PM 14-03-01.

Verify the student status of children age 18 for TANF Cash and GA-FCA by:

  • School Records
  • CSOC Inquiry, for children living in the City of Chicago (see WAG 03-05-03).
  • Verification of School Attendance (Form 541 or Form 541CF)

A child reaches the maximum age on the day before their birthday. A child is eligible for the calendar month in which the maximum age is reached. For example, a child not in school whose 18th birthday is January 1 is considered 18 on December 31 and would not be eligible for benefits after December.

See WAG 03-04-02-a for more information about student status of children age 18.

An 18 year old child is ineligible for TANF Cash and GA-FCA when they are not a full-time student in secondary school. A child who is not attending secondary school full-time is ineligible upon reaching age 18. An 18 year old who graduates or drops out becomes ineligible for the fiscal month after the fiscal month in which they graduated or dropped out. An 18 year old who is attending secondary school full-time is ineligible upon reaching age 19.

NOTE: Secondary school includes grades 9 through 12 or a vocational or technical school that is equal to high school.

When a child reaches age 18, review their eligibility as follows:

  • verify if the child is still living with the unit, and
  • verify school attendance and the expected date of completion. Accept the school's statement regarding the date of completion. When the 18 year old child will complete the program before reaching age 19, set a control to change the child's status to medical only for the fiscal month following the fiscal month in which they complete the program. For GA-FCA, if the child is not expected to complete the graduation requirements before reaching age 19, the child is ineligible. The child is still eligible for All Kids.

A case with an 18 year old dependent child is included on the Priority Action List (PAL) as code B, 18 Year Old, in the month that the child reaches 18 when the child has code 5 in Item 73, indicating they are in school. For complete information on responding to ICL Code B see WAG 19-02-00.

If the child is not in school (Item 73 of Form 552 has Code 9 or B), the child is centrally deleted for the fiscal month following the calendar month in which they reach age 18. If they are the only child, the case is centrally canceled.

All 19 year old children are centrally deleted from the case effective for the fiscal month following the calendar month that the child becomes 19. If they are the only child, the case is centrally canceled.

For the central deletion of 18 or 19 year olds, see WAG 18-03-11-b.