Adult/Child Status Chart

Individuals Under Age 21 Living in Parent’s Home

Living Situation	Age	Status		Who Completes Statement of Facts	Whose Income and Property is Counted	Contact with Parent
Living Situation	Age	Adult	Child	Who Completes Statement of Facts	Whose Income and Property is Counted	Contact with Parent
1. Any living situation, claimed as tax dependent by parent.	18-to-21-year-old.		X	Parent.	Parent’s, 18-to-21 year-old’s other MFBU member’s.	Yes
	Under 18.	[Determine in accordance with numbers 2 through 6, below.]
2. Independent living situation	18-to-21-year-old.	X		18-to-21-year-old.	18-to-21-year-old’s. (2)	No
	14-to-18-year-old handling all of his/her own financial affairs.	X		14-to-18-year-old	14-to-18-year-old’s. (2)	No
	14-to-18-year-old with a parent, caretaker relative, or legal guardian handling some or all of his/her financial affairs.		X	Parent, caretaker relative, or guardian. If they will not and public agency also refuses, 14-to-18-year-old may complete.	14-to-18-year-old’s.	No
	Under 14.		X	Parent or legal guardian. If they will not and public agency also refuses, child may complete.	Under 14-year-old’s.	No

	18-21-year-old receiving financial support from parents.		X	Parent	Parent’s, 18-to-21-year-old’s, other MFBU member’s.	Yes
	14-to-18-year-old.		X	Parent	Parent’s, 14-to-18-year-old’s, other MFBU member’s.	Yes
	Under 14.		X	Parent	Parent’s, under 14-year-old’s, other MFBU member’s.	Yes
4. Attending school away from parent’s home.	18-to-21-year-old who always returns home when not in school or considers the parent’s home his/her home. (3)		X	Parent.	Parent’s, 18-to-21-year-old’s, other MFBU members	Yes
	18-to-21-year-old who handles his/her own financial affairs and considers himself/herself to be living on his/her own and returns home only for visits. (3)	X		18-to-21-year-old.	18-to-21-year-old’s.	No.
	14-to-18-year-old handling all his/her own financial affairs.	Determine as in 4.A and B.
	14-to-18-year-old with parent handling his/her financial affairs.		X	Parent.	Parent’s, 14-to-18-year-old’s. other MFBU member’s.	Yes
	Under 14.		X	Parent	Parent’s, under 14-year-old’s, other MFBU member.	Yes
5. Out-of-home care (nonmedical) public agency assuming financial responsibility in whole or part (Aid Code 45) (4,5)	Under 21		X	Public agency assuming financial responsibility.	N/A-assumption that public agency has made needy determination (form MC 250).	No
6. Out-of- home care (nonmedical) including custodial care in the state hospital.	18-to-21-year-old.	Determine in accordance with 1 or 2, above.
	Under 18.	Determine in accordance with 2, above.
7. Long-term care (LTC).	Disabled, 18-to-21-year-old.	X		18-to-21-year-old.	18-to-21-year-old’s.	No
	Disabled, under 18.		X	Parent or person or agency responsible for child. (6)	Disabled child’s.	yes
	Living with parents prior to LTC status, not disabled. (7)		X	Parent.	Parent’s, LTC child’s, other MFBU member’s.	Yes
	Independent living, attending school, out-of-home care prior to LTC status, not disabled. (7)	Determine as in 1 through 4, above.				No
	Aid Code 45 or in foster care prior to LTC status, not disabled. (8)		X	Person or agency responsible for child.	Child’s (8)	No

Notes:

1) Except for minor consent cases, contact with parents is not precluded where it is necessary to verify information provided by the child, and a release of information is obtained.

2) The source of the 14-to-18-year-old’s income does not affect his/her status as an adult. It may be a contribution from a parent, earnings, or income from any other source so long as the 14-to-18-year-old controls it and how it is spent. If the
14-to-18-year-old’s only income is income in kind from a friend or nonrelative, the 14-to-18-year-old could still be consid ered an adult.

3) Generally, an 18-to-21-year-old away from home to attend school would be considered to be living in the parent’s home if either of the following are true:

a. The 18-to-21-year-old always resumes living in the parent’s home when not in school.

b. The 18-to-21-year-old considered the parent’s home as his/her home when not in school.

These aregeneral criteria, not an all-inclusive list. Each 18-to-21-year-old’s circumstances should be evaluated separately. The fact that the parents provide the 18-to-21-year-old with some financial support should not be a deciding factor in deter mining the 18-to-21-year-old’s home.

4) The basic questions in determining whether a child is eligible for MC under Aid Code 45 is whether a public agency is assuming financial responsibility for the child’s care in whole or in part. The agency must be assuming the responsibility to see that the child’s care is paid for. This responsibility must exist even when the child’s own income is used to pay for a part of the care. The amount contributed to the child’s care by the public agency does not have to be any certain amount, but it is not sufficient that the public agency be contributing a set amount that has no relation to the cost of care. In addition, the agency that is providing the financial support must have responsibility for the child’s placement. Receipt of a cash grant or other income form a public source is not sufficient to make a child an Aid Code 45.

5) Included in this category are children detained or placed under Welfare and Institutions Code, Section 300 or 601. These sections allow the court to detain or place a child when that child is not adequately being cared for or when the child cannot be controlled at home.

6) If the disabled child was 14 to 18 years old and met the criteria in 2B of this chart prior to LTC status, the disabled
14-to-18-year-old would completes Statement of Facts. Likewise, if the conditions of 2B are not met and no person or agency will accept responsibility or the child is under 14 and no person or agency will accept responsibility, the child may complete the Statement of Facts.

7) A child who was AFDC-MN prior to LTC status retains this linkage as he/she is still considered to be living in the parent’s home.

8) These children would lose their status as Aid Code 45 and would be MI children, Aid Code 82 or 83, with one exception. If the public agency which assumes financial responsibility for the Aid Code 45 child continues to pay for his/her person (nonmedical) needs in whole or in part, the child would continue to be considered an Aid Code 45 child and the MC 250 would be the appropriate Statement of Facts.

Sneede Requirements for MFBU Determinations

The Sneede lawsuit requires the following:

A child’s own income or property are not considered available to anyone but themselves.
A stepparent’s income and property are not considered available to his or her spouse’s separate children.
An unmarried individual’s income and property are not considered available to his or her partner, nor to the partner’s separate children.
Caretaker relatives are not responsible for their related children. A caretaker relative’s income and property are not considered available to anyone but him or herself.

As a result of the Sneede lawsuit, for financial responsibility purposes, the following individuals must not be included in a single MFBU, when their inclusion results in a SOC or excess property:

Family members on the basis of a stepparent relationship
Children who have their own nonexempt income or property
Unmarried parents.
Caretaker relatives.

Adult/Child Status Chart

Individuals Under Age 21 Living in Parent’s Home

Sneede Requirements for MFBU Determinations

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