Under the new rule, issued Mar. 22, 2000, states are permitted to establish RCA programs based on one of three models of service provision:  (1) a publicly administered program modeled after a state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program; (2) a public/private program administered by the state and local resettlement agencies; or (3) a Wilson/Fish program model that provides states and public and private nonprofit agencies the opportunity to develop innovative approaches to providing cash, social service, and case management assistance.  The models vary in the amount of direct control a state takes over the administration and delivery of RCA programs versus the amount it delegates to local public or private nonprofit agencies. States are expected to select from among these three models within 6 months and to implement their decision by Mar. 22, 2002.

To be eligible for the RCA program, an immigrant must be a new arrival who has resided in the U.S. for a period of less than that which the RCA eligibility rules specify (generally eight months from the date of arrival in the U.S.) and be ineligible for TANF and Supplemental Security Income or similar disability-based programs.  He or she must also have the proper immigration status, not be a full-time student in an institution of higher education, and meet the income eligibility standards established by the state.  The rule provides states flexibility to determine income eligibility requirements.

The rule also updates immigrant eligibility requirements by deleting obsolete immigration categories and replacing them with current ones.  Deleted categories include certain conditional entrants and immigrants admitted with a status that entitled them to refugee assistance prior to the enactment of the Refugee Act of 1980.  Added categories include certain Cuban/Haitian entrants and certain Amerasians from Vietnam.  Other categories of immigrants who were eligible under the rule previously in effect remain eligible under the amended rule.

Some protections for non–English-speaking applicants are also provided under the new rule, which requires that reasonable steps be taken to provide written information in languages spoken by a significant proportion of recipient populations.  The rule does not require that written information be provided in languages spoken by a small proportion of the recipient population but provides that alternative methods of communication, such as a verbal translation in the applicants’ native language, must be made available.

The RMA program will continue to be administered by the states and not be included in public-private partnerships.  The rule added three significant changes to this program. First, states will be required to determine RMA eligibility based on an applicant’s income and resources on the date of application rather than on averaging income over the application processing period.  Second, states now have the option of using a higher financial eligibility standard of up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level to determine RMA eligibility.  And third, refugees and other eligible immigrants who have resided in the U.S. less than eight months and who lose Medicaid benefits due to earnings from employment will be transferred to the RMA without having to undergo another eligibility determination.

The RMA is available to eligible immigrants for eight months from their date of arrival in the U.S., and immigrant eligibility requirements for the program are the same as those for the RCA.

Finally, the rule broadens the types of social services available to eligible immigrants, including those relating to immigration matters.  Agencies may now help eligible immigrants obtain employment authorization documents from the Immigration and Naturalization Service and also assist with their applications for adjustment to lawful permanent residence and naturalization.

The rule takes effect Apr. 21, 2000, except those provisions amending 45 C.F.R. section 400.100, which take effect June 20, 2000.