Code of the District of Columbia

§ 4–201.01. Definitions.

For the purposes of this chapter, the term:

(1) Repealed.

(1A) “Adult” means a person who is not a minor.

(1B) “Assistance unit” means all individuals whose needs, income and resources are considered in determining eligibility for, and the amount of, public assistance.

(1C) “Caretaker relative” means a relative by blood, half-blood, or legal adoption caring for a dependent child, who is a child’s parent, or, if a parent is not in the home exercising responsibility for the care and control of the dependent child, the child’s sibling; aunt; uncle; first cousin; first cousin once removed; second cousin; nephew; niece; grandparent; step-parent; step-sibling; relative of a preceding generation as denoted by prefixes of grand-, great-, great-great-, or great-great-great-; or the spouse of a parent or other relative listed in this paragraph, even after the marriage is terminated by death or divorce.

(1D) Repealed.

(2) “Council” means the Council of the District of Columbia.

(2A) “Department” means the Department of Human Services of the District of Columbia, or any successor organizational unit (in whole or in part).

(3) “District” means the District of Columbia government.

(3A) “GAC” means the General Assistance for Children program established by § 4-205.05a.

(4) Repealed.

(4A) “Head of assistance unit” means:

(A) The adult parent of a minor child, if both are part of the same single-parent assistance unit;

(B) The principal household income earner or the nonincapacitated parent in a two-parent assistance unit, if that person is an adult parent of a minor child, and the parent and child are part of the same assistance unit;

(C) A caretaker relative residing with, and providing care for, a minor child, if the caretaker relative and child are part of the same assistance unit; or

(D) A minor parent of a minor child, if the parent and child are part of the same assistance unit and there are no adults in the assistance unit.

(5) “Mayor” means the Mayor of the District of Columbia or the agents, agencies, officers, and employees designated by him or her to perform any function vested in them by this chapter.

(5A) “Minor” means a person who is:

(A) Less than 18 years of age; or

(B) Less than 19 years of age and is a full-time student in a secondary school (or in the equivalent level of vocational or technical training).

(5B) “Parent” means a child’s natural or adoptive parent.

(5C) “Parent who is the principal household income earner” means whichever parent, in a home in which both parents of a minor child are living, earned the greater amount of income in a 24-month period, the last month of which immediately preceded the month in which a TANF application was filed.

(5D) “POWER” means the Program on Work, Employment, and Responsibility established by § 4-205.72.

(6) “Public assistance” means payment in or by money, medical care, remedial care, goods or services to, or for the benefit of, needy persons.

(7) “Recipient” means a person to whom or on whose behalf public assistance is granted.

(8) “State” means each of the states of the United States. The term “state” includes Puerto Rico, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands.

(9) “Stepparent” means a person who is living in the home of a minor child for whom TANF or POWER is requested, and who is legally married to the natural or adoptive parent of the child.

(10) “TANF” means the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program established by subchapter II of this chapter.

(11) “IV-D agency” means the organizational unit, or any successor organizational unit (in whole or in part), that is responsible for administering or supervising the administration of the District’s State Plan under title IV, Part D of the Social Security Act, approved January 4, 1975 (88 Stat. 2351; 42 U.S.C. § 651 et seq.), pertaining to paternity establishment and the establishment, modification, and enforcement of child support orders and certain spousal support orders (those in which the spouse or former spouse is living with a child for whom the spousal support obligor also owes support).