(1) “Alternative payee” means an individual who receives temporary assistance payments on behalf of a minor.

(2) “Applicant” means an individual who applies to participate in the temporary family assistance program and submits a signed and dated application.

(3) “Department” means the Department of Children and Families.

(4) “Domestic violence” means any assault, aggravated assault, battery, aggravated battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, stalking, aggravated stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment, or any criminal offense that results in the physical injury or death of one family or household member by another.

(5) “Family” means the assistance group or the individuals whose needs, resources, and income are considered when determining eligibility for temporary assistance. The family for purposes of temporary assistance includes the minor child, a parent, or caretaker relative who resides in the same house or living unit. The family may also include individuals whose income and resources are considered in whole or in part in determining eligibility for temporary assistance but whose needs, due to federal or state restrictions, are not considered. These individuals include, but are not limited to, ineligible noncitizens or sanctioned individuals.

(6) “Family or household member” means spouses, former spouses, noncohabitating partners, persons related by blood or marriage, persons who are presently residing together as if a family or who have resided together in the past as if a family, and persons who have a child in common regardless of whether they have been married or have resided together at any time.

(7) “Homeless” means an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence or an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is:

(a) A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations, including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill;

(b) An institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or

(c) A public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

(8) “Minor child” means a child under 18 years of age, or under 19 years of age if the child is a full-time student in a secondary school or at the equivalent level of career training, and does not include anyone who is married or divorced.

(9) “Participant” means an individual who has applied for or receives temporary cash assistance.

(10) “Public assistance” means benefits paid on the basis of the temporary cash assistance, food assistance, Medicaid, or optional state supplementation program.

(11) “Relative caretaker” or “caretaker relative” means an adult who has assumed the primary responsibility of caring for a child and who is related to the child by blood or marriage.

(12) “Temporary cash assistance” means cash assistance provided under the state program certified under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act, as amended.

History.—s. 4, ch. 96-175; s. 206, ch. 97-101; s. 1, ch. 97-173; s. 6, ch. 98-57; s. 2, ch. 99-241; s. 36, ch. 2000-165; s. 35, ch. 2004-357; s. 28, ch. 2008-61; s. 14, ch. 2010-209; s. 224, ch. 2014-19.