Exclude minor child earnings from NJ CCAP countable income (Closes #8074)#8084
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MaxGhenis merged 2 commits intoPolicyEngine:mainfrom Apr 18, 2026
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…cyEngine#8074) N.J.A.C. 10:15 does not enumerate an explicit exclusion for minor children's earnings the way VA (8VAC20-790-40(H)) and CT (17b-749-05(b)(2)(E)) do. However, the New Jersey CCAP application form (CC-1, 03/24), which the Child Care Resource and Referral agency uses to determine eligibility, collects wage and self-employment income only from the applicant and co-applicant in Section D. There is no field on the application to report minor children's earnings, so those earnings are operationally excluded from countable income. Split the countable_income `sources` parameter into: - `earned_sources`: `employment_income`, `self_employment_income` - summed only for tax-unit heads/spouses (applicant/co-applicant). - `unearned_sources`: remaining sources - summed across all members, because the CC-1 reports these at the family-unit level under "Other income or benefits to family unit". Replace the declarative `adds=` on `nj_ccap_countable_income` with a formula that applies the head/spouse filter to earned income. Adds 3 YAML regression tests: working teen's wages excluded, minor child entrepreneur's self-employment excluded, minor child's unearned income (social_security_survivors) remains countable. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Reviewer for PolicyEngine#8084 noted the `is_tax_unit_head_or_spouse` filter was broader than any plausible statutory basis — it would exclude earnings of adult non-applicant family members (grandparents, adult siblings), which goes beyond what either N.J.A.C. 10:15 or the CC-1 application form implies. Switch to the conservative `age >= 18` filter Virginia uses per 8VAC20-790-40(H). This matches: - VA's explicit minor-earnings exclusion - NJ CC-1 application Section D (which doesn't collect minor earnings) - Common sense that an adult household member's wages contribute to family income even if they aren't the applicant Added Case 9 that exercises the new rule: an adult non-applicant relative's earnings still count (would have been zeroed under the old filter). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Addressed reviewer feedback: switched the filter from |
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Summary
8VAC20-790-40(H)) and CT (RCSA 17b-749-05(b)(2)(E)) do. However, the NJ CCAP application form CC-1 (03/24) Section D "Income" collects wage and self-employment income only from the applicant and co-applicant; there is no field for minor children's earnings. This operationalizes the exclusion in the CCR&R eligibility workflow even without an explicit regulation.Changes
countable_income.sourcesinto:earned_sources:employment_income,self_employment_income— summed only for tax-unit heads and spouses (the applicant/co-applicant on the CC-1).unearned_sources: all other previously listed sources — summed across all members, since the CC-1 reports these at the family-unit level under "Other income or benefits to family unit".nj_ccap_countable_income's declarativeadds=with a formula that applies the head/spouse filter to earned income.Statutory / operational reference
Note: If a future N.J.A.C. 10:15 update adds an explicit minor-earnings rule, update
earned_sources.yamlwith the precise cutoff.Test plan
policyengine-core test policyengine_us/tests/policy/baseline/gov/states/nj/njdhs/ccap/ -c policyengine_us— 134 passed (all CCAP tests green, including 3 new child-earnings cases).