808.15 Orientation SR 07-25, 10/07 (FAM-A)

The Orientation to the New Hampshire Employment Program (NHEP) is a condition of eligibility for most individuals applying for NHEP or UP financial assistance, and may be conducted as a group or individual appointment. Individual NHEP Orientations are always provided upon request. At the NHEP Orientation, the NHEP team member informs the individual about the NHEP program, their rights and responsibilities, participation and compliance requirements, and the results of non-compliance, as well as the support services available to them under NHEP.

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Core Elements of Orientation

The following information must be provided at the NHEP Orientation:

Policy

• the NHEP mission;

• that the primary goal is employment and that the NHEP team will provide assistance to the individual in their pursuit of employment;

• an explanation of the weekly core, secondary, and interim activity requirements of NHEP; and

• that NHEP is a collaboration of 3 agencies: Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), New Hampshire Employment Security (NHES), and Southern New Hampshire Services (SNHS).

NHEP Portfolio & Job Search Information

• the Form NHEP225, NHEP Portfolio: Planning for Success, to all attendees at the NHEP Orientation*. Participants are expected to complete work in the NHEP Portfolio for compliance purposes but because it is an unsupervised activity, it does not count towards federal participation hours;

• the Form NHEP223, NHEP Employer Contact Log, to all attendees at the NHEP Orientation. To meet minimum weekly NHEP work participation requirements, NHEP participants are expected to immediately begin seeking or obtaining employment, and verifying this search via Form NHEP223;

• an explanation that the intent of the NHEP Portfolio is to help the participant assess interests, skills, and barriers to employment, and to determine child care and transportation needs; and

• *that the needs and goals targeted in the completed Portfolio assignments will be used in the development of the Employability Plan (EP) at the Service Determination Appointment (SDA).

Team Responsibilities and Services Provided

• a full explanation of all program activities and support services both while participating in NHEP and after employment is obtained;

• the role of the Employment Counselor Specialist (ECS) and their involvement in providing services;

• the steps the individual will take when participating in NHEP;

• a description of case management and extended case management services; and

• the availability of additional job search assistance, including NH Works, Job, and Information Centers.

Individual Rights and Responsibilities

• that voluntarily quitting a job without good cause or failure/refusal to comply with work program requirements without good cause will result in sanctions for mandatory participants;

• that sanctions are progressive and that those individuals who continue to fail/refuse to comply with work program requirements without good cause risk having their cash benefits terminated;

• that sanctions are cured by fully meeting the participation requirements that resulted in the sanction;

• that mandatory participants who accrue 3 months of NHEP work program sanctions in a 12-month period will have their cash benefits terminated;

• that NHEP volunteers who voluntarily quit a job without good cause or fail or refuse to comply with work program requirements will not be allowed to participate in NHEP for 3 months;

• the good cause policy;

• a description of work program exemptions;

• the administrative appeals process; and

• the ECS’s name and phone number.

Support Services for the Initial Appointment

Transportation and child care reimbursement are not available to individuals for the initial appointment with the team.

Individuals Excused from Attendance at the NHEP Orientation

Attendance at the NHEP Orientation is not a condition of eligibility for the incapacitated adult in an AG requesting NHEP financial assistance due to parental incapacity. No proof of the incapacity is needed to be excused from attendance at the NHEP Orientation. If the other adult in the assistance group is not claiming to be incapacitated, he or she must still attend the NHEP Orientation as a condition of eligibility for financial assistance.

Adults included in the NHEP or UP financial assistance AG are not required to attend the NHEP Orientation when they provide third party verification that:

• a serious medical condition prevents attendance;

• a temporary absence from the licensed medical or mental health treatment facility in which they are living would jeopardize their health or treatment needs;

• the individual is living in a domestic violence or homeless shelter; or

• attendance at the NHEP Orientation would jeopardize the individual’s safety.