Alien Eligibility for Title IV-E 447-10-50

(Revised 5/15/07 ML #3087)

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(Applies to All Children in Foster Care)

 

Effective August 22, 1996, with the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), Congress requires that States verify United States citizenship or qualified alien status of persons who are recipients of certain public benefits, which include Title IV-E federal foster care (income maintenance), adoption assistance, and independent living payments. Citizenship or qualified alien status is not required for a child to receive child welfare services or child protective services, even though funded under Title IV-B or IV-E Administration, since such protective services do not meet the law’s definition of “public benefits.” Current federal guidance is found in ACYF-CB-PIQ-99-01 and in Attorney General Order No. 2129-97, “Interim Guidance on Verification of Citizenship, Qualified Alien Status and Eligibility Under Title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996,” 63 Fed. Reg. 61344 (Nov. 17, 1997).

 

Note that this supersedes prior federal law and policy, as well as North Dakota practice, which allowed Title IV-E foster care and adoption assistance payments for resident alien children who otherwise would not have been eligible for Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Now Title IV-E eligibility for income maintenance, adoption assistance, or independent living payments requires U.S. citizenship or Qualified Alien status, which excludes certain aliens such as undocumented aliens or aliens legally admitted on a temporary basis for work, study, or pleasure.

 

The U.S. Citizenship requirement is met if an individual is one of the following:

• A person (other than the child of a foreign diplomat) born in one of the States or in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or the Northern Mariana Islands who has not renounced or otherwise lost his or her citizenship;
• A person born outside of the United States to at least one U.S. Citizen parent (sometimes referred to as “derivative citizen”);
• A naturalized U.S. citizen; or
• A U.S. non-citizen national, a person born in American Samoa or Swain’s Island on or after the date the U.S. acquired them, or a person whose parents are U.S. non-citizen nationals (subject to certain residency requirements).

A “Qualified Alien” is a person who, at the time of application, is:

1. An alien who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act;
2. An alien granted asylum under section 208 of such Act;
3. A refugee admitted to the U.S. under section 207 of such Act;
4. An alien who is paroled into the U.S. under section 212(d)(5) of such Act for a period of at least one year;
5. An alien whose deportation is being withheld under section 243(h) of such Act, as in effect immediately before April 1, 1997, or section 241(b)(3) of such Act;
6. An alien who is granted conditional entry pursuant to section 203(a)(7) as in effect prior to April 1, 1980;
7. An alien who is a Cuban or Haitian entrant (as defined in section 501(3) of the Refugee Education Assistance act of 1980); or
8. An alien who (or whose child or parent) has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty in the U.S. (See Exhibit B to Attachment 5 of the Department of Justice Interim Guidance, 62 fed. Reg. 61344 (Nov. 17, 1997) for the requirements that must be met for an alien to fall within this category of qualified alien).

Because of the complexity of rules regarding citizenship and alien status, staff are urged to seek supervisory and Departmental expert advice when addressing questions that may arise as to these issues.