A. Pursuant to the federal act, on or after July 1, 1997 a participant may receive federally funded cash assistance or state-funded cash assistance and services pursuant to the New Mexico Works Act for up to sixty months.

B. During a participant's semiannual review, the department shall examine the participant's progress to determine if the participant has successfully completed an educational or training program or increased the number of hours the participant is working as required by the federal act. The department may refer the participant to alternative work activities or provide additional services to address barriers to employment facing the participant.

C. Up to twenty percent of the population of participants may be exempted from the sixty-month durational limit set out in Subsection A of this section because of hardship or because those participants are battered or subject to extreme cruelty.

D. For the purposes of this section, a participant has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty if the participant can demonstrate by reliable medical, psychological or mental reports, court orders or police reports that the participant has been subjected to and currently is affected by:

(1) physical acts that result in physical injury;

(2) sexual abuse;

(3) being forced to engage in nonconsensual sexual acts or activities;

(4) threats or attempts at physical or sexual abuse;

(5) mental abuse; or

(6) neglect or deprivation of medical care except when the deprivation is based by mutual consent on religious grounds.

E. For the purposes of this section, a hardship exception applies to a person who demonstrates through reliable medical, psychological or mental reports, social security administration records, court orders, police reports or department records that the person is a person:

(1) who is barred from engaging in a work activity because the person has a temporary or permanent disability;

(2) who is the sole provider of home care to a family member who is ill or has a disability;

(3) whose ability to be gainfully employed is affected by domestic violence;

(4) whose application for supplemental security income is pending in the application or appeals process and who:

(a) meets the criteria of Paragraph (1) of this subsection; or

(b) was granted a waiver from the work requirement or was granted a limited participation requirement pursuant to Paragraph (1) of Subsection I of Section 27-2B-5 NMSA 1978 in the last twenty-four months; or

(5) who otherwise qualifies for a hardship exception as defined by the department.

F. Pursuant to the federal act, the department shall not count a month of receipt of cash assistance or services toward the sixty-month durational limit if during the time of receipt the participant:

(1) was a minor and was not the head of a household or married to the head of a household; or

(2) lived in Indian country, as defined in the federal act, if the most reliable data available with respect to the month indicate that at least fifty percent of the adults living in Indian country or in the village were not employed.

History: Laws 1998, ch. 8, § 6 and Laws 1998, ch. 9, § 6; 2001, ch. 295, § 3; 2001, ch. 326, § 3; 2003, ch. 311, § 3; 2003, ch. 432, § 3; 2007, ch. 46, § 19; 2007, ch. 350, § 4.

Cross references. — For the definition of "federal act", see 27-2B-3 NMSA 1978.

2007 Multiple Amendments. — Laws 2007, ch. 46, § 19 and Laws 2007, ch. 350, § 4 enacted different amendments to this section that can be reconciled. Pursuant to 12-1-8 NMSA 1978, Laws 2007, ch. 350, § 4, as the act last signed by the governor, is set out above and incorporates both amendments. The amendments enacted by Laws 2007, ch. 46, § 19 and Laws 2007, ch. 350, § 4 are described below. To view the session laws in their entirety, see the 2007 session laws on NMOneSource.com.

Laws 2007, ch. 350, § 4, effective June 15, 2007, provided that a participant may receive state-funded cash assistance pursuant to the New Mexico Works Act; and provided that a hardship exception applies to a person whose application for supplemental security is pending or on appeal and who was granted a limited participation requirement.

Laws 2007, ch. 46, § 19, effective June 15, 2007, in Subsection E(1) changed "he is temporarily or completely disabled" to "the person has a temporary or permanent disability", and in Subsection E(2) changed "an ill or disabled" to "who is ill or has a disability".

The 2003 amendment, effective April 10, 2003, inserted "or department records" in the undesignated paragraph of Subsection E, and added Subparagraph E(4)(a) and (b) and Paragraph E(5).

The 2001 amendment, effective June 15, 2001, in Subsection E, inserted "social security administration records" and added Paragraph 4.