Present were Chairman Richard DeVaughn, Ron Mercer, Michael Peck, Jay Dee Chase, Aneta Wilkinson and George Young.

Chairman DeVaughn called the meeting to order.

Oklahoma Department of Human Services Director Howard H. Hendrick began his comments to the Commission by listing some recent site visits that included child welfare case reviews, Oklahoma Commission for Children and Youth, Oklahoma County CW Task Force at 55H, SmartStart Oklahoma Executive committee, Oklahoma County Child Welfare Planning Session with Therapeutic Foster Care provider association and Judges, Post Adoptions Services Advisory Group, Foster Parent Association Meeting, OPEA Quarterly meeting with employees, Family Expectations site visit, Annual Safety Conference, Oklahoma Lawyers for Children, OPSR Board Meeting, Alliance for Oklahoma’s Future Presentation, Child Support Employers Services Center, Oklahoma County Child Welfare at 55D, OKDHS State Games in Midwest City, Bethany Kiwanis Club presentation, Six Sigma Training Initiative, Daily Living Center Groundbreaking in Bethany, APHSA State Director’s Meeting, Governor’s Multi-agency Continuity of Operations Planning Session, DSD Governance Board funding decisions, Tenth Anniversary Event as Director, Monthly Food Stamp improvement task force, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance and training session, Court Appointed Advocates for Vulnerable Adults luncheon celebration for the nation’s first CAAVA program and first case handled by Judge L. Jones, Oklahoma Quality Awards planning initiative, Office of Clients Advocacy annual training meeting, visit to Tulsa Offices, Ethics of Pandemic Flu Planning Conference, Workforce Investment Board Agency Director’s Meeting, Adult Protective Services process improvement planning session for abuse registry compliance and various IT project planning meetings.

Next, Director Hendrick shared some good news with the Commission. Mr. Hendrick thanked everyone for the privilege of serving as Director of OKDHS for the last ten years. The Director also welcomed Oklahoma Secretary of Human Resources and Director of the Office of Personnel Management, Oscar Jackson and also Ms. Joyce Smith of OPM who presented an additional Quality Award.  The agency set another record with 1,676 authorized adoptions and a net reduction in the number of children in out of home care during SFY 2008. This is the first net reduction in 4 years and all 6 areas of the state had a net reduction.

The Director next delivered a brief update on the Advantage Waiver followed by a discussion on provider rate issues.

Director Hendrick gave a brief Food Stamp update before outlining some major issues facing the agency.  These included: preparing the budget request for SFY 2010 and assessing what operational changes should be considered if confronted with operational reductions; assessing what changes will be necessary to previously funded construction projects, the first of which has come in significantly in excess of budget and preparing the FY 2008 annual program review.

The Director concluded his remarks by recognizing David Shafer, chief administrative officer, who is retiring after 41 years of service to the people of Oklahoma.

OKDHS Chief Financial Officer Phil Motley delivered the financial reports for May and June 2008. The recent passage of Federal HR 2642 placed a time limited moratorium on a number of new federal regulations including the preclusion of states to access Targeted Case Management funding.  Subsequent to that moratorium, the OKDHS has filed for almost $8.2 million of TCM funding for services in the months of March, April and May. Receivables for all Targeted Case Management services have been reintroduced to the Department’s financial position through the June reporting period. Subsequent revenues and receivables at fiscal year end are 3.6 percent less than budgeted. The resulting financial position for the 2008 fiscal year activities is $10.4 million. As approved in the June commission meeting for FY2009 balancing approximately $30.1 million was drawn from TANF by reclassifying day care expenditures which were previously paid by state funds.  The unobligated cash from previous years of $7.8 million plus the FY2008 financial position and the day care reclassification produce a positive position of $48.3 million.

There were no significant budget adjustments implemented in the month of May or June.  The Aging Services Division finished the fiscal year over budget by 3.9 percent.  All other divisions remained within their respective budgets.  Three programs were over budget at year end.  Field Operations Children and Family Services reported over by 0.9 percent.  This is primarily due to double filled and temporary positions. Group Homes and Shelters in the Children and Family Services Division ended the year at 0.3 percent over but had made progress at reducing the payroll expenditures which produced over runs for most of the year.  The Aging Services Advantage Waiver program continued to increase that program’s over budget situation and ended at 13.8 percent for the year.

The Department placed 176 children in new Adoptive Placements in May and an additional 837 in the month of June.  The number of children in foster care declined by 31 in May and was reduced by another 193 in June.  Food Benefit cases increased by 448 and 606 respectively in May and June.  “TANF Child Only Cases” decreased by 119 and “Cases with Adults” decreased by 83 over the 2 month period from April.

The Commission approved one Administrative Rule:
TITLE 340. DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES
CHAPTER 50. FOOD STAMP PROGRAM

RULEMAKING ACTION: 
EMERGENCY adoption

RULES:
Subchapter 7. Financial Eligibility Criteria
Part 1. Resources
OAC 340:50-7-2 through 340:50-7-3 [AMENDED]
(Reference APA WF 08-07)

AUTHORITY:
Commission for Human Services, Article XXV, Sections 2, 3, and 4 of the Oklahoma Constitution; and Section 4104 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-234).

DATES:

Adoption:
July 22, 2008

Effective:
Oct. 1, 2008.

Expiration:
Effective through July 14, 2009, unless superseded by another rule or disapproved by the Legislature.

SUPERSEDED EMERGENCY ACTIONS: 
n/a

INCORPORATIONS BY REFERENCE: 
n/a

FINDING OF EMERGENCY: 
Emergency rulemaking approval is requested as the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) finds compelling public interest to amend resource rules regarding education and retirement accounts to comply with federal legislation effective Oct. 1, 2008.

ANALYSIS: 
The proposed revision to exempt retirement accounts and education accounts described in federal law from consideration as a resource is completed to comply with Section 4104 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Public Law (P.L.) 110-234) that goes into effect October 1, 2008 and to provide staff with clear and concise rules to facilitate the accurate delivery of benefits and services to persons who are in need, which includes updating terminology.

• 340:50-7-2 is amended to: (1) remove language that Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and some Keogh Plans are countable resources; and (2) add language that retirement plans and education accounts described in federal law are exempt as a resource.
• 340:50-7-3 is amended to remove language that IRAs and Keogh plans are countable resources.

CONTACT PERSON: 
Dena Thayer at (405)521-4326

PURSUANT TO THE ACTIONS DESCRIBED HEREIN, THE FOLLOWING EMERGENCY RULES ARE CONSIDERED PROMULGATED UPON APPROVAL BY THE GOVERNOR, AS SET FORTH IN 75 O.S., SECTION 253(D), WITH A LATER EFFECTIVE DATE OF OCT. 1, 2008:

SUBCHAPTER 7. FINANCIAL ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
PART 1. RESOURCES

340:50-7-2. Excluded resources
In households applying for or receiving food benefits, resources listed in this Section are excluded for household members, for disqualified members whose resources are counted, or for ineligible aliens who would otherwise be a household member.  When an exclusion applies because of use by or for a household member, the exclusion also applies when the resource is used by or for a disqualified person whose resources are counted or for an ineligible alien who would otherwise be a household member.

(1) Home and surrounding property.  The home and surrounding property which is not separated from the home by intervening property owned by others is exempt.  Public right-of-way, such as roads which run through the surrounding property and separate it from the home, does not affect exemption of the property.

(A) The home and surrounding property remain exempt when temporarily unoccupied by reasons of employment, training for future employment, illness, vacation, or uninhabitability caused by casualty or natural disaster so long as the household intends to return.

(B) Households that currently do not own a home, but own or are purchasing a lot on which they intend to build or are building a permanent home receive an exclusion for the value of the lot and, if it is partially completed, for the home.

(2) Household personal goods, life insurance, and pension plans.
Household goods, personal belongings, including one burial lot per household member, the cash value of life insurance policies, and prepaid burial plans are exempt.  The cash value of pension plans or funds described in federal law is excluded, except for Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) and Keogh Plans.  A Keogh Plan may be excluded if it involves a contractual arrangement with individuals outside the household.

(3) Vehicles.

(A) Exclude one licensed vehicle per adult household member, including an ineligible alien or disqualified household member whose resources are considered available to the household, regardless of the use of the vehicle.

(B) Exclude any other licensed vehicle a household member under age 18, including an ineligible alien or disqualified household member under age 18 whose resources are considered available to the household, drives to and from employment, or to and from training or education which is preparatory to employment, or to seek employment.  This exclusion applies during temporary periods of unemployment to a vehicle which a household member under age 18 customarily drives to and from employment.

(C) Also exclude Exclude any other licensed vehicle if:

(i) used for income-producing purposes such as, but not limited to, a taxi, truck, or fishing boat, or a vehicle used for deliveries, to call on clients or customers, or required by the terms of employment.  Licensed vehicles that have previously been used by a self-employed household member engaged in farming but are no longer used in farming because the household member has terminated his or her self-employment from farming must continue to be excluded as a resource for one year from the date the household member terminated his or her self-employment farming;

(ii) annually producing income consistent with its fair market value, even if used only on a seasonal basis;

(iii) necessary for long distance travel, other than daily commuting, that is essential to the employment of a household member, ineligible alien, or disqualified person whose resources are considered available to the household, such as the vehicle of a traveling sales person or of a migrant farm worker following the work stream;

(iv) used as the household's home;

(v) necessary to transport a physically disabled household member, physically disabled ineligible alien, or physically disabled disqualified person whose resources are considered available to the household, regardless of the purpose of such transportation.  The vehicle need not have special equipment or be used primarily by or for the transportation of the physically disabled household member.  Only one vehicle per physically disabled household member may be excluded;

(vi) necessary to carry fuel for heating or water for home use when the transported fuel or water is anticipated to be the primary source of fuel or water for the household during the certification period. Households must receive this resource exclusion without having to meet any additional tests concerning the nature, capabilities, or other uses of the vehicle.  Households must not be required to furnish documentation unless the exclusion of the vehicle is questionable;

(vii) the value of the vehicle is inaccessible because its sale would produce an estimated return of not more than $1,500;

(viii) jointly owned by a food benefit household member and someone who does not live with the food benefit household.  To be excluded, the vehicle must not be used by, nor in the possession, of anyone who lives in or with the household.  The food benefit household member must also be unable to sell the vehicle because the signature of the co-owner is needed and that person will not sign; or

(ix) legally prohibited from being sold by the food benefit household.  The determination of whether a food benefit household can legally sell a vehicle is governed by the law of Oklahoma.

(BD) The exclusions in (i) through (iii) of this subsection continue to apply when the vehicle(s) is not in use because of temporary unemployment such as when a taxi driver is ill and cannot work or the vehicle is broken down and cannot be used.

(4) Real or personal property directly related to the maintenance of excluded vehicles.  Property, real or personal, to the extent it is directly related to the maintenance or use of a vehicle described in paragraph (3) of this subsection is excluded.  Only that portion of real property determined necessary for maintenance or use is excluded.

(5) Income producing property.  Income producing property which annually produces income consistent with the fair market value is excluded even if used on a seasonal basis.

(6) Property essential to employment.  Property, such as farm land or work related equipment including tools of a tradesman or the machinery of a farmer, which is essential to the employment or self-employment of a household member is excluded.  Property of a household member engaged in farming continues to be excluded for one year from the date the household member terminates his or her self-employment from farming.

(7) Installment contracts.  Installment contracts for the sale of land or buildings are excluded if the contract or agreement is producing income consistent with its fair market value.  The exclusion applies to the value of the property sold under the installment contract or held as security in exchange for a purchase price consistent with the fair market value of that property.

(8) Inaccessible resources.  Resources whose cash value is not accessible to the household are exempt, such as but not limited to, irrevocable trust funds, security deposits on rental property or utilities, property in probate, and real property which the household is making a good faith effort to sell at a reasonable price and which has not been sold.  If questionable, the worker establishes that the property is for sale and that the household will accept a reasonable offer.

(A) A resource is considered inaccessible if its sale or other disposition is unlikely to produce funds amounting to one half or more of the applicable resource limit for the household.

(B) The value of the inaccessible resource is the amount of the expected return to the household after subtracting estimated cost of sale or disposition, and consideration of the ownership interest to the household.

(C) A single resource may not be subdivided solely to obtain an exclusion as inaccessible.

(D) This inaccessible provision does not apply to vehicles or financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, or negotiable financial instruments.

(E) Any funds in a trust, or transferred to a trust, and the income produced by that trust, to the extent it is not available to the household, is considered inaccessible to the household if:

(A)(i) the trust arrangement is not likely to cease during the certification period and no household member has the power to revoke the trust arrangement or change the name of the beneficiary during the certification period;

(B)(ii) the trustee administering the funds is either:

(I) a court,; or

(II) an institution, corporation, or organization which is not under the direction or ownership of any household member,; or

(III) an individual a person appointed by the court who has court imposed limitations placed on his or her use of the trust funds;

(C)(iii) trust investments made on behalf of the trust do not directly involve or assist any business or corporation under the control, direction, or influence of a household member; and

(D)(iv) the funds held in irrevocable trust are either established from:

(I) the household's own funds, if the trustee uses the funds solely to make investments on behalf of the trust or to pay the educational or medical expenses of any person named by the household creating the trust,; or established from

(II) non-household funds by a non-household member.

(9) Education assistance.  All education grants, work study, scholarships, and student loans are exempt if receipt is contingent upon the student regularly attending school.

(10) Resources excluded by law.  Resources currently excluded by law are:

(A) payments received:

(i) under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act  [Public Law (P.L.) 92-203, § 21(a)];

(ii) under the Sac and Fox Indian Claims Agreement  [P.L. 94-189];

(iii) from the disposition of funds to the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians [P.L. 94-540];

(iv) by members of the Confederated Tribes of the Mescalero Reservation  [P.L. 95-433]; or

(v) under the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980 to members of the Passamaquoddy and the Penobscot Nation  [P.L. 96-420];

(B) payments received by certain Indian tribal members under P.L. 94-114, Section 6 regarding submarginal land held in trust by the United States;

(C) Indian per capita payments distributed from judgment awards and trust funds made pursuant to P.L. 98-64.  Exclude any interest or investment income accrued on such funds while held in trust or any purchases made with judgment funds, trust funds, interest or investment income accrued on such funds.  Exclude any per capita payments, headrights of Osage tribe, income from mineral leases, or other tribal business ventures, as long as the payments meet the distribution requirements as stated in this subparagraph.

(i) Any interest or income derived from the funds after distribution is considered as any other income.

(ii) The per capita exclusion applies per person rather than per family.

(iii) When these excluded funds are deposited in a bank or other financial institution, the deposits are excluded as long as the funds are kept in a separate account and not commingled in an account with non-excluded funds.

(iv) When the excluded funds are commingled in an account with non-excluded funds, the excluded funds retain their exemption for six months from the date of commingling.  After six months from the date of commingling, all funds are counted as a resource.

(v) Purchases made with excluded funds are considered a resource;

(D) interests of individual Indians in trust or restricted lands;

(E) benefits received from Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)  [P.L. 92-443, § 6];

(F) reimbursements from the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policy Act of 1970  [P.L. 91-646, § 216];

(G) Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) payments received by a participating food benefit household member as part of a federal tax refund or as advance payments received as part of a paycheck, excluded for 12 months during continuous participation.  This does not mean that households lose the exclusion if they temporarily leave the program for administrative reasons;

(H) refunds of the state EITC as a result of filing a state income tax return in the month received and the following month;

(I) payments received from the Youth Incentive Entitlement Pilot Projects, the Youth Community Conservation and Improvement Projects, and the Youth Employment and Training Programs under Title IV of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1978  [P.L. 95-524];

(J) financial assistance provided by a program funded in whole or in part under Title IV of the Higher Education Act in accordance with P.L. 99-498;

(K) payments made from the Agent Orange Settlement Fund or any other fund established pursuant to the settlement in the In Re Agent Orange product liability litigation, M.D.L. No. 381 (E.D.N.Y.);

(L) payments received under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.  These payments are made to individuals persons of Japanese ancestry who were detained in internment camps during World War II;

(M) payments made from the Radiation Exposure Compensation Trust Fund as compensation for injuries or deaths resulting from the exposure to radiation from nuclear testing and uranium mining;

(N) amounts held in an account for the fulfillment of a Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS) under Title XVI of the Social Security Act;

(O) the resources of any non-household member unless the individual person is disqualified from the program by an administrative or court fraud hearing, by failing to obtain or refusing to provide a Social Security number, or is an ineligible alien who would otherwise be a household member;

(P) payments or allowances made under any federal law for the purpose of energy assistance such as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP);

(Q) earmarked resources, such as those governmental payments made by the Individual and Family Grant Program or the Small Business Administration which are designated for the restoration of homes damaged in a disaster and which are subject to a legal sanction if the funds are not used as intended.  Resources such as those of self-employed persons, which have been prorated and counted as income, and Indian lands held jointly with the tribe or land that can be sold only with the approval of the Bureau of Indian Affairs are also exempt;

(R) the identified resources of all Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients when the household's total resources are calculated for food benefit eligibility purposes;

(S) excluded monies kept in a separate account, which are not commingled in an account with the non-excluded funds retain excluded status for an unlimited period of time.

(i) Monies of self-employed households that are excluded as a resource because they have been prorated over the period they are intended to cover and are commingled in an account with non-excluded funds retain their exclusion for the period of time over which they have been prorated as income.

(ii) All other excluded monies which are commingled in an account with other funds retain their exempt status for six months from the date they are commingled.  When the household's total resources, including all funds in the commingled account, exceed the allowable limit after that time, all funds in the commingled account are considered as a resource;

(T) payments made to individuals persons because of their status as victims of Nazi persecution;

(U) any funds deposited in an Individual Development Account (IDA) operated under the Assets for Independence Act;

(V) monetary allowances as described in Section 1823(c) of Title 38 of the United States Code (U.S.C.) provided to certain individuals persons who are children of Vietnam War veterans; and

(W) Disaster Unemployment Assistance paid to individuals persons unemployed as the result of a major disaster.

(11) Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Family Self sufficiency (FSS) Program escrow accounts.  Families participating in the HUD FSS program may withdraw money from their escrow accounts prior to completion of the program.  This money is excluded both as income and as a resource.

(12) Education accounts.  Funds in education accounts established under Sections 529 and 530 of the Internal Revenue Code and Section 4000 of Title 56 of the Oklahoma State Statutes are excluded.

340:50-7-3. Non-exempt resources

(a) Non-exempt resources are those resources which, after deducting any encumbrances, must be considered in the determination of eligibility to receive food stamps benefits.  The worker must include sufficient detail in the case record to permit verification in the event that it becomes necessary because of inconsistent information or for a quality control review.

(b) Non-exempt resources include, but are not limited to:

(1) Liquid liquid resources.  Liquid resources (must be verified). and include:

(A) Cash cash on hand.;

(B) Checking checking or savings accounts.;

(C) Savings savings certificates.; or

(D) Stocks stocks or bonds.; or

(E) IRA's or Keogh plans that do not involve the household member in a contractual relationship with individuals who are not household members.  The value counted is the cash value of the account less any penalty assessed if the entire amount was withdrawn.

(2) Non-liquid non-liquid resources (verify.  Non-liquid resources are verified if questionable).and include:

(A) The value of these non-exempt resources, except for licensed vehicles, shall be the equity value.  The equity value is the fair market value less encumbrances.

(i)(A) Licensed licensed and unlicensed vehicles.;

(ii)(B) Boats. boats;

(iii)(C) Land. land;

(iv)(D) Recreational recreational property.;

(v)(E) Mobile mobile homes other than home property.;

(vi)(F) Vacation vacation home. property; or

(vii)(G) Other other property not specifically excluded.

(c) The value of non-exempt resources, except for licensed vehicles, is the equity value.  The equity value is the fair market value less encumbrances.

(B)(d) Exclude the entire value of non-liquid assets used as collateral for a business loan if the household is prohibited by the loan agreement from selling the asset.

Jim Nicholson, director, OKDHS Developmental Disabilities Services Division, delivered a report on the College of Direct Support.

Sarjoo Shah, director, OKDHS Data Services Division and Mark Gower, OKDHS information security officer, delivered a report on the OKDHS Incident Command System.

OKDHS Chief Operating Officer Marq Youngblood delivered a brief update to the Commission.

The date of the next meeting of the Oklahoma Commission for Human Services will be Sept. 23, 2008.