Support Requirements and Responsibilities, PCA-21581-131 (Published December 27, 2023)
Regulations and procedures for getting support from a legally responsible relative (LRR) are different, depending on the relationship and where the LRR lives.
If the LRR is living in the same residence, the CAO must:
Consider the LRR as an actual resource
Determine the income available to the client from the LRR using Chapter 150, Income and Chapter 155, Deeming Income and Resources
According to the law, the courts can order the LRR to give public assistance applicants/recipients financial and medical support. The applicant/recipient or the Department of Human Services (DHS) may petition for support. 23 Pa. C.S §§ 4301-5104, 7101-8415
Support requirements for eligibility apply to cash assistance applicants/recipients, including eligibility for a Non-Continuous Eligibility (NCE) benefit, if there is:
55 Pa. Code § 141.21 55 Pa. Code § 187.23
The reported absence of a parent, due to desertion, separation, or divorce, from the home of an un-emancipated minor child who has received cash assistance or is trying to receive cash assistance; 55 Pa. Code § 187.23
NOTE: Use Chapter 129, Deprivation to determine the custodial parent in joint or shared custody cases.
NOTE: This includes budgets in which only the specified relative is in the budget group and the child is an SSI child or is ineligible for TANF. The specified relative’s eligibility is based on deprivation due to an absent parent. Child support payments for an SSI child do not affect the specified relative’s TANF benefits. The Social Security Administration considers support as the child’s income and adjusts for SSI.
A putative father for an unemancipated child;
A spouse who is absent from the home because of desertion or separation.
A minor parent applicant/recipient who is also the payment name for the child must comply with support requirements.
If a minor parent is in the budget group, the applicant/recipient who is the payment name must comply with the support requirements for the entire budget group.
The minor parent must also comply with support requirements for his/her child.
55 Pa. Code § 141.21(c)(1) and (2) 55 Pa. Code § 187.23
Reissued March 25, 2020, replacing January 31, 2012