Section 47.27.025 - Cash assistance(a) The department shall provide cash assistance to families that establish eligibility based on a determination of need that considers the family's available income, assets, and other resources, as established by the department in regulation. Each dependent child in the family is eligible for cash assistance except as otherwise provided in AS 47.27.015 or 47.27.027(b), and cash assistance received as a dependent child does not count against eligibility for cash assistance under this chapter as a caretaker or spouse of a caretaker of a dependent child or as a pregnant woman.(b) The amounts of cash assistance may not exceed the following:(1) for a dependent child living with a nonneedy relative caretaker, $452 per month, plus $102 for each additional child;(2) for a dependent child living with at least one needy parent or relative caretaker, $821 per month, plus $102 for each additional child and $102 for a second needy parent if the second parent is physically or mentally unable to perform gainful activity as defined by department regulation; or(3) for a family consisting solely of an eligible pregnant woman, $514 per month.(c) The department shall, for the months of July, August, and September, reduce by 50 percent the maximum cash assistance for which the family is otherwise eligible if the family's eligibility for cash assistance is based on AS 47.27.010(4), unless the second needy parent is determined, under regulations of the department, to be physically or mentally unable to perform gainful activity or to be providing care for a child who is experiencing a disability that requires 24-hour care, as certified by a physician or other licensed medical professional. However, if the commissioner determines that temporary economic conditions have resulted in decreased employment opportunities during those months and a reduction in cash assistance would impose an undue hardship on a family, the department may waive application of this subsection with respect to that family.(d) The department shall reduce cash assistance under this section to the extent that the family's shelter costs are lower than the standard shelter allowance used by the department for similar families. The shelter allowance for a family whose costs are below the standard allowance shall be an amount equal to the family's actual verified shelter costs. In this subsection,(1) "shelter allowance" means the portion of the cash assistance provided under this section that is allocated by the department for shelter costs;(2) "shelter costs" means (A) rental payments or mortgage payments for the family's housing, including payments made for property or mortgage insurance and property taxes; and(B) the cost of utilities, including heat, electricity, basic telephone service, water, sewer, and garbage services incurred for the family's housing; the department may establish different utility cost standards for different areas of the state and may use an average utility cost per month based on estimated level payments over a 12-month period.(e) The department may, instead of paying all of the cash assistance to a family under this section, use all or part of the cash assistance as a wage subsidy paid to an employer who employs a person in the family at a wage that is higher than the wage subsidy. If authorized under AS 47.25.975(b), the department may, instead of paying all of a family's food stamp allotment under AS 47.25.975 - 47.25.990 in a form restricted to buying food, use all or part of the value of the family's food stamp allotment as a wage subsidy paid to an employer who employs a person in the family at a wage that is higher than the total of the wage subsidies paid under this subsection for employment of the person. A subsidy under this subsection may not exceed one year in duration.