§ 2103. Eligibility
(a) Consistent with available appropriations, the Department for Children and Families
shall furnish General Assistance under this chapter, except as provided in this section,
to any otherwise eligible individual unable to provide the necessities of life for
the individual and for those whom the individual is legally obligated to support.
Except for those in catastrophic situations as defined in rules, no General Assistance
shall be provided in the following situations:
(1) to any individual whose income from any source, including the Department for Children
and Families, during the 30 days immediately preceding the date on which assistance
is sought is equal to the General Assistance eligibility standard;
(2) to any able-bodied individual without minor dependents included in his or her application.
(b) Eligibility standards for General Assistance as established by the Commissioner need
not be the same as those applicable to the Department’s categorical assistance programs.
In addition, in determining eligibility, the Commissioner, pursuant to rule, may take
into account payment to or for the benefit of the applicant under any Department program.
(c) It is further provided that in determining eligibility apart from the need standard,
the Commissioner may adopt a reasonable standard pertaining to work-related efforts
on the part of the applicant.
(d) Except for relief as provided in sections 2109-2112 of this chapter, General Assistance
to transients shall be limited to that necessary to permit the transient to leave
the State.
(e) As used in this section, “able-bodied individual” does not include a person subject
to such conditions as are determined, by rule of the Commissioner for Children and
Families, to constitute barriers to employment.
(f) [Repealed.] (Added 1967, No. 147, § 7, eff. Oct. 1, 1968; amended 1973, No. 152 (Adj. Sess.), § 25, eff. April 14, 1974; 1973, No. 207 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 1975, No. 132 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Feb. 5, 1976; 1999, No. 147 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 2005, No. 174 (Adj. Sess.), § 107; 2013, No. 133 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 20, 2014; 2021, No. 20, § 309.)