South Carolina TANF

[hua7450]

Summary

Implements South Carolina Department of Social Services Family Independence (FI) TANF program.

Fixes #4218

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South Carolina TANF Income Rules

Regulatory Authority

• S.C. Code Regs. § 114-1140 (Financial Criteria)
• SC DSS TANF Policy Manual Volume 65 (effective October 2024)

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1. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Immigration Status

• Must have at least one household member who is a U.S. citizen or qualified noncitizen

Source: 8 U.S.C. § 1641

Demographic Requirements

• Uses federal TANF demographic eligibility (minor child or pregnant woman in household)

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2. INCOME ELIGIBILITY TESTS

Gross Income Test

• Limit: 185% of the Need Standard (which is 50% of Federal Poverty Guidelines)
• Definition: Total earned + unearned income before disregards

Source: SC DSS TANF Policy Manual Section 8.15

Net (Countable) Income Test

• Limit: Countable income must be strictly less than the Need Standard
• Applied after: Earned income disregards

Source: S.C. Code Regs. § 114-1140(A)(2)

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3. INCOME DEDUCTIONS & EXEMPTIONS

Earned Income Disregard (Per Person)

Period	Disregard
Months 1-4 (Jan-Apr)	50% of gross earned income
Months 5-12 (May-Dec)	$100/month flat deduction

Note: We use calendar months as a proxy. The actual policy refers to "first 4 months of employment" per individual, which cannot be tracked in PolicyEngine's single-period architecture.

Source: SC DSS TANF Policy Manual Section 8.12

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4. INCOME STANDARDS

Need Standard Table (Section 8.15)

Family Size	Monthly FPG	Need Standard (50%)	Gross Income Limit (185%)	Payment Standard (40.46%)
1	$1,255	$627	$1,159	$253
2	$1,703	$851	$1,574	$344
3	$2,151	$1,075	$1,988	$434
4	$2,600	$1,300	$2,405	$525
5	$3,048	$1,524	$2,819	$616
6	$3,496	$1,748	$3,233	$707
7	$3,945	$1,972	$3,648	$797
8	$4,393	$2,196	$4,062	$888

Source: SC DSS TANF Policy Manual Section 8.15

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5. RESOURCE LIMIT

Limit
$2,500

Uses spm_unit_assets directly.

Source: SC DSS TANF Policy Manual Section 6.4

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6. BENEFIT CALCULATION

Formula:

Benefit = (Need Standard − Countable Income) × Payment Rate

Where:

• Need Standard = FPG × 0.5
• Countable Income = Countable Earned Income (per person, summed) + Gross Unearned Income
• Payment Rate:
  • 33.72% (Oct 2016 - Sep 2024)
  • 40.46% (Oct 2024 onwards)

Source: S.C. Code Regs. § 114-1140(A)(3)

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7. INCOME DEFINITIONS

Earned Income (Section 7.1)

• Employment income
• Self-employment income

Unearned Income (Section 7.1)

• Partnership/S-corp income, farm income, capital gains, interest, rental income, dividends, pension income, Social Security, unemployment compensation, retirement distributions, miscellaneous income

Source: SC DSS TANF Policy Manual Section 7.1

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8. NOT MODELED

The following components from the Policy Manual are not implemented:

• Exclusion of earned income of dependent children enrolled in school
• Child support paid deduction
• Dependent care deduction

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Variable Structure

Variable	Entity	Description
sc_tanf_gross_earned_income	Person	Gross earned income per person
sc_tanf_gross_unearned_income	Person	Gross unearned income per person
sc_tanf_countable_earned_income_person	Person	Earned income after disregard (per person)
sc_tanf_gross_income	SPMUnit	Sum of gross earned + unearned income
sc_tanf_countable_income	SPMUnit	Sum of countable earned + unearned income
sc_tanf_eligible	SPMUnit	Final eligibility (demographic, immigration, income, resources)
sc_tanf	SPMUnit	Benefit amount

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Test Coverage

Test File	Tests	Description
integration.yaml	8	Full pipeline tests (historical rate, family of 6, immigration)
sc_tanf.yaml	3	Benefit amount calculation
sc_tanf_eligible.yaml	4	Final eligibility
sc_tanf_income_eligible.yaml	4	Income eligibility
sc_tanf_gross_income_eligible.yaml	4	Gross income test (includes boundary)
sc_tanf_countable_income_eligible.yaml	4	Countable income test (includes boundary)
sc_tanf_countable_earned_income_person.yaml	4	Two-phase disregard (per person)
sc_tanf_resources_eligible.yaml	4	Resource limit

Total: 35 tests

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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 100.00%. Comparing base (fc2b613) to head (f691e12).
⚠️ Report is 45 commits behind head on main.

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff            @@
##              main     #7119   +/-   ##
=========================================
  Coverage   100.00%   100.00%           
=========================================
  Files           10        11    +1     
  Lines          144       140    -4     
=========================================
- Hits           144       140    -4     

Flag	Coverage Δ
unittests	100.00% <100.00%> (ø)

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