P A R T C D e c i s i o n u n d e r A p p e a l T h e d e c i s i o n u n d e r a p p e a l i s t h e M i n i s t r y o f S o c i a l D e v r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o n d a t e d F e b r u a r y 3 , 2 0 1 4 f i n d i n f o r t h e p e r i o d f r o m J u l y t o D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 3 , p u r s u a n t t o A s s i s t a n c e R e g u l a t i o n ( E A R ) a n d t h e r e f o r e , s i n c e s h e o v e r p a y m e n t o f $ 1 4 0 6 . 6 3 w h i c h s h e i s r e q u i r e d t o r e p a A c t ( E A A ) . P A R T D R e l e v a n t L e g i s l a t i o n E m p l o y m e n t a n d A s s i s t a n c e A c t ( E A A ) , s e c t i o n 2 7 E m p l o y m e n t a n d A s s i s t a n c e R e g u l a t i o n ( E A R ) , s e E AA T -0 0 1 0 3 ( 1 4 / 0 2 / 2 7 )e l o p m e n t a n d S o c i a l I n n o v a t i o n ( M i n i s t r y ) ' s g t h e A p p e l l a n t w a s n o t e l i g i b l e f o r a s h e l t e r a l l o w a n c e s e c t i o n 6 ( 2 ) o f S c h e d u l e A o f t h e E m p l o y m e n t a n d r e c e i v e d t h a t a l l o w a n c e , s h e h a s i n c u r r e d a n y u n d e r s e c t i o n 2 7 o f t h e E m p l o y m e n t a n d A s s i s t a n c e c t i o n 2 8 ( a ) , S c h e d u l e A , s e c t i o n 2 8 ( b ) , S c h e d u l e B
PART E -Summary of Facts The Appellant's mother participated as advocate for the Appellant at the hearing, providing all oral evidence. The Appellant lives with her mother, has no dependants and has been receiving assistance since January 2013 as a sole recipient. In July 2013, the Appellant submitted a shelter form to the Ministry confirming she would be living with and paying room and board to her mother in the amount of $425 per month. From July until December 2013, the Appellant was in receipt of assistance for shelter and support in the amount of $425 plus a comforts allowance of $60. By letter dated December 17, 2013 the Ministry advised the Appellant of the results of a review of the Appellant's file finding that she had received an overpayment as a result of an error made by the Ministry. In a second letter dated December 17, 2013, the Ministry advised the Appellant that her assistance had been reduced. On February 10, 2014, the Appellant submitted her Notice of Appeal of the Ministry's decision regarding the reduction in assistance and the requirement to repay the overpayment. EAA T-00103( 14/02/27)
PART F -Reasons for Panel Decision The issue under appeal is the reasonableness of the Ministry's decision finding the Appellant is not eligible to receive shelter assistance because she lives with and pays room and board to her mother as set out in section 6(2) of section 28(a) of the EAR, Schedule A; that the Appellant is eligible for support assistance in the amount set out in section 2{1)(a) of section 28(a) of the EAR, Schedule A as she is a sole applicant under the age of 65 years, with no dependent children; and that by receiving both shelter and support payments from July to December 2013, the Appellant has incurred an overpayment of $1406.63 which the Appellant is required to repay to the ministry according to section 27 of the EAA. The relevant legislation is section 27 of the EAA, and sections 28{a) of Schedule A and 28(b) of Schedule B, EAR Overpayments 27 (1) If income assistance, hardship assistance or a supplement is provided to or for a family unit that is not eligible for it, recipients who are members of the family unit during the period for which the overpayment is provided are liable to repay to the government the amount or value of the overpayment provided for that period. (2) The minister's decision about the amount a person is liable to repay under subsection (1) is not appealable under section 17 (3) [reconsideration and appeal rights]. Maximum amount of income assistance before deduction of net income 1 (1) Subject to this section and sections 3 and 6 to 10 of this Schedule, the amount of income assistance referred to in section 28 (a) [amount of income assistance] of this regulation is the sum of (a) the monthly support allowance under section 2 of this Schedule for a family unit matching the family unit of the applicant or recipient, plus (b) the shelter allowance calculated under sections 4 and 5 of this Schedule. Monthly support allowance 2 (1) A monthly support allowance for the purpose of section 1 (a) is the sum of (a) the amount set out in Column 3 of the following table for a family unit described in Column 1 of an applicant or a recipient described in Column 2, plus (b) the amount calculated in accordance with subsections (2) to (4) for each dependent child in the family unit. Item Family Unit Composition Age or status of applicant or Amount of recioient SUDDOrt 1 Sole applicant/recipient and no dependent Applicant/recipient is under 65 $235.00 children vears of aae People receiving room and board 6 (2) If a family unit receives room and board from a parent or child of an applicant or a recipient in the family unit, only the following amounts may be provided: (a) the support allowance that is applicable under sections 2 and 3 of this Schedule to a family unit matching the applicant's or recipient's family unit. Exemption -earned income 3 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the amount of earned income calculated under subsection (6) is exempt for a family unit. EAAT -00103( 14/02/27)
( 6) The e x e m pt a mou n t fo r a family u nit that qu a lifie s u (a ) in the c ase of a f amily uni t to which sub sect les ser o f (i) $ 2 00, and (ii) th e family uni t ' s t otal e arned inco m e On appeal, the App e lla nt's adv o cate ind icated that t he Appel i nc ome ass istance and she f ollowed t h e ir i nstructi ons. would be liv ing with an d pa ying roo m a nd boar d t o her m appli c a t i o n an d pr ov ided shelte r an d su pport a s si stanc The Minist ry 's position at appeal was that the appro val mi s taken l y c lassi f y in g i t a s room an d b oa rd privat e r ather the Ministry d e termine d that as a sole r ecipient paying ro the mon thly s uppo rt allowance. Th e p anel finds th e Ministry' s deter min atio n that the A ppel r easo nab l e ap plicatio n o f the appl icabl e en ac tment i n t o f Sc hedu le A, EAR. Conseq uentl y, the pan el f i nds t ha l e g islation , sh e was not elig ible b e c a u s e s he lives and pay The Appel lant's advocat e ind ic at ed that th e ove rpay me shoul d not b e he ld re sp onsible for th eir error. T h e A ppell th e de b t adds to her stre ss ; t h a t she was not at faul t a n err o r. The Ministry' s po sitio n o n app eal was that the A ppella nt was re i s bou n d by the legislation , w h ich cle arly pr ov ides that if was not el igible , he or she is lia b le to re pay the a m ount of t f ile , the Minis t ry foun d ttiat she was not elig ible f o r s helter ov erpayment for th e per i od i n q uestion to be $14 06. 63. The Min Appellan t be i ng a t f ault, that th e iss u e w as c orre cting an error Th e pane l fin ds th e Min istry's det ermi n atio n tha t the Appellan reasonable application of t he app l ic ab le e nact men t in the circumstances of the Appel the legislation, section 27 and 28 of the EM , cl earl y se that of the Appellant because she had rec eived a ssistance Accordingly, the panel finds that the Ministry's decision to find that the Appellant was only eligible for support allowance and is required to repay the shelter overpayment was a reasonable application of the rel legislation and confirms the Mini stry's reconsideration decision. EAA T-00103(14/02/27) n d er this s ection is c alc u l at ed as fol lows : ion ( 3) ap pli es, t he exempt amount i s calculate d a s th e in the c al enda r mon th of cal culatio n; lant h ad aske d the Min istr y how t o ap ply for In h e r appl icatio n for ass i s t anc e she in dica ted t h a t she o th er. S he indic ate d that the M ini stry ap prove d t h e e f rom July 1 t o December 20 13. o f the A p pe llan t's applic atio n was ma de in er ror , tha n roo m and boar d p aren t. U p o n re view o f the file, om and bo ard to her pare nt s he was el igibl e for onl y la nt was no t eli gible fo r sh elter ass istance was a h e ci r cums tances of the App e llan t, na me ly sect ion 6(2 ) t t he App ellan t recei ved as sistan c e for w hi ch, un de r t he s room an d boar d to h e r mo t h e r. n t i s due to the M inistr y' s err o r and the Ap pella nt a nt is m e n t ally u n well an d the r equirem ent to r epay d the M i nistry is not taking r espon sibili t y for its own quired to repa y the o verpayment. The Ministry a re cipient rece i v es assis t ance for which he or she he over p a y me n t. Upon re view of the App e llant's allow ance and calc ul ated th e amoun t of istry i nd icated t hat the re wa s no iss u e of the which had resulted in a n o v er pay m ent. t is r equir ed to repa y the overp a yment was a lant. The panel found that t out the requirement for repayment in situations like for w hic h she was no t eligibl e . evant
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