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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 1202. State plans for aid to blind
(a) A State plan for aid to the blind must (1) except to the
extent permitted by the Secretary with respect to services, provide
that it shall be in effect in all political subdivisions of the
State, and, if administered by them, be mandatory upon them; (2)
provide for financial participation by the State; (3) either
provide for the establishment or designation of a single State
agency to administer the plan, or provide for the establishment or
designation of a single State agency to supervise the
administration of the plan; (4) provide (A) for granting an
opportunity for a fair hearing before the State agency to any
individual whose claim for aid to the blind is denied or is not
acted upon with reasonable promptness, and (B) that if the State
plan is administered in each of the political subdivisions of the
State by a local agency and such local agency provides a hearing at
which evidence may be presented prior to a hearing before the State
agency, such local agency may put into effect immediately upon
issuance its decision upon the matter considered at such hearing;
(5) provide (A) such methods of administration (including after
January 1, 1940, methods relating to the establishment and
maintenance of personnel standards on a merit basis, except that
the Secretary shall exercise no authority with respect to the
selection, tenure of office, and compensation of any individual
employed in accordance with such methods) as are found by the
Secretary to be necessary for the proper and efficient operation of
the plan, and (B) for the training and effective use of paid
subprofessional staff, with particular emphasis on the full-time or
part-time employment of recipients and other persons of low-income,
as community service aides, in the administration of the plan and
for the use of nonpaid or partially paid volunteers in a social
service volunteer program in providing services to applicants and
recipients and in assisting any advisory committees established by
the State agency; (6) provide that the State agency will make such
reports, in such form and containing such information, as the
Secretary may from time to time require, and comply with such
provisions as the Secretary may from time to time find necessary to
assure the correctness and verification of such reports; and (!1)
(7) provide that no aid will be furnished any individual under the
plan with respect to any period with respect to which he is
receiving old-age assistance under the State plan approved under
section 302 of this title or assistance under a State program
funded under part A of subchapter IV of this chapter; (8) provide
that the State agency shall, in determining need, take into
consideration any other income and resources of the individual
claiming aid to the blind, as well as any expenses reasonably
attributable to the earning of any such income, except that, in
making such determination, the State agency (A) shall disregard the
first $85 per month of earned income, plus one-half of earned
income in excess of $85 per month, (B) shall, for a period not in
excess of twelve months, and may, for a period not in excess of
thirty-six months, disregard such additional amounts of other
income and resources, in the case of an individual who has a plan
for achieving self-support approved by the State agency, as may be
necessary for the fulfillment of such plan, and (C) may, before
disregarding the amounts referred to in clauses (A) and (B),
disregard not more than $7.50 of any income; (9) provide safeguards
which permit the use or disclosure of information concerning
applicants or recipients only (A) to public officials who require
such information in connection with their official duties, or (B)
to other persons for purposes directly connected with the
administration of the State plan; (10) provide that, in determining
whether an individual is blind, there shall be an examination by a
physician skilled in diseases of the eye or by an optometrist,
whichever the individual may select; (11) effective July 1, 1951,
provide that all individuals wishing to make application for aid to
the blind shall have opportunity to do so, and that aid to the
blind shall be furnished with reasonable promptness to all eligible
individuals; (12) effective July 1, 1953, provide, if the plan
includes payments to individuals in private or public institutions,
for the establishment or designation of a State authority or
authorities which shall be responsible for establishing and
maintaining standards for such institutions; (13) provide a
description of the services (if any) which the State agency makes
available (using whatever internal organizational arrangement it
finds appropriate for this purpose) to applicants for and
recipients of aid to the blind to help them attain self-support or
self-care, including a description of the steps taken to assure, in
the provision of such services, maximum utilization of other
agencies providing similar or related services; and (14) provide
that information is requested and exchanged for purposes of income
and eligibility verification in accordance with a State system
which meets the requirements of section 1320b-7 of this title.
(b) The Secretary shall approve any plan which fulfills the
conditions specified in subsection (a) of this section, except that
he shall not approve any plan which imposes, as a condition of
eligibility for aid to the blind under the plan -
(1) Any residence requirement which excludes any resident of
the State who has resided therein five years during the nine
years immediately preceding the application for aid and has
resided therein continuously for one year immediately preceding
the application; or
(2) Any citizenship requirement which excludes any citizen of
the United States.
At the option of the State, the plan may provide that manuals and
other policy issuances will be furnished to persons without charge
for the reasonable cost of such materials, but such provision shall
not be required by the Secretary as a condition for the approval of
such plan under this subchapter. In the case of any State (other
than Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands) which did not have on
January 1, 1949, a State plan for aid to the blind approved under
this subchapter, the Secretary shall approve a plan of such State
for aid to the blind for purposes of this subchapter, even though
it does not meet the requirements of clause (8) of subsection (a)
of this section, if it meets all other requirements of this
subchapter for an approved plan for aid to the blind; but payments
under section 1203 of this title shall be made, in the case of any
such plan, only with respect to expenditures thereunder which would
be included as expenditures for the purposes of section 1203 of
this title under a plan approved under this section without regard
to the provisions of this sentence.
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