Implement North Dakota TANF program

[hua7450]

Summary

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

Closes #7073

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Regulatory Authority

Source	Citation
State Statute	N.D. Century Code Chapter 50-09
State Administrative Code	N.D.A.C. Chapter 75-02-01.2
Policy Manual	Service Chapter 400-19

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Income Eligibility Tests

Net Income Test

Countable income must be less than the Standard of Need.

Source: Policy Manual 400-19-110-15

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Income Deductions & Exemptions

1. Standard Employment Expense Allowance

Formula: Greater of 27% of gross earned income OR $180

Applied first to gross earned income before other deductions.

Source: Policy Manual 400-19-105-25

2. Time Limited Percentage (TLP) Disregard

Declining Rate by Calendar Month:

Months	TLP Rate
1-6 (Jan-Jun)	50%
7-9 (Jul-Sep)	35%
10-12 (Oct-Dec)	25%

Applied to earnings after the Standard Employment Expense deduction.

Note: Uses calendar month as proxy for participation months. The disregard cycle resets each January. In actual ND TANF policy, TLP tracks cumulative participation months and ends after 12 months (0% disregard for month 13+).

Source: Policy Manual 400-19-105-25

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Income Standards

Standard of Need (Effective 2025-10-01)

North Dakota uses a 2D lookup table based on the number of caretakers (0, 1, or 2) and children (0-10) in the household.

Caretakers	0 children	1 child	2 children	3 children	4 children	5 children
0	$0	$366	$536	$697	$866	$1,028
1	$523	$739	$962	$1,175	$1,393	$1,612
2	$739	$962	$1,175	$1,393	$1,612	$1,830

Historical Values: Parameters include values effective 2015-10-01, 2023-08-01, 2024-10-01, and 2025-10-01.

Sources:

• Policy Manual 400-19-110-05 Standard of Need Chart
• Archive 2024-10-01 (Release 25.1)
• Archive 2023-08-01 (ML 3869)
• Archive 2015-10-01 (ML 3740)

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Resource Limits

Household Size	Resource Limit
1 person	$3,000
2 persons	$6,000
Each additional	+$25

Source: Policy Manual 400-19-55-05-05 Asset Limits

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Benefit Calculation

Formula

Standard Employment Expense = max(0.27 × Gross Earned, $180)
TLP Disregard = TLP_Rate(month) × (Gross Earned - Standard Employment Expense)
Countable Earned Income = Gross Earned - Standard Employment Expense - TLP Disregard
Countable Income = Countable Earned Income + Unearned Income
Benefit = max(Standard of Need - Countable Income, 0)

Where TLP_Rate(month) = 50% for months 1-6, 35% for months 7-9, 25% for months 10-12.

Source: Policy Manual 400-19-110-20 Benefit Calculation

Example Calculation

Family of 3 (1 caretaker, 2 children) with $1,500/month earned income in January:

1. Gross earned income: $1,500
2. Standard Employment Expense: max($1,500 × 0.27, $180) = $405
3. After SEE: $1,500 - $405 = $1,095
4. TLP disregard (50% for January): $1,095 × 0.50 = $547.50
5. Countable earned income: $1,095 - $547.50 = $547.50
6. Standard of Need (1 caretaker, 2 children): $962
7. Benefit: $962 - $547.50 = $414.50

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Out of Scope

The following are not modeled in this implementation:

Benefit Rules

• $10 Minimum Benefit – Benefits below $10 are not issued (N.D.A.C. 75-02-01.2-43)

Income Deductions

• Dependent Care Deduction – Maximum deduction amounts vary by child age, tied to Child Care Assistance Program rates (N.D.A.C. 75-02-01.2-53)

Special Allowances

• $45 Out of Home Allowance – Additional allowance for individuals placed outside the home (Policy Manual 400-19-110-20)
• Kinship Care Maintenance Payment – Additional payment for relative caregivers (Policy Manual 400-19-110-20)

Time Limits

• 60-Month Lifetime Limit – Federal lifetime limit on TANF benefits (42 U.S.C. § 608(a)(7))
• TLP Month 13+ (0% disregard) – Calendar month proxy only covers months 1-12; cumulative participation tracking not modeled (Policy Manual 400-19-105-25)

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Files Added

Parameters (7 files)

policyengine_us/parameters/gov/states/nd/dhs/tanf/
├── benefit/
│   ├── max_children.yaml
│   └── standard_of_need.yaml
├── income/
│   └── deductions/
│       ├── standard_employment_expense/
│       │   ├── minimum.yaml
│       │   └── rate.yaml
│       └── time_limited_percentage/
│           └── rate.yaml
└── resources/
    └── limit/
        ├── base.yaml
        └── increment.yaml

Variables (9 files)

policyengine_us/variables/gov/states/nd/dhs/tanf/
├── nd_tanf.py
├── nd_tanf_standard_of_need.py
├── eligibility/
│   ├── nd_tanf_eligible.py
│   ├── nd_tanf_income_eligible.py
│   └── nd_tanf_resources_eligible.py
└── income/
    ├── nd_tanf_countable_earned_income.py
    ├── nd_tanf_countable_earned_income_person.py
    ├── nd_tanf_countable_income.py
    └── nd_tanf_countable_unearned_income.py

Tests (8 files, 82 tests)

policyengine_us/tests/policy/baseline/gov/states/nd/dhs/tanf/
├── integration.yaml (26 tests)
├── nd_tanf.yaml (6 tests)
├── nd_tanf_countable_earned_income_person.yaml (10 tests)
├── nd_tanf_countable_unearned_income.yaml (5 tests)
├── nd_tanf_eligible.yaml (7 tests)
├── nd_tanf_income_eligible.yaml (5 tests)
├── nd_tanf_resources_eligible.yaml (10 tests)
└── nd_tanf_standard_of_need.yaml (13 tests)

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Test Coverage

Category	Count
Integration tests	26
Unit tests	56
Total	82

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[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 100.00%. Comparing base (ffcbc3e) to head (09e51a9).
⚠️ Report is 231 commits behind head on main.

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff            @@
##              main     #7074   +/-   ##
=========================================
  Coverage   100.00%   100.00%           
=========================================
  Files            3         9    +6     
  Lines           39       127   +88     
=========================================
+ Hits            39       127   +88     

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

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[PavelMakarchuk]

PR Review - North Dakota TANF

Overall Assessment: ✅ APPROVE

This is an excellent, well-documented implementation of North Dakota's TANF program that follows PolicyEngine patterns correctly.

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🟢 Strengths

Code Patterns - All Checks Pass:

• ✅ No hard-coded values - all numeric values sourced from parameters
• ✅ Correct nd_tanf_* naming prefix used consistently
• ✅ Proper adds attribute for pure sums (nd_tanf_countable_income)
• ✅ Proper adds/subtracts pattern (nd_tanf_countable_unearned_income)
• ✅ Correct add() > 0 pattern for immigration eligibility check
• ✅ Monthly period for all benefit calculations
• ✅ Correct entity levels (SPMUnit for household, Person for individual)
• ✅ Proper defined_for usage with StateCode.ND
• ✅ Reference format uses tuples where multiple references exist

Parameters - Complete and Well-Documented:

• ✅ All parameters have required metadata (description, unit, period, label, reference)
• ✅ References include specific ND Policy Manual sections and N.D. Admin Code
• ✅ Historical values for 4 time periods (2015-10-01, 2023-08-01, 2024-10-01, 2025-10-01)
• ✅ Complex 2D lookup table for standard of need (caretakers × children)
• ✅ Well-structured bracket parameter for TLP declining rates

Test Coverage - Excellent:

• ✅ 82 total tests (26 integration, 56 unit)
• ✅ Comprehensive integration tests with detailed calculation comments
• ✅ Edge cases: zero income, low income ($180 min SEE), large families
• ✅ Boundary tests: caps on caretakers (2), children (10)
• ✅ Multiple earner scenarios
• ✅ Child-only households (0 caretakers)
• ✅ TLP rate variations by month

Documentation - Exceptional:

• ✅ Thorough PR description with regulatory citations
• ✅ Clear explanation of benefit calculation formula
• ✅ Example calculation walkthrough
• ✅ Well-documented "Out of Scope" section
• ✅ Comments in TLP parameter explaining calendar month proxy limitation

CI Status:

• ✅ All checks passing (Lint, Tests, Coverage)

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🟡 Minor Observations (Non-Blocking)

1. TLP Calendar Month Proxy: The implementation uses calendar month as a proxy for participation months (well-documented limitation). In actual ND policy, TLP tracks cumulative participation months. This is acceptable given PolicyEngine's current architecture.

2. $10 Minimum Benefit: Not implemented (documented as out of scope). Benefits below $10 are not issued per N.D.A.C. 75-02-01.2-43. Could be added in future enhancement.

3. Dependent Care Deduction: Not implemented (documented as out of scope). The maximum deduction amounts vary by child age and are tied to Child Care Assistance Program rates.

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Validation Summary

Check	Result
Hard-coded Values	✅ None found
Naming Conventions	✅ Correct nd_tanf_* prefix
adds/add() Usage	✅ Correct
Period Handling	✅ Monthly for benefits
Entity Levels	✅ Correct
Reference Quality	✅ Excellent - Policy Manual + Admin Code
Test Coverage	✅ 82 tests (comprehensive)
CI Status	✅ All passing

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Regulatory Coverage

Based on PR description and code review:

• ✅ Standard of Need (2D table by caretakers × children)
• ✅ Standard Employment Expense (27% or $180 minimum)
• ✅ Time Limited Percentage declining disregard
• ✅ Resource limits ($3,000 base + increments)
• ✅ Net income eligibility test
• ✅ Historical parameter values

Documented as Out of Scope:

• $10 minimum benefit
• Dependent care deduction
• $45 out of home allowance
• Kinship care maintenance payment
• 60-month lifetime limit
• TLP month 13+ (0% disregard)

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Recommendation: Ready to merge ✅

This is a high-quality implementation with excellent documentation, comprehensive test coverage, and proper PolicyEngine patterns.

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