OCS DCL-2022-03 Change to Public Charge Rule FY2022

Office of Community Services

Dear Colleague Letter

DCL#:                               OCS-DCL-2022-03

DATE:                               December 15, 2021

TO:                                    Office of Community Services’ Grant Recipients and Stakeholders

SUBJECT:                       Change to Public Charge Rule

ATTACHMENT(S):        ACF DCL on Public Charge Rule--December 2021 (PDF)

Dear Colleagues,

The purpose of this communication is to make you aware of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), which describes changes to the public charge rule after the Department of Homeland Security’s August 2019 regulation “Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds Final Rule” was vacated earlier this year.  As background, public charge is used to describe an individual who is deemed to be primarily dependent on or likely to become primarily dependent on government for subsistence, as defined by receipt of certain public benefits. An individual determined likely to become a public charge is inadmissible to the United States or, if already in the country, ineligible to become a lawful permanent resident. Receipt of certain public benefits can be taken into account by the United States government when making a public charge determination.

The DCL explains that the expanded group of programs added under the 2019 public charge rule (non-emergency federally funded Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and various forms of housing assistance) may no longer be taken into consideration, and that Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cash assistance is the only ACF program to which the public charge rule applies. Because many recipients of ACF-funded benefits also participate in the programs that were included in the rule change, the letter calls on ACF grantees to assist with making sure that eligible immigrants are aware that the U.S. will no longer consider receipt of Medicaid (except for long-term institutionalization), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or public housing benefits as part of public charge determinations.

Thank you for your attention to these matters. OCS looks forward to continuing to provide high-quality services to OCS grantees.