Add Maine TANF Program

[hua7450]

Summary

Closes #7052

Implements Maine's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.

Regulatory Authority

• 22 M.R.S. Section 3762: Maine Legislature
• 10-144 C.M.R. Chapter 331: Cornell LII
• 10-144 C.M.R. Chapter 331 Appendix Charts: Cornell LII - Table 2

Income Eligibility Test

Net Income Test

Countable income must not exceed the Standard of Need for the household size.

Source: 22 M.R.S. Section 3762(3)(B)(7-F)

Income Deductions & Exemptions

Earned Income Disregard

For Month 7+ of employment:

1. $108 flat deduction from gross earned income
2. 50% disregard of remaining earned income

Note: First 6 months of employment have higher disregards (100% months 1-3, 75% months 4-6) that cannot be tracked in PolicyEngine's single-period architecture.

Source: 22 M.R.S. Section 3762(3)(B)(7-D)

Child Care Deduction

• $175/month per child
• $200/month per child under age 2 or with special needs

Source: 22 M.R.S. Section 3762(3)(B)(7-D)

Child Support Pass-Through

First $50/month of current child support collections excluded from countable income.

Source: 22 M.R.S. Section 3762

Income Standards (effective October 2024)

Adult-Included Households

Household Size	Standard of Need	Maximum Benefit
1	$489	$425
2	$769	$669
3	$1,030	$895
4	$1,296	$1,127
5	$1,557	$1,352
6	$1,820	$1,580
7	$2,085	$1,811
8	$2,349	$2,040
Each Additional	$263	$228

Child-Only Households

Household Size	Standard of Need	Maximum Benefit
1	$290	$254
2	$553	$483
3	$817	$712
4	$1,077	$936
5	$1,344	$1,169
6	$1,607	$1,396
7	$1,870	$1,625
8	$2,131	$1,851
Each Additional	$263	$228

Source: 10-144 C.M.R. Chapter 331, Appendix Charts (Table 2)

Resource Limit

$10,000 per family (one vehicle per licensed driver exempted).

Source: 22 M.R.S. Section 3762; P.L. 2023 Ch. 366

Benefit Calculation

Monthly TANF Benefit = min(Maximum Payment Level, Standard of Need - Countable Income)

Where:

• Countable Income = Countable Earned Income + Countable Unearned Income - Child Care Deduction
• Countable Earned Income = max(Gross Earned - $108, 0) * 0.5
• Countable Unearned Income = Gross Unearned - min(Child Support, $50)

Source: 22 M.R.S. Section 3762(3)(B)(8)

Files Added

Parameters (14 files)

policyengine_us/parameters/gov/states/me/dhhs/tanf/
├── child_care/
│   ├── infant_age_threshold.yaml
│   ├── infant_or_special_needs_max.yaml
│   └── standard_max.yaml
├── child_support_pass_through.yaml
├── earned_income/
│   ├── flat_deduction.yaml
│   └── percentage_disregard.yaml
├── max_unit_size.yaml
├── maximum_benefit/
│   ├── adult_included.yaml
│   ├── child_only.yaml
│   └── each_additional.yaml
├── resource_limit.yaml
└── standard_of_need/
    ├── adult_included.yaml
    ├── child_only.yaml
    └── each_additional.yaml

Variables (10 files)

policyengine_us/variables/gov/states/me/dhhs/tanf/
├── me_tanf.py                        # Final benefit calculation
├── me_tanf_child_care_deduction.py   # Child care deduction logic
├── me_tanf_child_only_case.py        # Child-only case determination
├── me_tanf_countable_earned_income.py # Earned income after disregards
├── me_tanf_countable_income.py       # Total countable income
├── me_tanf_eligible.py               # Overall eligibility
├── me_tanf_income_eligible.py        # Income eligibility test
├── me_tanf_maximum_benefit.py        # Maximum benefit by size/type
├── me_tanf_resources_eligible.py     # Resource eligibility test
└── me_tanf_standard_of_need.py       # Standard of need by size/type

Tests (11 files)

policyengine_us/tests/policy/baseline/gov/states/me/dhhs/tanf/
├── integration.yaml                  # 17 integration test cases
├── me_tanf.yaml                      # 20 benefit calculation tests
├── me_tanf_child_care_deduction.yaml # 16 child care deduction tests
├── me_tanf_child_only_case.yaml      # 7 child-only case tests
├── me_tanf_countable_earned_income.yaml # 11 earned income tests
├── me_tanf_countable_income.yaml     # 15 countable income tests
├── me_tanf_eligible.yaml             # 5 eligibility tests
├── me_tanf_income_eligible.yaml      # 8 income eligibility tests
├── me_tanf_maximum_benefit.yaml      # 20 maximum benefit tests
├── me_tanf_resources_eligible.yaml   # 11 resource eligibility tests
└── me_tanf_standard_of_need.yaml     # 20 standard of need tests

Test Coverage

• 17 integration tests - End-to-end benefit calculation scenarios
• 133 unit tests - Individual variable calculations
• Total: 150 tests - All passing

Category	Test Count
Integration tests	17
Benefit calculation	20
Child care deduction	16
Child-only case	7
Countable earned income	11
Countable income	15
Eligibility	5
Income eligibility	8
Maximum benefit	20
Resources eligibility	11
Standard of need	20

Example Calculations

Example 1: Family of 3 with working parent

• Household: 1 adult (age 30), 2 children (ages 8 and 5)
• Monthly earned income: $1,000
• Child care expenses: $350/month

Calculation:

1. Standard of Need (size 3, adult-included): $1,030
2. Maximum Benefit: $895
3. Earned income disregard: ($1,000 - $108) * 0.5 = $446
4. Child care deduction: 2 x $175 = $350
5. Countable income: $446 - $350 = $96
6. Benefit: min($895, $1,030 - $96) = min($895, $934) = $895

Example 2: Child-only case

• Household: 2 children only (ages 10 and 7)
• No income

Calculation:

1. Standard of Need (size 2, child-only): $553
2. Maximum Benefit: $483
3. Countable income: $0
4. Benefit: min($483, $553 - $0) = $483

Example 3: Income at ineligibility threshold

• Household: 1 adult, 1 child (age 4)
• Monthly earned income: $2,000

Calculation:

1. Standard of Need (size 2, adult-included): $769
2. Earned income disregard: ($2,000 - $108) * 0.5 = $946
3. Countable income: $946 > $769 (Standard of Need)
4. Result: Ineligible (income exceeds standard)

[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 100.00%. Comparing base (fd6b2c5) to head (d4fcfc8).
⚠️ Report is 24 commits behind head on main.

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff            @@
##              main     #7053   +/-   ##
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  Coverage   100.00%   100.00%           
=========================================
  Files           11        10    -1     
  Lines          146       160   +14     
=========================================
+ Hits           146       160   +14     

Flag	Coverage Δ
unittests	100.00% <100.00%> (ø)

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