SR 07-15 Dated 08/07

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

INTER-DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION

SUMMARY

This SR releases the following policy changes associated with the final approval of the NH administrative rules related to the reauthorization of the TANF program:

§   All applicants for New Hampshire Employment Program (NHEP) and Unemployed Parent (UP) financial assistance must attend the NHEP Orientation as a condition of eligibility except:

-   the incapacitated parent in the NHEP financial assistance group; and

-   certain individuals who verify a medical condition or living situation, such as living in a shelter or institution, which would prevent attendance at the NHEP orientation.

§   Individuals who are non-compliant with NHEP program requirements, and fail to address the non-compliance within 7 business days, are to be sanctioned no later than 10 business days from the date of the non-compliance notice.

§   NHEP participants enrolled in the Self-Employment activity who are unable to document current wages, may provide non-self reporting documentation that establishes NHEP compliance.

§   NHEP participants with a child under 6 are required to participate in additional NHEP activities, up to a total of 40 hours, as specified on the participant’s Employability Plan (EP), when the individual is:

-   meeting participation requirements;

-   in the Employment, Alternative Work Experience Program (AWEP), or Community Work Experience Program (CWEP) activities; and

-   not experiencing substantial employment barriers.

This SR also releases the obsoletion of the following NHEP forms and their associated instructions:

§   Forms NHEP229, NHEP229(a), and NHEP229(b), NHEP Congratulation Letters; and

§   Form NHEP235, Work For Benefits Assessment Interview Letter.

POLICY

NHEP/UP AG Members 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, however the incapacitated adult will still need to provide this verification for the financial eligibility determination process. If the other adult in the assistance group is not claiming to be incapacitated, he or she must still attend the Orientation as a condition of eligibility for financial assistance.

Note: Adults in the NHEP AG who are applying for a temporary exemption from NHEP for reasons of caring for a disabled household member must still attend the NHEP Orientation as a condition of eligibility.

Additionally, 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;

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

·   attendance at the NHEP orientation would jeopardize the individual’s safety; or

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

Note: Individuals who have been excused from attendance at the NHEP Orientation will still be required to participate in other NHEP activities, if not exempt from program requirements for other reasons.

NHEP Sanctioning Timeframes

For non-compliance with NHEP program requirements that would result in a first level sanction, apply the sanction no later than 10 business days from the date of the non-compliance notice when the non-compliant NHEP participant fails to contact their worker or comply with NHEP within 7 business days of the non-compliance notice.

NHEP Compliance Requirements for Self-Employed NHEP Participants

NHEP participants enrolled in the Self-Employment activity who are unable to document current wages may meet NHEP compliance requirements in the Self-Employment activity by providing non-self reporting documentation that establishes:

·   that self-employment work is currently being performed for income;

·   the amount of expected income. E.g., An example of acceptable verification of expected income for child care providers is the Form 250, Child Care Payment Request Invoice, signed by the parent;

·   a description of the self-employment responsibilities; and

·   that the income will be paid and received within 30 days of when this documentation was provided.

Newly self-employed individuals are more likely as a group to be unable to document current wages, whereas established self-employed participants are generally able to provide proof of income, even if the proof indicates that the individual is making no income. Self-employed participants who can provide proof of wages, even if the proof indicates no wages are being earned, may not use this new process to verify compliance with NHEP. If verification is provided indicating no wages are being earned, the NHEP Team Member, per policy, must be working with the individual to ensure compliance with participation requirements either through the assignment of additional approved activities on the EP, or, if the individual has no good cause reason for not meeting requirements, through the sanction process. However, there may be times when an established self-employed NHEP participant is unable to verify self-employment wages, such as in the following example.

Example: Mr. Brown is documenting current self-employment wages that result in 30 countable hours, which is Mr. Brown’s weekly NHEP work participation requirement. Mr. Brown then reports a dramatic drop in wages. Once the reduced income is entered into New HEIGHTS by the Family Services Specialist, Mr. Brown’s weekly countable hours towards NHEP participation requirements decreases to 20, which is 10 hours less than Mr. Brown needs to be in compliance. Mr. Brown then indicates that he has some additional self-employment work that he can do to fulfill the 10 hours he still needs to meet participation requirements, but he cannot verify wages for this work because he is not going to be paid until next month. Mr. Brown may use this new verification process for the wages from the additional self-employment work to meet NHEP compliance requirements for the current month.

Note: Although this verification will be accepted for the purposes of meeting compliance requirements for NHEP participation, hours verified by this process will not count towards federal participation rates.

NHEP Participants With Children Under 6 Years Old

Individuals with children under 6 years old are required to participate in NHEP activities beyond the minimum 20 hours per week when the participant:

·   is meeting full participation requirements;

·   is enrolled in the Employment, AWEP, or CWEP activity; and

·   does not have substantial barriers.

Individuals who meet the above criteria will be offered participation in any NHEP activity that is determined to lead to self-sufficiency. However, when combined with existing activities, additional assigned activities must not exceed a total of 40 hours per week as specified on the EP. Individuals who fail to fully participate in these additional activities are required to participate in a formalized job search.

Note: Individuals who do not meet the above criteria can still participate in additional activities. However, the ECS cannot require these individuals to participate for more than 20 hours per week.

UNRELATED FORMS OBSOLETION

The following forms and their associated instructions have been obsoleted as of the effective date of this SR:

·   Form NHEP229, Form NHEP229(a), and Form NHEP229(b), NHEP Congratulation Letters, have been obsoleted as they are now electronically generated out of New HEIGHTS; and

·   Form NHEP235, Work For Benefits Assessment Interview Letter, has been obsoleted since the Work for Benefits Program no longer exists.

FORMS REVISIONS

Form 221, NHEP Pamphlet, and Form 261, TANF & UP Interview Checklist, have been revised to indicate that not all NHEP/UP financial assistance applicants must attend the NHEP orientation as a condition of eligibility. There are no changes to the corresponding instruction forms, so they will not be re-released.

PROCEDURES

NHEP/UP AG Members Not Required to Attend the NHEP Orientation

Offices must use the following revision of the New HEIGHTS workaround that was sent via e-mail from State Office on October 10, 2006, to exempt individuals from the NHEP orientation who are not required to attend as a condition of eligibility:

Family Services Specialist (FSS) must:

1. Refer the person to NHEP as needing a "Manual" scheduling, indicating "Special Circumstances" on the "Best Day" screen. In the mandatory field next to "Special Circumstances," select "Currently Unable to Attend Orientation" from the drop-down menu. If the workaround is used for any individual other than a TANF incapacitated parent, first obtain verification of the situation that is causing the individual’s inability to attend orientation.

2. Enter into Case Comments that the workaround was applied.

NHEP Team Members must then:

1. Schedule the person for an orientation, and immediately mark the individual as having "attended."

2. Enter into Case Comments that the workaround was applied.

Interim Self-Employment Verification Procedures for NHEP Compliance

Stage One

1. Enroll the participant in the Self-Employment activity.

2. If the individual is unable to provide documentation of current wages so that compliance with NHEP can be determined, explain the alternative verifications that can be provided.

3. Explain that this verification must be provided at the individual’s next meeting with their ECS.

Stage Two

At the next meeting with the participant, use the verification provided by the NHEP participant to:

1. Total the participant’s monthly expected income from self-employment. Divide this total by the current federal minimum wage, and then divide again by 4.33. The result is the expected average weekly income.

2. For each and every week in a month, determine whether the expected average weekly income would meet federal reporting requirements. To make this determination compare the average expected weekly income to the minimum totals below that correspond with the individual’s hourly NHEP participation requirements for this activity. For example, as of July 24, 2007, when the federal minimum wage increases to $5.85 an hour, individuals with a:

a. 20-hour weekly minimum requirement must make $117 per week (20 x $5.85 = $117).

b. 30-hour weekly minimum requirement must make $175.50 per week (30 x $5.85 = $175.50).

3. If the expected average weekly income is significantly less than the minimum that is required to meet federal participation requirements, re-evaluate self-employment as an appropriate activity for this participant.

4. Adjust the EP by adding additional NHEP activities or by moving the individual into a new activity, to ensure that NHEP participation requirements will be met.

Note: When evaluating whether self-employment as a license-exempt child care provider is an appropriate activity for an NHEP participant, special consideration should be given to individuals who are currently awaiting enrollment as a licensed-exempt child care provider with the DHHS Child Development Bureau (CDB) and associated CDB reimbursement checks, as enrollment and reimbursement can sometimes take up to 60 days.

POLICY MANUAL REVISIONS

Revised Family Assistance Manual Topics

Part 803   NOTIFICATIONS AT APPLICATION

Section 808.01   Initial Appraisal

Section 808.03   NHEP Participation

Section 808.15   Orientation

Section 808.27   Hourly Participation Requirements

Section 808.31   Compliance Requirements

Section 808.33   Good Cause for Non-Cooperation with NHEP

Section 808.35   Sanctions for Voluntary Quit or Failure/Refusal to Cooperate with NHEP Work

  Program Participation Requirements

Section 808.39   NHEP Activities

Section 808.39   NHEP Activities: Employment

Section 808.39   NHEP Activities: Self-Employment

IMPLEMENTATION

The version of the Form 221, dated March 2007, SR 07-09, and Form 261, dated October 2006, SR 06-12, may continue to be provided to applicants and recipients until the current stock is exhausted. As such, a certificate of destruction has not been included in the SR as the current stock is not to be destroyed or recycled. When the current stock is depleted, the new versions will be printed.

TRAINING

A statewide training for NHEP Team Members was held on June 8, 2007. An additional training is scheduled for August 17, 2007.

FORMS POSTING INSTRUCTIONS

DISPOSITION

This SR may be destroyed or deleted after its contents have been noted and the revised manual topics released by this SR have been posted to the On-line manuals.

DISTRIBUTION

This SR will be distributed according to the electronic distribution list for Division of Family Assistance policy releases. This SR, and revised On-Line Manuals, will be available for agency staff in the On-Line Manual Library, and for public access on the Internet at http://www.dhhs.nh.gov/DHHS/DFA/LIBRARY, effective Monday, August 27, 2007.

This SR, and printed pages with posting instructions, will be distributed under separate cover to all hard copy holders of the Forms and Family Assistance Manuals.

DFA/MPM:s