Pregnancy

TAFDC assistance may be given to an otherwise eligible pregnant woman when it is verified that the child is expected to be born within 120 days of the date of application. Once the child is born and living with them, the child also would meet the nonfinancial and financial requirements of TAFDC.

Important: A parent under 20 is eligible to receive TAFDC for their entire pregnancy if they meet the parent under 20 school attendance and living arrangement requirements.

Verification

Pregnancy and the due date of the child must be verified by a statement from a competent medical authority. A competent medical authority is a physician, osteopath, nurse practitioner or psychologist licensed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  This includes a physician or psychiatrist from a Veterans Administration Hospital or clinic or from a Massachusetts Department of Mental Health facility. Additionally, for the limited purpose of diagnosing pregnancy and pregnancy-related incapacity, it includes a nurse-midwife who meets the educational and certification requirements mandated by state law.

The Pregnancy question appears on the AU Composition Q & A Navigator.  When Yes is selected for the pregnancy question, the Pregnancy page will automatically become available to capture further information.  The name of the pregnant person for whom the Yes was answered will appear in the bottom left hand side of the page.  You must:

Note: The Yes to pregnancy will automatically prefill.

  1. select the record from the select list
  2. If greater than 1, enter the number of babies the household member is expecting, if greater than one (defaults to 1)
  3. enter the due date
  4. click Next to save the information and continue to the next page
  5. if more than one person in the case is pregnant, click Clear and repeat the above steps

If subsequently you need to enter or update pregnancy information, you must:

  1. access the Pregnancy page in the AU Composition Details workflow
  2. select the pregnant member from the member list
  3. click Yes or No to pregnancy
  4. enter the due date
  5. click Add
  6. if more than one person is pregnant, click Clear and repeat the above steps; and
  7. click Next to save the information and continue to the next page

Clients must be told that they are exempt from the work program and time-limited benefits for 120 days prior to the birth of their child (verified by checking the Pregnancy view, found within the Assessed Person Potential Changes Views ) and will remain exempt until the child turns two.

Automated Pregnancy Information Update

Clients are required to report changes in their household circumstances within 10 days of the change, including a change in a household member’s pregnancy status. Once the child is born or the pregnancy has otherwise ended, TAFDC eligibility and exemption status must be re-determined for all household members.

If no change has been entered on the Pregnancy page to the pregnancy status 30 days after the pregnancy due date, the household member will automatically be sent a Pregnancy Information Update Notice. The notice instructs the household member to contact the case manager identified on the notice within 10 days of the notice date to report the change in the household’s circumstances relative to the pregnancy status.

If the Pregnancy page is not updated within 20 days of the notice date, the TAFDC case will be automatically closed for failing to submit the required verification. If there is an associated SNAP case, it will remain open. See Closing or Denying the Entire Case.