 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
There are two federal participation rates that states must meet, Two Parent and All Family. The requirements are different for each of the rates, and both rates are calculated on a monthly basis. Data acquired from the TANF Data Collection system (TDC) is submitted quarterly to the Administration of Children and Families (ACF) for the calculation of the State’s Participation Rate (PR). The PR for individual counties is calculated monthly using data acquired from EPIS.
States are required to achieve a 90 percent two-parent participation rate.
For a case to be included in the two parent participation rate, both parents included in the case must be Work Eligible (See Section 103.) If one or both are incapacitated (and do not have a family status code of “P”) the family is excluded from the two parent participation rate.
For discussion of determining incapacity, see B below.
For a case to count in the numerator of the two parent participation rate, the Work Eligible parents must participate in an average of 35 hours per week in federal work activities (55 hours per week if federally-funded child care is provided). Both parents may participate and combine their hours to achieve the required average of 35 per week. The Two-Parent Participation Rate is defined as the number of two-parent families participating in the required number of hours of federal countable work activities divided by the sum of all two-parent cases that receive assistance for the report month.
Two-Parent Participation Rate Calculation:
Numerator |
= |
The number of two-parent families (cases with two Work Eligible recipients coded as parent or stepparent) receiving a Work First check for the month that complete required hours in federal work activities. |
Denominator |
= |
The number of two-parent families receiving a Work First check for the month. |
To assess whether one of the child's parents is physically or mentally incapacitated, evaluate if the parent meets one of the following conditions.
NOTE: These are guidelines only, and the list is not all inclusive.
1. The parent receives SSI, Social Security Disability, or VA disability (No additional verification is required, and if SSI or SSDI, the parent does not meet the definition of Work Eligible Individual.); or
2. The parent has recently been in an accident which results in the parent being unable to work for at least 30 days, and
Has been under the care of a physician for the condition since the accident; or
3. The parent has been seen by a physician for the condition within the last 6 months, and
The condition makes the parent unable to work for at least 30 days; or
4. The parent states he/she is physically or mentally incapacitated or that the parent has a physical or mental disability, illness or impairment.
A determination of incapacity based on the parent’s statement must be accompanied by evidence maintained in the case record showing that the parent is not able to maintain gainful employment.
Reliable sources of verification for incapacity are written documentation from the parent’s medical provider or a functional capacity evaluation. Medical Form DSS-8655 can be used to verify incapacity. If documentation appears questionable, the caseworker may require a second opinion. When documentation indicates that an individual has a disability and cannot participate in the otherwise required activities, the MRA Plan of Action should reflect the number of hours and types of activities that are indicated by the documentation. Counties should require periodic updates of documentation to determine if any changes have occurred in terms of work capacity. If the participant has a disability and needs assistance in obtaining the necessary documentation, the caseworker should arrange for the needed assistance and document this in the case record.
For additional discussion of individuals with disabilities or incapacity, see III. B. and C. above.
States are required to achieve a 50 percent all-family participation rate.
As implied, the all-family participation rate includes both two-parent and single-parent families. To count in the participation rate, a Work Eligible participant must complete an average of at least 30 hours per week in federal work activities as defined in this policy.
All-Family Participation Rate Calculation:
Numerator |
= |
Total Work First cases (both single and two-parent) where a participant completes required number of hours in federal work activities |
Denominator |
= |
All families receiving a Work First check, minus child-only cases, cases where the parent’s work registration code is S (in accordance with the county plan) , and cases where the only parent’s work code is “I”. |
NOTE: Two-parent families count in the numerator of the all-family participation rate if they complete an average of 30 hours per week.
The S code exemption is limited to a cumulative lifetime total of 12 months.
Benefit diversion cases are not counted in the rate calculation.
For the purpose of calculating the monthly participation rates, the number of hours completed in a month is converted to a weekly average. The month of February is considered to have exactly four weeks. All other months are considered to have 4.3636 weeks. See the Conversion Charts below.
|
Individual or Family Category |
Required Weekly Average |
Minimum required monthly hours for February |
Conversion for Federal Reporting |
Single parent with child under the age of six (6). |
20 |
78* |
78/4 = 19.5 Round to 20 |
Single parent with child age six (6) and older. |
30 |
118* |
118/4= 29.50 Round to 30 |
Two-parent family-without federally funded childcare |
35 |
138* |
138/4= 34.50 Round to 35 |
Two parent family-with federally funded child care |
55 |
218* |
218/4 = 54.50 Round to 55 |
|
Individual or Family Category |
Required Weekly Average |
Minimum required monthly hours For All months except for February |
Conversion for Federal Reporting |
Single parent with child under the age of six (6). |
20 |
86* |
86/4.3636 = 19.71 Round to 20 |
Single parent with child age six (6) and older. |
30 |
129* |
129/4.3636 = 29.56 Round to 30 |
Two-parent family-without federally funded childcare |
35 |
151* |
151/4.3636=34.60 Round to 35 |
Two parent family-with federally funded child care |
55 |
238* |
238/4.3636=54.54 Round to 55 |
*The required hours will sometimes be affected by the federal requirement to convert each activity separately by individual to average weekly hours and round off. The figures in charts are accurate if all hours are entered into a single field on the DSS-6908.
EXAMPLE: A two-parent case has one parent in VT completing 28 hours and 110 in employment. The other parent has 15 hours in VT.
Incorrect calculation: 28 VT hours +110 employment hours + 15 VT hours=153 divided by 4.3636=35 hours per week. Using this method indicates the case would count in the work participation rate. However, this process is incorrect.
Correct Calculation:
28 VT hours divided by 4.3636=6.4 (round down to 6) + 110 employment hours divided by 4.3636=25.2 (round down to 25) + 15 hours VT divided by 4.3636=3.4 (round down to 3)
6 (VT) +25 (employment) +3 (VT) =34 hours per week.
This case would not count in the two parent rate.
NOTE: The keying deadline for EPIS is the 20th of the month following the month of reporting activity. However, if the 20th falls on a weekend or State Holiday, the deadline is always the last workday prior to the 20th.
Each Work Eligible participant is responsible for ensuring that all participation is reported properly to the Work First employment caseworker. The MRA Plan of Action has a block that participants initial to acknowledge this responsibility.
If the participant has a disability and needs assistance with complying with the reporting requirements as a result of that disability, reasonable accommodations must be made and documented in the case record.
All hours of participation reported in the EPIS automated system must be documented in the case record. Participation in the above-described activities is recorded and tracked in the Employment Programs Information System (EPIS). EPIS instructions are in the Work First User Manual.
The following items merit special attention as they are important to helping counties meet their goals:
1. Excused Absences:
For all unpaid work activities, excused absences may be allowed when a participant:
These excused absences are limited to 16 hours per month up to 80 hours per year (a 12-month period.)
The caseworker may accept the participants’ statement of the reason unless the statement is questionable. Additional verifications such as statements from licensed Health Care Professionals may be required on a case-by-case basis.
Document the dates and reasons for excused absences on the Excused Absence Log, (DSS-5903), and maintain the log in the case record.
The 16 hour per month and 80 hours per year limits are tracked in EPIS on the Tracking Screen, selection 9 on the main menu screen. (See the Work First User Manual )
2. Holidays
Participants can be credited with completing the number of hours they had scheduled on the following ten holidays. No other holidays are countable. These holidays must be reported to EPIS as countable work activities, as long as the participant was scheduled to participate in the activity and could not participate because of the holiday. This must be documented in the participant’s case record.
NOTE: If New Year’s Day, July 4th, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day fall on a weekend day, either the Friday before and/or the Monday after the weekend may be substituted for the Holiday if the participant was scheduled to participate in the activity and could not participate because of the holiday.
3. Keying Countable Job Search/Job Readiness (JS) Hours
When entering Job Search/Readiness (JS) hours into EPIS, enter a “6” in the second digit of the weeks field to count the hours toward the participation rate. This can only be counted for up to four consecutive weeks at a time per federal fiscal year or a maximum of 360 hours in a year for parents with a child over six or a maximum of 240 hours in a year for a parent with a child under six. These hours must be documented in the case record, and the caseworker has the responsibility for tracking these limitations. Use this code when the hours are needed to make the participant count in the numerator of the participation rate calculation.
Use a “0” (zero) in the second digit of the weeks field if the participant does not complete enough hours to count in the numerator of the participation rate or if the participant has exhausted the maximum numbers allowed.
4. Projecting the Initial Week of JS
When a participant starts or stops Job Search/Readiness participation, and, as a result, participates for part of a week, if he/she completes hours on three or more days in the week, the caseworker must report actual hours of job search/job readiness. There is a one-time in a 12- period allowance for counting average hours during 3 or 4 days to remaining days in the week for Job Search and Job Readiness. This is one exception to reporting only actual hours of participation. An example, an individual participated an average of five hours per day in Job Search and Job Readiness activities for three days in a week. The county could assume that the individual participated the same five hours the remaining two days of that week, therefore the county could report 25 hours of participation in JS that week. It is important to remember that this would also use up 25 hours of the individual’s annual hourly limitation for Job Search and Job Readiness. The caseworker must note in the case record that this Federal statutory provision is being invoked.
Note: This provision may only be used one time in a 12 month period for an individual.
NOTE: One (1) hour of Job Search/Job Readiness reported for federal limitation on the four consecutive weeks will be counted as an entire week of job search. Therefore, when reporting hours in EPIS it is important to assess whether to preserve weeks of low job search/job readiness participation when considering the four consecutive week’s limitation. For example, a participant is scheduled to seek employment for 30 hours in a week, an unexpected illness causes he/she to complete only 3 hours of job search. It is not advisable to key the 3 hours as countable in EPIS, which means a “0:” would be keyed for the 3 JS hours to not count.
That would stop the four consecutive weeks clock, when the participant resumed the activity the following week, the count would start back at week 1.
5. Remember that the code entered in the Employment and Training field on the DSS-8125 in EIS is used to track the county’s employment total. It is vital that this information is correct.
6. When an applicant participates in employment services during the month of application for WFFA, convert the actual hours of participation to a monthly amount by projecting.
To project hours:
a. Determine the number of full weeks of assistance received. A full week is defined as having seven (7) consecutive days within the same calendar month.
b. Divide the actual hours of participation by the number of full weeks to get a weekly average.
c. Multiply the weekly average by 4 in the month of February and by 4.3636 for all other months. Round the result to the nearest whole number.
This is the projected monthly participation. Key this total into EPIS.
EXAMPLE: Ms. Thames applied for WFFA on December 15th and began participating in Vocational Educational Training Classes for 20 hours each week beginning December 16th. There are two full weeks from
December 15th through December 31st. At the end of the month Ms. Thames submitted a time card showing 48 hours completed. Project participation using the following calculation:
Projecting hours using this method is only allowable at application. Document the case record very carefully when projecting hours.
|
For questions or clarification on any of the policy contained in these manuals, please contact your local county office. |
| |||||||||||||