Months of cash assistance received do not count against the sixty-month lifetime limit while you are an adult living in Indian country or an Alaskan native village where at least fifty percent of adults are not employed.
To qualify for this exemption to TANF time limits, you must live in "Indian country." The department uses the "Indian country" definition in federal law at 18 U.S.C. 1151. Indian country is defined as reservations, dependent Indian communities, and allotments. Dependent Indian communities must be set aside by the federal government for the use of Indians and be under federal superintendence. Near reservation areas (areas or communities adjacent or contiguous to reservations) are not considered Indian country for purposes of this exemption.
The department uses the most current biennial Indian Service Population and Labor Force Estimates Report published by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), or any successor report, as the default data source to determine if the not employed rates for areas of Indian country are at least fifty percent.
A tribe may provide alternative data, based on similar periods to the Indian Service Population and Labor Force Estimates Report, to demonstrate that the not employed rate is at least fifty percent.
Wash. Admin. Code § 388-484-0010
Statutory Authority: RCW 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057, 74.08.090, and chapters 74.08A and 74.12 RCW. 10-24-013, § 388-484-0010, filed 11/18/10, effective 12/19/10. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.04.005, 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057, 74.08.090, 74.08A.010, and 42 U.S.C. 608 (a)(7). 01-04-016, § 388-484-0010, filed 1/26/01, effective 2/1/01.