§ 4–205.22. Availability of stepparent.

(a) A stepparent is not required by the law of the District to support his or her stepchildren, but is legally responsible for the support of his or her spouse.

(b)(1) When a child lives with a parent and a stepparent, the income of the stepparent shall be considered as available to the family in computing eligibility for public assistance according to the requirements of this subsection. When the child lives with a parent and another person, not a stepparent, who is maintaining a home with the parent, the financial resources of that person shall be considered to the extent to which that person is contributing to the support of the parent and the child.

(1A) In computing the availability of a stepparent’s income to an assistance unit:

(A) If the stepparent is included in the assistance unit, and has at least one child in common with another member of the assistance unit, and that child is part of the assistance unit, the family shall be considered to be a two-parent assistance unit and the stepparent’s income shall be treated like a parent’s income;

(B) If the stepparent is included in the assistance unit, but does not have a child in common with another member of the assistance unit, the stepparent shall be treated as the parent of the dependent child in the assistance unit; and

(C) If the stepparent is not included in the assistance unit, none of the stepparent’s income shall be considered available to the assistance unit.

(2) In computing the availability of a deemed parent’s income, the Department shall exclude:

(A) The first $90 of the total of the deemed parent’s earned income for the month;

(B) An additional amount for the support of the deemed parent and any other individuals who are living in the home, but whose needs are not taken into account in making the TANF eligibility determination and who are claimed by the deemed parent as dependents for purposes of determining his or her federal personal income tax liability. This disregarded amount shall equal the District’s standard of assistance for a family group of the same composition as the deemed parent and those other individuals described in the preceding sentence; and

(D) Payments by such deemed parent of alimony or child support with respect to individuals not living in the household.

(3) Repealed.

(4) Repealed.

(d) For purposes of this section, a “deemed parent” is:

(1) The natural or adoptive parent of a minor dependent child, if the child is his- or herself the parent of a dependent child, and all three generations live in the same household; or

(2) The parent of a minor dependent child, if the parent lives in the same household with the dependent child and marries a person who is not the parent of the dependent child, and chooses to be excluded from the dependent child’s assistance unit.

(Apr. 6, 1982, D.C. Law 4-101, § 522, 29 DCR 1060; Apr. 20, 1999, D.C. Law 12-241, § 2(y), 46 DCR 905; Dec. 17, 2009, D.C. Law 18-94, § 2(e), 56 DCR 8521.)

Prior Codifications

1981 Ed., § 3-205.22.

Section References

This section is referenced in § 4-205.10 and § 4-205.11.

Effect of Amendments

D.C. Law 12-241 in (b), added (1A), substituted “deemed parent” for “stepparent” and “deemed parent’s” for “stepparent’s” throughout (2), in (2)(B), substituted “TANF” for “AFDC” and “standard of assistance” for “standard of need”, and repealed (3) and (4); repealed (c); and added (d).

D.C. Law 18-94 rewrote subsec. (b)(2)(A); in subsec. (b)(2)(B), inserted “and” at the end; repealed subsec. (b)(2)(C); and, in subsec. (d)(2), substituted “who is not the parent of the dependent child, and chooses to be excluded from the dependent child’s assistance unit” for “with whom the parent does not have a child in common”.

Emergency Legislation

For temporary amendment of section, see § 2(x) of the Public Assistance Emergency Amendment Act of 1997 (D.C. Act 12-25, February 27, 1997, 44 DCR 1778), and § 2(x) of the Public Assistance Legislative Review Emergency Amendment Act of 1997 (D.C. Act 12-77, May 27, 1997, 44 DCR 3181).

For temporary amendment of section, see § 2(x) of the Public Assistance Emergency Amendment Act of 1998 (D.C. Act 12-306, March 20, 1998, 45 DCR 1900).

For temporary amendment of section, see § 2(y) of the Self-Sufficiency Promotion Emergency Amendment Act of 1998 (D.C. Act 12-372, June 9, 1998, 45 DCR 4270), § 2(y) of the Self-Sufficiency Promotion Legislative Review Emergency Amendment Act of 1998 (D.C. Act 12-425, July 31, 1998, 45 DCR 5682), § 2(y) of the Self-Sufficiency Promotion Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 1998 (D.C. Act 12-552, December 24, 1998, 46 DCR 521), and § 2(y) of the Self-Sufficiency Promotion Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 1999 (D.C. Act 13-19, February 17, 1999, 46 DCR 2492).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(e) of Public Assistance Emergency Amendment Act of 2009 (D.C. Act 18-198, October 9, 2009, 56 DCR 8132).

Temporary Legislation

For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 2(x) of Public Assistance Temporary Amendment Act of 1997 (D.C. Law 12-7, August 1, 1997, law notification 44 DCR 4639).

For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 2(x) of Public Assistance Temporary Amendment Act of 1998 (D.C. Law 12-130, July 24, 1998, law notification 45 DCR 6501).

For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 2(y) of Self-Sufficiency Promotion Temporary Amendment Act of 1998 (D.C. Law 12-230, April 20, 1999, law notification 46 DCR 4143).