Processing applications; nondiscrimination; annual certification

Sec. 1. (a) The township trustee shall process all applications for township assistance according to uniform written standards and without consideration of the race, creed, nationality, or gender of the applicant or any member of the applicant's household. (b) The township's standards for the issuance of township assistance and the processing of applications must be: (1) governed by the requirements of this article; (2) proposed by the township trustee, adopted by the township board, and filed with the board of county commissioners; (3) reviewed and updated annually to reflect changes in the cost of basic necessities in the township and changes in the law; (4) published in a single written document, including addenda attached to the document; and (5) posted in a place prominently visible to the public in all offices of the township trustee where township assistance applications are taken or processed. (c) The township trustee shall annually certify that the uniform written standards for the issuance of township assistance have been filed with the board of county commissioners as required under subsection (b)(2). The certification shall be noted in the township's budget submitted to the department of local government finance's computer gateway under IC 6-1.1-17-3.