CHIP Policy

1203 Utah Residence

Effective Date: January 1, 2024

No Previous Policy

 

To be eligible for State CHIP a child must be a Utah resident for at least 180 days. Eligibility begins the first of the month in which a child is a Utah resident for 180 consecutive days.

Use the following guidelines to determine if an individual is a Utah resident.

1.    Living in the State.  The person must be physically present in the state or temporarily absent to be a resident of Utah. 

a.    A resident need not have a permanent residence or a fixed address. 

b.    Temporary absences after a person has been residing in Utah do not affect residency, if the individual intends to return to Utah when the reason for the temporary absence is accomplished.  Reasons for temporary absences may include schooling, medical care, visits, temporary employment, military service, or temporary religious or other volunteer service such as the Peace Corps.

c.     Do not deny or terminate CHIP because of a temporary absence if the person intends to return to Utah, unless another state has decided the person is a resident in that state for the purpose of CHIP eligibility. 

d.    To decide if the absence is temporary, you may need to find out if:

1. the absence is for a specific period-of-time,
2. the person is maintaining their home in Utah, or
3. other factors exist that indicate the person intends to return to Utah when the reason for the absence ends.  

2.    Duration.  Residency requires a person to be in Utah for 180 days. If the member changes residency to another state the 180 day count restarts when they return.

3.   Reason for living in Utah.  Do not consider the reason why the individual is in Utah, except to the extent that the reason may indicate that the individual is not in Utah voluntarily or is in Utah only temporarily. For example:

• • An individual from Arizona is visiting or traveling through the state, and is arrested for a crime and jailed. This individual is not in the state voluntarily and is not a state resident.
  • An individual from Nevada is in Utah to give their baby up for adoption and intends to move back to Nevada after the baby is born. This individual is in the state temporarily and is not a state resident.

4.    Citizenship.  Citizenship is not relevant to the determination of state residency.  

5.    Residents of Public Institutions such as Jails or Prisons.  

a.    An individual residing in a public institution such as a jail or prison is a resident of Utah if the person was a resident before being placed.  An individual who lived in another state, but was arrested and placed in jail in Utah is not a Utah resident.

b.   If another state places the person in a public institution in Utah, the individual is not a Utah resident.  Residency does not change from the previous state.  (See Sec. 203-5 and 203-6)

c.     State residency does not change when an individual in a public institution goes directly to a hospital for an inpatient stay.  

6.    Residents of other institutions.  

a.   Any individual placed in an institution by another state is a resident of that state.  This includes individuals from another state placed in a Utah nursing home or hospital.  (Sec. 203-5)

b.    A competent individual who leaves an institution after having been placed by another state will be considered a Utah resident after 180 days of being physically located in Utah.

c.   For residents of an institution who are not placed by another state, see sec. 203-4.

7.    Cases of disputed residency between two states.  If an individual has come to Utah from another state, and the two states cannot resolve which state is the person's state of residency, the individual is a resident of the state in which the individual is physically located.