, a member of a household which includes the spouse of the relative, the eligible child must be added as a member of the household of the relative. 4. Except as provided in subsection 5, if two or more eligible children are living in the home of an ineligible relative who is not a parent of either child, all eligible children must be included in a single household. 5. An individual who is a caretaker relative in a household may act as a temporary payee for a child who is a member of another household and with respect to whom the individual is a relative, while that child lives temporarily with the individual, to preserve the child's usual living arrangement with that child's caretaker relative who is: a. Hospitalized; or b. Incarcerated for ninety days or less. 6. If two or more relatives, who are each eligible caretakers for one or more children but who are not married to each other and who have no children in common living in the household, live together, each caretaker and the child or children with respect to whom that caretaker is a relative must be budgeted as a household. 7. If a child lives with a relative who receives supplemental security income benefits, budgeting is based on the number of eligible individuals in the household. 8. If a child lives with a parent whose needs are deleted from the benefit due to the parent's failure to cooperate in obtaining support and in establishing paternity or in the job opportunities and basic skills program, the parent's income and assets must be considered in determining eligibility for the remaining members of the household. The income of the parent is subject to any applicable income disregards. 9. If an eligible caretaker leaves a child in the care of another individual while the caretaker pursues an educational program in another community, budgeting for the household must be done as if the unit resided together. 10. a. If a member of a household is hospitalized or residing in a halfway house, a drug and alcohol treatment facility, the North Dakota state hospital, a nursing home, or a swing bed facility, and there is a medical plan that the individual may return to the household: (1) No reduction in assistance may be made for the first three full months if the individual receives a cash grant, but the needs of the individual must be reduced thereafter to a forty-five dollar clothing and personal needs allowance; and (2) Effective the first day of the month following the date of admittance to the institution, the needs of a household member admitted to a veterans administration hospital or any state institution other than the North Dakota state hospital must be deleted. b. For periods when the needs of an individual must be reduced, the individual's share of assistance is limited to the amount of the clothing and personal needs allowance, effective with the first month the reduction may be made. This budgeting arrangement must continue as long as the medical plan calls for the individual to return to the household, but may not exceed nine months.