49.145 Wisconsin works; eligibility for employment positions.

(1) General eligibility. In order to be eligible for Wisconsin works employment positions and job access loans for any month, an individual shall meet the eligibility requirements under subs. (2) and (3). The department may promulgate rules establishing additional eligibility criteria and specifying how eligibility criteria are to be administered. The department may promulgate rules establishing payment and reporting periods as needed to administer this subsection.

(2) Nonfinancial eligibility requirements. An individual is eligible for a Wisconsin works employment position and a job access loan in a month only if all of the following nonfinancial eligibility requirements are met:

(a) The individual is a custodial parent.

(b) The individual has attained the age of 18.

(c) The individual is a U.S. citizen or a qualifying alien, as defined by the department by rule.

(d) The individual has residence in this state.

(f)

1. Subject to subd. 2., all of the following conditions are met:

a. Every parent in the individual's Wisconsin works group fully cooperates in good faith with efforts directed at establishing the paternity of any minor child of that parent regardless of whether the parent is the custodial or noncustodial parent of that child. Such cooperation shall be in accordance with federal law and regulations and rules promulgated by the department applicable to paternity establishment and may not be required if the parent has good cause for refusing to cooperate, as determined by the department in accordance with federal law and regulations.

b. Every parent in the individual's Wisconsin works group fully cooperates in good faith with efforts directed at obtaining support payments or any other payments or property to which that parent and any minor child of that parent may have rights or for which that parent may be responsible, regardless of whether the parent is the custodial or noncustodial parent of the minor child. Such cooperation shall be in accordance with federal law and regulations and rules promulgated by the department applicable to collection of support payments and may not be required if the parent has good cause for refusing to cooperate, as determined by the department in accordance with federal law and regulations.

2. An individual who is a member of a Wisconsin works group that fails 3 times to meet the requirements under subd. 1. remains ineligible until all of the members of Wisconsin works group cooperate or for a period of 6 months, whichever is later.

(g) The individual furnishes the Wisconsin works agency with any relevant information that the Wisconsin works agency determines is necessary, consistent with rules promulgated by the department, within 7 working days after receiving a request for the information from the Wisconsin works agency. The Wisconsin works agency may extend the 7-day time limit for an individual for whom compliance with that limit would be unduly burdensome, as determined by the agency.

(h) The individual has made a good faith effort, as determined by the Wisconsin works agency on a case-by-case basis, to obtain employment and has not refused any bona fide offer of employment within the 180 days immediately preceding application.

(hm) If the individual has applied for Wisconsin works within the 180 days immediately preceding the current application, the individual has cooperated with the efforts of a Wisconsin works agency to assist the individual in obtaining employment.

(i) The individual is not receiving supplemental security income under 42 USC 1381 to 1383c or state supplemental payments under s. 49.77 and, if the individual is a dependent child, the custodial parent of the individual does not receive a payment on behalf of the individual under s. 49.775. The department may require an individual who receives benefits under s. 49.148 and who has applied for supplemental security income under 42 USC 1381 to 1383c to authorize the federal social security administration to reimburse the department for the benefits paid to the individual under s. 49.148 during the period that the individual was entitled to supplemental security income benefits to the extent that retroactive supplemental security income benefits are made available to the individual.

(j) On the last day of the month, the individual is not participating in a strike.

(k) The individual applies for or provides a social security account number as required by the department.

(L) The individual satisfies other eligibility criteria established by the department by rule.

(m) The individual reports any change in circumstances that may affect his or her eligibility to the Wisconsin works agency within 10 days after the change.

(n)

1. Except as provided in subd. 4., beginning on the date on which the individual has attained the age of 18, the total number of months in which the individual or any adult member of the individual's Wisconsin Works group has participated in, or has received benefits under, any of the following or any combination of the following does not exceed 48 months, whether or not consecutive:

a. The job opportunities and basic skills program under s. 49.193, 1997 stats. Active participation on or after October 1, 1996, in the job opportunities and basic skills program counts toward the 48-month limit.

b. A Wisconsin works employment position.

c. Any program in this state or in any other state funded by a federal block grant for temporary assistance for needy families under title I of P.L. 104-193, if the individual received benefits under that program that were attributable to funds provided by the federal government.

2. Except as provided in subd. 4., in calculating the number of months in which the individual participated under subd. 1., the Wisconsin works agency shall include any month in which any adult member of a Wisconsin works group participated in a Wisconsin works employment position, if the individual was a member of that Wisconsin works group during that month.

3. A Wisconsin Works agency may extend the time limit under this paragraph only if the Wisconsin Works agency determines, in accordance with rules promulgated by the department, that the individual is experiencing hardship or that the individual's family includes an individual who has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty.

4. In calculating the number of months under subds. 1. and 2., a Wisconsin works agency shall exclude, to the extent permitted under federal law, any month during which any adult in the Wisconsin works group participated in any activity listed under subd. 1. a. to c. while living on a federally recognized American Indian reservation, in an Alaskan Native village or, in Indian country, as defined in 18 USC 1151, occupied by an Indian tribe, if, during that month, all of the following applied:

a. At least 1,000 individuals were living on the reservation or in the village or Indian country.

b. At least 50 percent of the adults living on the reservation or in the village or Indian country were unemployed.

(q) No other individual in the Wisconsin works group is a participant in a Wisconsin works employment position. This paragraph does not apply to an individual applying for a job access loan.

(r) The individual is not a fugitive felon under 42 USC 608 (a) (9) (A) (i).

(rm) The individual is not violating a condition of probation, extended supervision or parole imposed under federal or state law.

(s) The individual assigns to the state any right of the individual or of any dependent child of the individual to support or maintenance from any other person accruing during the time that any assistance, as defined in 45 CFR 260.31, under Wisconsin Works is paid to the individual. If a minor who is a beneficiary of any assistance under Wisconsin Works is also the beneficiary of support under a judgment or order that includes support for one or more children not receiving that assistance, any support payment made under the judgment or order is assigned to the state during the period that the minor is a beneficiary of that assistance in the amount that is the proportionate share of the minor receiving the assistance, except as otherwise ordered by the court on the motion of a party. Amounts assigned to the state under this paragraph remain assigned to the state until the amount due to the federal government has been recovered. No amount of support that begins to accrue after the individual ceases to receive assistance under Wisconsin Works may be considered assigned to this state. Except as provided in s. 49.1455, 75 percent of all money that is received by the department in a month under an assignment to the state under this paragraph for an individual applying for or participating in Wisconsin Works shall be paid to the individual applying for or participating in Wisconsin Works. The department shall pay the federal share of support assigned under this paragraph as required under federal law or waiver.

(v) The individual states in writing whether the individual has been convicted in any state or federal court of a felony that has as an element possession, use or distribution of a controlled substance, as defined in 21 USC 802 (6).

(3) Financial eligibility requirements. An individual is eligible for a Wisconsin works employment position and a job access loan only if all of the following financial eligibility requirements are met:

(a) Resource limitations. The individual is a member of a Wisconsin Works group whose assets do not exceed $2,500 in combined equity value. Except as provided under par. (c), in determining the combined equity value of assets, the Wisconsin Works agency shall exclude the equity value of vehicles up to a total equity value of $10,000, and one home, valued at no more than 200 percent of the statewide median value for homes, that serves as the homestead for the Wisconsin Works group. In calculating the value of the homestead, the Wisconsin Works agency shall exclude the value of agricultural land owned by the Wisconsin Works group.

(b) Income limitations. The individual is a member of a Wisconsin works group whose gross income is at or below 115 percent of the poverty line. In calculating gross income under this paragraph, the Wisconsin works agency shall include all of the following:

1. All earned and unearned income of the individual, except any amount received under section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code, as defined in s. 71.01 (6), any amount received under s. 71.07 (9e), any payment made by an employer under section 3507 of the Internal Revenue Code, as defined in s. 71.01 (6), any student financial aid received under any federal or state program, any scholarship used for tuition and books, and any assistance received under s. 49.148. In determining the earned and unearned income of the individual, the Wisconsin works agency may not include income earned by a dependent child of the individual.

3. The income of a nonmarital coparent or of the individual's spouse, if the spouse resides in the same home as the dependent child.

(c) Hardship exemption. The department may promulgate a rule that establishes a hardship exemption for the resource limitation under par. (a). If an individual qualifies for a hardship exemption under the department's rule, the Wisconsin Works agency shall exclude the equity value of vehicles up to a total equity value of $10,000, and of one home, valued at any amount, that serves as the homestead for the Wisconsin Works group in determining whether the Wisconsin Works group's combined equity value of assets exceeds $2,500.

(4) Review of eligibility. A Wisconsin works agency shall periodically review an individual's eligibility. The individual remains eligible under sub. (3) until the Wisconsin works group's assets or income is expected to exceed the asset or income limit under sub. (3) for at least 2 consecutive months.

History: 1995 a. 289; 1997 a. 27, 191, 237, 283; 1999 a. 9; 2001 a. 16; 2005 a. 25; 2009 a. 28; 2015 a. 55; 2017 a. 269.