Policy Directive                                                      Issuance Number: FSC 00-05

Food Stamp Certification Manual                     Issuance Date: 03/01/2000

From: Ruth Whitney, Director                                Expiration Date: Until Superseded

Subj: Food Stamp Requirement to Work (RTW) Waivers – Annual Update

Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has granted the State permission to waive the Food Stamp Program Requirement to Work (RTW) in counties that have been identified as labor surplus areas by the Department of Labor (DOL). In Arkansas, DOL identified 40 counties and two cities as labor surplus areas for the period beginning October 1, 1999, and ending September 30, 2000.

Effective January 1, 2000, the State will waive the RTW in the city of Hot Springs in Garland County and the city of Jacksonville in Pulaski County. The RTW will also be waived in the following counties:

These waivers are effective until further notice.

The RTW waivers apply to individual recipients who actually live in an area covered by a waiver. This statement remains true no matter which county a household selects as its service

county under the alternate service provisions in FSC 1301 – 1304. When a food stamp household actually lives in an area not covered by a waiver, the RTW will apply. However, if a food stamp household actually lives in an area covered by a waiver, the RTW will not apply. When a food stamp household physically moves into an area covered by an RTW waiver, household members will no longer be subject to the RTW.

The RTW waiver will continue without interruption in the following areas:

No special actions are required in these counties.

Effective January 1, 1999, the RTW waiver will apply either for the first time or after a break of one year in the following counties and cities:

These counties will no longer be required to track RTW compliance, to apply exemptions to individuals who would have other wise been disqualified for failure to comply with the RTW, or to submit a report of exemptions to the Food Stamp Section.

FNS grants each state a certain number of RTW exemptions to be applied in areas not covered by a RTW waiver. The State of Arkansas has chosen to apply these exemptions across the board to all individuals who are subject to the RTW and reside in an area not covered by a RTW waiver.

In counties with no RTW waiver, whenever an application, quarterly report or reported change is processed, the worker must determine if any household member would be subject to sanction because of the RTW. If so, that individual will be granted an exemption from the RTW requirement. The decision to exempt an individual from the RTW must documented in the case record.

Exemptions will not be granted to:

• Individuals who are the parents of a minor child,
• Individuals who are disabled,
• Individuals who are younger than age 18 or older than age 49,
• Individuals who are exempt from the work registration requirements, or
• Individuals who are otherwise in compliance with the RTW because they are working at least 20 hours per week or participating in a job training program as specified in FSC 3500.

Counties must track each food stamp recipient granted a personal exemption from the RTW so that we can maintain an accurate record of these exemptions. The county may track this information manually or by using a PC based system. Any system devised should track, at a minimum, the name and social security number (SSN) of the exempted individual and the date of the exemption.

Each month, the county must submit to the Food Stamp Section, Central Office, a report of the total number of personal RTW exemptions granted during the month. (It is not necessary to submit the names and SSNs of exempted individuals.) The report should be submitted by the 10^th of each month for the prior calendar month. The report may be e mailed or faxed to the Manager of the Food Stamp Program. The fax number in the Food Stamp Section is (501) 682-1469.