Applications for Public Assistance

(a)Applications for public assistance under this Article shall be made to the Director by the applicant, or by someone acting in his behalf, in the manner, place and form prescribed by the Director.

(b)No applicant shall be entitled to public assistance under this Article who has sufficient income or other resources to provide a subsistence compatible to decency and health, or who is an inmate of any institution established primarily for tuberculosis or mental illness, or for detention or forcible confinement or correction; or who is an inmate of any public institution of a non-curative character, but an inmate of such an institution mentioned in this Section may apply for assistance to begin after his discharge from such an institution.

(c)In determining the needs of a blind applicant the Director, so long as such exception is a requirement of the Social Security Act that must be complied with in order for Guam to receive Federal matching funds under the program of aid to the blind, shall not take into consideration the first Eighty-Five Dollars ($85.00) per month of earned income plus one-half (½) of earned income in excess thereof of such blind applicant. In determining the need of an applicant for or recipient of aid to the blind, only such income and resources as are actually available to the individual for his support shall be taken into consideration in computing the amount of aid to which such individual is entitled, except that there shall be disregarded in making such determination all such amounts of net earnings or other income and resources as now are or hereafter may be permitted or required to be disregarded under Federal laws or regulations providing grants to Guam for aid to the blind.

(d)Pursuant to the authorization provided in the Federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, 21 U.S.C. § 862a(d)(1)(A), the Director shall exempt applicants domiciled in Guam from the provisions of 21 U.S.C. §§ 862a(a)(1) and

(2)to ensure eligibility for public assistance.