A.
The municipality may recover the full amount of assistance granted
to a person from either the recipient or from any person liable for
the recipient, or his or her executors or administrators in a civil
action. However, prior to recovering assistance granted, the municipality
shall offset the value of any workfare performed by a GA recipient
at a rate not less than minimum wage.
B.
Prior to taking a recipient to court to recover the amount of assistance,
the municipality will seek voluntary repayment from the recipient
by notifying him/her in writing and discussing it with the recipient.
The municipality shall not attempt to recover such costs if, as a
result of the repayment, the person would again become eligible for
general assistance (22 M.R.S.A. § 4318).
A.
The municipality shall claim a lien for the value of all general
assistance payments made to a recipient on any lump sum payment made
to that recipient under the Workers' Compensation Act or similar law
of any other state (22 M.R.S.A. § 4318; 39-A M.R.S.A. § 106).
After issuing any general assistance on behalf of a recipient who
has applied for or is receiving workers' compensation, the municipality
shall file a notice of the municipal lien with the general assistance
recipient and the office of the Secretary of State, Uniform Commercial
Code Division.
B.
The notice of lien shall be filed on a UCC-1 form which must be signed
by the recipient of general assistance who has applied for or is receiving
workers' compensation. Any general assistance applicant who has applied
for or who is receiving workers' compensation benefits and who refuses
to sign a properly prepared UCC-1 form will be found ineligible to
receive general assistance until he or she provides the required signature.
The municipality shall also send a photocopy of that filing to the
recipient's workers' compensation attorney, if known, the applicant's
employer or the employer's insurance company, and, at the administrator's
discretion, to the Workers' Compensation Board. The lien shall be
enforced at the time any lump sum workers' compensation benefit is
issued.
All applicants who receive general assistance while receipt
of their supplemental security income (SSI) assistance is pending
or suspended, and which therefore may be retroactively issued to the
applicant at a later date, will be required to sign a statement on
an interim assistance agreement form distributed by the DHHS that
authorizes the Social Security Administration to direct a portion
of any retroactive SSI payment to the municipality and/or the state
in repayment for the general assistance granted. Any general assistance
applicant who has applied for or who may be applying for SSI, or who
may be required to apply for SSI pursuant to 22 M.R.S.A. § 4317,
and who refuses to sign the interim agreement SSI authorization form
will be found ineligible to receive general assistance until he or
she provides the required signature (22 M.R.S.A. § 4318).
The spouse of an applicant and the parents of any applicant
under the age of 25 are liable for the support of the applicant (22
M.R.S.A. § 4319). In addition, grandchildren, children,
siblings, parents and grandparents are liable for the burial costs
of each other. The municipality considers these relatives to be available
resources and liable for the support of their relatives in proportion
to their respective ability. The municipality may complain to any
court of competent jurisdiction to recover any expenses made on the
behalf of a recipient if the relatives fail to fulfill their responsibility
(22 M.R.S.A. § 4319).
