Specification of Community Programs Necessary for Protection of Life or Safety Under Welfare Reform Legislation

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

[AG Order No. 2049-96]

Specification of Community Programs Necessary for Protection of

Life or Safety Under Welfare Reform Legislation

AGENCY: Department of Justice.

ACTION: Notice.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: August 23, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR TO PROVIDE COMMENT CONTACT: Lisalyn R.

Jacobs, Counsel, Office of Policy Development, Department of Justice,

10th Street & Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20530,

telephone (202) 514-9114.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Personal Responsibility and Work

Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, H.R. 3734, which the President

signed on August 22, 1996, vests in the Attorney General the authority

to designate the kinds of government-funded community programs,

services or assistance that are necessary for protection of life or

safety and for which all aliens will continue to be eligible. This

Order implements that authority.

Background

Section 401 provides a new rule that an alien who is not a

``qualified alien,'' as defined in Sec. 431 of the Act, is not eligible

for any ``Federal public benefit''--which, in general, means

(a) any grant, contract, loan, professional license or

commercial license provided by a federal agency or through

appropriated federal funds; or

(b) any retirement, welfare, health, disability, public or

assisted housing, post-secondary education, food assistance,

unemployment benefit or any other similar benefit for which payments

or assistance are provided to individuals, house-holds or families

by a federal agency or through appropriated federal funds.

Section 411 also makes certain non-qualified aliens ineligible for

state and local public benefits unless the state enacts new legislation

after August 22, 1996 that affirmatively provides for such eligibility.

In addition, Sec. 403 of the Act makes qualified aliens ineligible for

specific means-tested federal benefit programs for a five-year period

after their entry into the United States as a qualified alien.

In addition to certain statutory exceptions, the Act authorizes the

Attorney General to establish limited exceptions to these provisions

for the following kinds of benefits:

Programs, services, or assistance (such as soup kitchens, crisis

counseling and intervention, and short-term shelter) specified by

the Attorney General, in the Attorney General's sole and

unreviewable discretion after consultation with appropriate Federal

agencies and departments, which (i) deliver in-kind services at the

community level, including through public or private nonprofit

agencies; (ii) do not condition the provision of assistance, the

amount of assistance provided, or the cost of assistance provided on

the individual recipient's income or resources; and (iii) are

necessary for the protection of life or safety.

This authority appears in several places in the Act, including:

Sec. 401(b)(1)(D), with respect to federal public benefits;

Sec. 403(c)(2)(G), with respect to the five-year limited eligibility

for federal means-tested public benefits; and Sec. 411(b)(4), with

respect to state and local public benefits. (This authority also

appears in Sec. 423(d)(7) in the context of new requirements with

regard to individuals who execute an affidavit of support on behalf of

a sponsored alien.)

Attorney General Review

As required by the statute, the Department of Justice has conducted

preliminary consultations with other federal agencies regarding the

scope and interpretation of these provisions and their proper

application. Given the great variety of federal, state and local

programs conducted or supported at the community level, including those

administered by private non-profit organizations, and the limited time

available, the Department's consultation process is still ongoing. At

my direction, the Department is seeking additional, more specific

recommendations from all appropriate federal agencies, from

representatives of state and local governments, and from the public.

Given the immediate effective date of provisions of the Act, I have

decided to provide a ``provisional specification'' of programs,

services and assistance that will be exempt from the limitations on

alien eligibility discussed above, based upon preliminary consultations

with appropriate federal agencies and departments. This ``provisional

specification'' is effective immediately and will continue in effect

pending adoption of a revised specification, if necessary, after

further consultations. Should ongoing consultations indicate that

further refinements in this specification are appropriate under the

Act, I will revise it accordingly.

Specification

Therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Attorney

General by law, including Title IV of the Personal Responsibility and

Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, I hereby specify that:

1. I do not construe the Act to preclude aliens from receiving

police, fire, ambulance, transportation (including paratransit),

sanitation, and other regular, widely available services and, for that

reason, I am not making specifications of such programs, services or

assistance. It is not the purpose of this Order, however, to define

more specifically the scope of the public benefits that Congress

intended to deny certain aliens either altogether or absent my

specification and nothing herein should be so construed.

2. The government-funded programs, services or assistance specified

in this Order are those that: deliver in-kind (non-cash) services at

the community level, including through public or private non-profit

agencies or organizations; serve purposes of the type described in

paragraph 3, below, for the protection of life and safety; and do not

condition the assistance according to the individual recipient's income

or resources, as discussed in paragraph 4, below.

3. Included within the specified programs, services or assistance

determined to be necessary for the protection of life and safety are:

(a) Crisis counseling and intervention programs, services and

assistance relating to child protection, adult protective services,

violence and abuse prevention, victims of domestic violence or other

criminal activity, or treatment of mental illness or substance

abuse;

(b) Short-term shelter or housing assistance for the homeless,

for victims of domestic violence, or for runaway, abused or

abandoned children;

(c) Programs, services or assistance to help individuals during

periods of heat, cold, or other adverse weather conditions;

(d) Soup kitchens, community food banks, senior nutrition

programs such as meals on wheels, and other such community

nutritional services for persons requiring special assistance;

(e) Medical and public health services (including treatment and

prevention of diseases and injuries) and mental health, disability

or substance abuse assistance necessary to protect life or safety;

(f) Activities designed to protect the life and safety of

workers, children and youths, or community residents; and

(g) Any other programs, services, or assistance necessary for

the protection of life or safety.

4. The community-based programs, services or assistance specified

in

[[Page 45986]]

paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Order are limited to those that provide in-

kind (non-cash) benefits and are open to individuals needing or

desiring to participate without regard to income or resources.

Programs, services or assistance delivered at the community level, even

if they serve purposes of the type described in paragraph 3 above, are

not within this specification if they condition (a) the provision of

assistance, (b) the amount of assistance provided, or (c) the cost of

the assistance provided on the individual recipient's income or

resources.

Dated: August 23, 1996.

Janet Reno,

Attorney General.

[FR Doc. 96-22233 Filed 8-29-96; 8:45 am]

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