18.2.4 RCA Nonfinancial Eligibility

2. Have been in the United States 12 months or less for individuals who have a date of eligibility on or after 10/01/2021 or eight months or less for individuals with a date of eligibility on or before 09/30/2021;

5. Not have quit a job or refused a job offer within the 30 days prior to application;

Note: As in W-2 policy, an applicant who does not provide a Social Security number may still be eligible for RCA if they apply for one and provide proof of the application. (See 2.7.1)

18.2.4.1 Immigration Status

To qualify for Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance, individuals must provide proof, in the form of documentation issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, of one of the following immigration statuses:

i. Any individual granted parole status as a Cuban/Haitian Entrant (status pending) or granted any other special status subsequently established under the immigration laws for nationals of Cuba or Haiti, regardless of the status of the individual at the time assistance or services are provided.

ii. A national of Cuba or Haiti who was paroled into the United States and has not acquired any other status under the INA and with respect to whom a final, non-appealable, and legally enforceable order of removal, deportation or exclusion has not been entered.

iii. A national of Cuba or Haiti who has an application for asylum pending with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and with respect to whom a final, non-appealable, and legally enforceable order of removal, deportation or exclusion has not been entered.

5. Certain Amerasian(s) from Vietnam who are admitted to the U.S. as immigrants pursuant to section 584 of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1988 (as contained in section 101(e) of Public Law 100-202 and amended by the 9th proviso under Migration and Refugee Assistance in Title II of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Acts, 1989 (Public Law 100-461 as amended));

6. Victims of trafficking who have been certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement under section 107 (B) of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000;

7. Iraqis and Afghans with “special immigrant status.” These groups have been admitted to the U.S. in Lawful Permanent Resident status; however for a limited time upon arrival they are treated as if they are in refugee status for public benefits purposes.

i. A citizen or national of Afghanistan who was admitted to the United States with SI/SQ Parole (per section 602(B)(1) AAPA/section 1059(a) NDAA 2006), Special Immigrant (SI) Conditional Permanent Residence (CPR), or Humanitarian Parole status (per the Afghanistan Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022); and their spouses and children.

8. Citizens or nationals of Ukraine who the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has paroled into the United States between February 24, 2022, and September 30, 2023, due to urgent humanitarian reasons or for significant public benefit, known as Ukrainian Humanitarian Parolees (UHPs). (See ORR Policy Letter 22-13).

i. Non-Ukrainian individuals who last habitually resided in Ukraine, who DHS has paroled into the United States between February 24, 2022, and September 30, 2023, due to urgent humanitarian reasons or for significant public benefit.

ii. A spouse or child of an individual described in section 9 and i., who is paroled into the United States after September 30, 2023.

iii. A parent, legal guardian, or primary caregiver of an unaccompanied refugee minor or an unaccompanied child described in section 9 or i., who is paroled into the United States after September 30, 2023.

9. Admitted for permanent residence, provided the individual previously held one of the statuses identified above. (See 18.2.4.2)

Refer to the Office of Refugee Resettlement's Policy Letter 16-01 Documentation Guide for information on the types of documents that verify the immigration statuses listed above. For information on appropriate CARES coding for the immigration statuses listed above, refer to the W-2 Non-Citizen Eligibility Desk Guide.

If a refugee is not able to verify his or her immigration status with paper documentation, attempt to verify the status using the web-based Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. Scan the information found using SAVE into ECF.

18.2.4.2 Date of Entry to the U.S.

Date of Entry is equivalent to the first day that someone gained an RCA-eligible immigrant status. Refugees are eligible for Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance only during the eight month period (if the Date of Entry was on or before September 30, 2021) or twelve-month period (if their Date of Entry was on or after October 1, 2021) following their date of eligibility in the United States. Therefore, the agency may need to make pro-rated payments at the beginning and end of any eligibility period, based upon the number of days eligible in relationship to the BRP/BWF Operations Memo 22-04 Attachment number of days in the month. This eight- and 12-month time limit applies to each person in a case individually.

1. Individuals paroled as refugees or asylees under §212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA); Date of Arrival;

3. Asylee(s) whose status was granted under §208 of the INA; Date Eligible Status Granted;

4. Cuban and Haitian entrants, in accordance with the requirements in 45 CFR § 401.2; Date Eligible Status Granted;

5. Certain Amerasians from Vietnam who are admitted to the U.S. as immigrants pursuant to §584 of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1988 (as contained in §101 (e) of Public Law 100-202 and amended by the 9th provision under Migration and Refugee Assistance in Title II of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriation Acts, 1989 (Public Law 100-461 as amended)); Date of Arrival;

6. Individuals subjected to a severe form of trafficking who have been certified by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, Pub. L. No. 106-386, Division A, 114 Stat.1464 (2000); Date Eligible Status Granted;

7. Certain Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holders (SIV) pursuant to the Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, Public Law 110-181; Date of Arrival;

9. Afghan Special Immigrant Conditional Permanent Resident as described in ORR Policy Letter 22-02 and ORR Policy Letter 22-10; October 1, 2021 or Date "entered community", whichever is later;

11. Ukrainian Humanitarian Parolee and Non-Ukrainian Individual Displaced from Ukraine as described in ORR Policy Letter 22-13; May 21, 2022, or the individual’s date of humanitarian parole, whichever is later. If a UHP or other non-Ukrainian individual displaced from Ukraine obtains Temporary Protected Status (TPS), the individual will remain eligible for until the end of the individual’s parole term, due to their underlying receipt of humanitarian parole per INA section 212(d)(5). Note, however, that an individual with only TPS and no underlying humanitarian parole is not eligible for ORR benefits and services.

12. Lawful permanent residents who previously held one of the statuses identified above; same as the previously held status listed above. Funds must not be used to provide services to United States citizens, as United States citizens are ineligible under the authorizing legislation.

EXAMPLE 1: A refugee’s date of entry to the United States is 10/14/2022 and their twelve-month eligibility for Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance ends on 10/13/2023. If the refugee applies for cash assistance on 10/16/2022 and is placed into a CSJ payment level, ($653/month), issue a pro-rated initial payment of $337.03 for 10/16/2022 through 10/31/2022 ($653/31 days in month x 16 days of eligibility = $337.03) and issue a prorated final payment of $273.84 for 10/1/2023 to 10/13/2023 ($653/31 days in month x 13 days of eligibility= $273.84).

EXAMPLE 2: A refugee’s date of entry to the United States is 11/14/2022 and their twelve month eligibility period for Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance ends on 11/13/2023. If the refugee submits an application for RCA on 11/14/2023, deny the application because the period of eligibility has lapsed.

EXAMPLE 3: An alien enters the United States on 2/3/2022 and is granted asylum on 7/16/2022. The twelve-month Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance eligibility period is 7/16/2022 through 7/15/2023.

Note: If an asylee includes his or her spouse on the asylum application and asylum is granted, the spouse has the same “entry” date (i.e., asylum grant date) as the principal asylee. In some cases, though, an asylee spouse may be outside of the U.S. and not included on the asylum application. To bring the spouse to the U.S., the principal asylee must complete form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition. In such cases, the spouse’s physical date of entry to the U.S. is the date from which to determine his or her RCA period. This date will be noted on the I-730 (and I-94 and Visa 92).

Note: Individuals who are seeking but have not been granted asylum are ineligible for Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance. See asylum-seeker(s) and asylee(s).

18.2.4.3 Wisconsin Residency

To be eligible for RCA benefits in Wisconsin, a refugee must be a resident of Wisconsin. Apply W-2 residency requirements when making this determination. (See 2.2.1.4)

Secondary migrant(s) to Wisconsin (refugees who move to Wisconsin from a different state) may be eligible for RCA. If there is reason to believe the secondary migrant was receiving RCA in the previous state, use appropriate verification request procedures to request verification that the RCA benefits in the other state have been terminated. (See 18.2.6.1.2 ) If the individual has made a reasonable effort and cannot obtain the required verification, does not have the power to produce verification or requires assistance to do so, the W-2 agency must assist the individual. (See 4.1.3) In such cases, contacting the worker in the other state would likely be the most efficient way of verifying the information.

Secondary migrants who were receiving RCA in another state must submit a cash assistance application in Wisconsin in order to be RCA-eligible. They are subject to the same financial and nonfinancial eligibility criteria as other refugees, including the twelve-month eligibility time-limit.

EXAMPLE 1: A refugee moves from Minnesota to Wisconsin and submits a cash assistance application on 11/3/2022. The refugee’s immigration document shows that his date of arrival to the U.S. was 10/10/2021; RCA eligibility therefore ended 10/9/2022. Deny the application based on expiration of the twelve-month eligibility period.

EXAMPLE 2: A refugee moves from Illinois to Wisconsin on 10/20/2021 and submits a cash assistance application on 10/24/2021. During the interview, the refugee states that she was receiving RCA in Illinois. The worker pends the case for proof that Illinois RCA benefits have ended. The verification is received timely and shows that Illinois RCA benefits ended on 10/19/2021. If the refugee is otherwise eligible, the worker should issue a pro-rated RCA payment for 10/24/2021 – 10/31/2021 and issue appropriate RCA monthly payments thereafter.

18.2.4.4 Ineligibility for W-2 Paid Placement and Non-Receipt of SSI and Kinship Care

When a cash assistance application is received, first determine eligibility for W-2. If the applicant meets W-2 financial eligibility requirements but does not meet nonfinancial eligibility requirements or is not eligible for a paid W-2 placement, determine eligibility for RCA.

If an adult refugee becomes ineligible for W-2 due to a change in circumstances in which there is no longer a dependent child in the household, determine eligibility for RCA for any remainder of the initial twelve-month residence period in the United States.

Refer refugees who are age 65 or older, or who are blind or disabled, for application to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) (see 7.4.3 for guidance about SSI advocacy). Inform these refugees that current federal laws limit SSI eligibility to seven years after arrival unless citizenship is obtained. A refugee is eligible for RCA while an SSI determination is being made and until he or she actually receives an SSI payment. (See 2.2.1.10) If you learn, however, that SSI has been paid for the same month as an RCA payment, attempt to recover the RCA payment.

Refugees who are minors and living with adult caretaker relatives instead of their parents should be referred for application to Kinship Care. A refugee is eligible for RCA while a Kinship Care determination is being made. When Kinship Care begins, RCA eligibility is lost.

18.2.4.5 Job Quit or Refusal Within 30 Days Prior to Application

A refugee that has refused to accept an appropriate offer of employment or voluntarily quit appropriate employment in the 30 calendar days prior to filing the RCA application is ineligible for RCA, unless a good cause reason exists. See 18.2.4.6.3 for guidelines on determining “appropriate” employment. Contact the refugee’s Volag worker when processing the application to determine if such a refusal or job quit has occurred. A refugee who quit or refused a job within the 30 calendar days prior to application would regain RCA eligibility on the 31st day after such job quit or refusal has taken place.

To determine if a refugee who has quit or refused employment possesses a good cause reason, see 11.2.2. W-2 workers must apply good cause policy in a culturally-competent manner.

EXAMPLE: A practicing Muslim (whose religion prohibits the eating of pork or use of alcohol) cannot be sanctioned for refusing to butcher pigs or serve alcohol. This individual would have “good cause” for refusing such employment.

18.2.4.6.1 Employment and Training Requirements

All adult RCA recipients must enroll in employment and training activities and must participate in such activities within 30 days of receiving RCA benefits. The employment and training requirements used in the RCA program differ from W-2 work participation requirements in that they are designed to meet the needs of newly arrived refugees who typically possess little or no English skills. Participation in the employment and training activities is meant to ensure that RCA clients attain economic self-sufficiency within their twelve-month RCA eligibility period. A refugee has attained economic self-sufficiency when their income allows them to afford basic necessities such as rent, food and transportation.

RCA clients may fulfill their RCA employment and training requirement by participating in the FoodShare Employment and Training (FSET) program (if they are FSET-eligible) or a specialized refugee employment and training program.

Employment and training service agencies must work with RCA recipients to develop individual Employability Plan (EP) (see 6.1 and 6.2) that fit into a Family self-sufficiency plan, where applicable. These plans must specify clear employment objectives and concrete steps needed to obtain the clients’ goal. Individual Employability Plan (EP)s must be updated at least once every 6 months (see 6.2.2) and must address concurrent language training needs and employment services needs of the individual and/or couple.

1. Employment services including world-of-work and job orientation, job clubs, job workshops, job development, referral to job opportunities, job search, job placement and follow-up;

Note: All employers are required by law to ensure that their employees are eligible to work in the U.S. Individuals who are granted immigration status as refugees are authorized to work indefinitely in the U.S. Refugees can fulfill the employer requirement by showing their I-94 form (with an unexpired refugee admission stamp) for a temporary period of time while they work towards obtaining permanent work authorization, by showing their Employment Authorization Document (EAD) or, if they have been in the U.S. for at least one year, a permanent resident card.

RCA eligibility workers must track recipients’ participation in their required employment and training activities.

18.2.4.6.2 Exemptions

No adult is exempt from the employment and training requirement, but all activities in the individual’s employability plan (EP) must be appropriate for the individual and consistent with his or her needs and abilities.

18.2.4.6.3 Appropriate Employment and Training Requirements

As a condition of RCA eligibility, adult clients must participate in the employment-related services listed in 18.2.4.6.1, go to any appropriate job interview arranged by the employment and training agency and accept any appropriate offer of employment.

To be considered appropriate, employment and training services and job offers must:

2. Be related to the ability of the person to perform the task on a regular basis. Any claim of adverse effect on the participant’s physical or mental health must be based on information from a physician or psychologist indicating that participation would impair the individual’s physical or mental health.

3. Not have a total daily commuting time (to and from home to the site) that normally exceeds 2 hours.

5. Not discriminate on basis of age, sex, race, creed, color or national origin.

6. Have a wage that meets or exceeds the appropriate federal or state minimum wage law.

7. Not require daily or weekly hours of work that exceed the number of hours usually worked in the job.

Appropriate work can be temporary, permanent, part-time, full-time, or seasonal. Training must be designed to meet local employers’ requirements so that the individual is competitive in the local labor market and the training must be likely to lead to appropriate employment, as defined above.

2. The employment would violate the rules of his or her existing union membership. However, employment not governed by the rules of his or her union may be appropriate.

18.2.4.6.4 Refusal to Comply and Sanctions in the RCA Program

RCA participants must participate in all assigned work training activities or education and training activities outlined in the employability plan (EP). If an RCA participant cannot participate in an assigned activity, the agency must encourage the participant to call their caseworker prior to the activity time. A participant has 7 working days after an absence from an assigned RCA employment and training activity to notify his or her worker of the reason for the absence. The worker can then determine whether the reason meets one of the good cause reasons.

If a refugee fails to meet employment and training requirements and good cause (see 11.2.2) is not found, sanction the individual. A sanction is defined as a stoppage of RCA payments for a set period of time due to client noncooperation. Apply the first sanction for a three-month period. If the same individual again fails to meet employment and training requirements, apply the sanction for six months.

If the RCA assistance group contains an individual other than the sanctioned client, RCA payments may continue if that other individual is not also being sanctioned.

18.2.4.7 Not Be Enrolled as Full-Time Student in Higher Education

Refugees who are enrolled as full-time students in an institution of higher education are not eligible for RCA. However, a professional in need of recertification services in order to practice his or her profession in the U.S. is allowed to attend a full-time college or professional training program provided that the individual is employed, the training is approved as part of the individual’s employability plan, and the training program does not last longer than one year.

18.2.4.8 Not Be Enrolled in Matching Grant Program

If an RCA applicant group is participating in the federal Matching Grant program which is administered through Volag, they are not eligible for W-2 or RCA. When you contact the Volag to inform them that an applicant has applied for RCA and to inquire about job quit and refusal (see 18.2.2.2), also determine if the applicant is participating in the Matching Grant Program.

If a refugee is no longer participating in the Matching Grant program, he or she regains eligibility for RCA for the remainder of the twelve-month RCA eligibility period. Verify with the refugee’s Volag worker that he or she is no longer participating in Matching Grant.

To properly deny an RCA application due to participation in Matching Grant, issue a manual negative notice explaining that the applicant is not eligible for RCA because he or she is receiving Matching Grant funds. The notice should mention that they can re-apply for RCA after their participation in Matching Grant ends.