Policy Directive                                                             Issuance Number: TEA 99-15

Transitional Employment Assistance Manual      Issuance Date: November 19, 1999

From: Ruth Whitney, Director                                       Expiration Date: Until Superseded

Subj: TEA Two-Parent Work Activity Participation Requirements

For federal fiscal year 1998, Arkansas failed to meet the two-parent work activity participation rate. Applying our caseload reduction credit to the two-parent 75% rate reduced our target for two-parent families to 57.8%. However, our actual reported two-parent rate for FFY 1998 was 20.3%.

An analysis of the two-parent families currently receiving TEA cash assistance was conducted as part of the development of a corrective compliance plan to increase the two-parent participation rate. This analysis revealed the following information:

• Two-parent cases represent less than 2% of the total TEA caseload;
• Approximately 65% of the two-parent families have at least one parent exempted or temporarily deferred from work participation requirements.
• Of those temporarily deferred, approximately 90% are due to (or related to in some way) an alleged medical incapacity of one or both parents.
• Less than 10% of those temporarily deferred are due to a lack of transportation or childcare or due to other extraordinary circumstances.
• Only 3 of the 161 two-parent cases were receiving childcare assistance.

• The average length of the current time on assistance is 6.5 months.

Due to the high number of two-parent families in deferral status due to medical incapacity and the overall low number of two-parent families in each county office, this directive provides guidance on the work activity participation requirements for two-parent families.

Federal law and regulations require that a two-parent family must be engaged in an allowable work activity (or combination of activities) for a minimum of 35 hours per week. One parent alone can fulfill the minimum 35 hours per week requirement or the parents may share the requirement. That is, each parent may be engaged in work activities for a lesser number than 35 hours per week but the family will be considered as meeting the requirement if the total of the two parents’ hours is at least 35 per week.

If a parent is a ‘disabled parent", according to the State’s definition, then the family is subject to the single parent requirement rather than the two-parent minimum requirements.

In addition, if the family receives federally funded childcare assistance and neither parent is disabled or caring for a severely disabled child, then the parents must be engaged in work activities for a minimum of 55 hours per week.

The same procedures as outlined in TEA 2430 for establishing temporary deferrals, particularly medical deferrals, apply to two-parent families as for single-parent families.

TEA 3201 specifies the minimum hours of participation for a two-parent family. The following definitions and clarifications are being provided to ensure the minimum hours of participation for a two-parent family are being applied consistent with the final federal regulations.

The following definitions apply for purposes of two-parent participation requirements.

Two-parent family: The TEA cash assistance unit includes as eligible members at least two natural or adoptive parents of the same minor child (who is also included in the unit) unless both parents are minors and neither is a head-of-household.

Disabled parent: A parent who receives SSI or SSA benefits based on disability or who has been found to have a disability too severe to be accepted for services by Arkansas Rehabilitative Services (ARS).

Temporarily deferred due to a medical incapacity: The parent has been referred to ARS for a disability assessment if a long-term disability is alleged and the results of the assessment are pending; OR medical documentation verifying a short-term illness or incapacity that prevents the parent from engaging in work activities has been received.

The following questions and answers are provided to clarify the two-parent participation requirements.

1. Question: If the family includes one child and his natural mother and step-father, is this a two-parent family for participation purposes?

Answer: No. Since the unit does not include at least two natural or adoptive parents, it is not subject to the two-parent participation requirements.

2. Question: What if the step-father legally adopts the child?

Answer: Then it would be a two-parent family (natural mother and adoptive father in the unit).

3. Question: If one parent is an SSI recipient and therefore not included in the unit with the natural parent, is it a two-parent family?

Answer: No. Since only one parent is included in the unit, it is considered a single parent family.

4. Question: The unit consists of the child, the child’s mother, and the child’s father who receives SSA disability benefits. Is this family subject to the two-parent participation requirements of at least 35 hours per week?

Answer: No. Since the father meets the State’s definition of a disabled parent, the family is subject only to the single-parent minimum participation requirements. (His WPST code on WAFM should be 1D – Deferred, medically incapacitated.)

5. Question: The unit consists of two children, their father, and their mother who has been accepted for ARS services and is working at a sheltered workshop. Is this family subject to the two-parent requirements?

Answer: Yes. Since neither parent meets the definition of a "disabled parent", the family must meet the minimum two-parent participation requirements. (Her WPST code on WAFM should be 1L – Mandatory, accepted for Rehab Services.)

6. Question: A two-parent family applies for TEA because the father is unable to work due to a broken leg. The children are school-age so childcare assistance is not needed in order for the mother to engage in work activities. They have provided a doctor’s statement verifying when the father broke his leg and that he will be unable to work for at least six more weeks. Although the mother has stated her husband needs her to stay at home to take care of him since he has difficulty getting around, she has not provided a doctor’s statement verifying that she is needed at home at all times to care for him. How should this case be handled?

Answer: The father may be temporarily deferred due to the short-term medical incapacity (WPST code – 1D) but he is not considered disabled for purposes of the two-parent participation requirements. Since his incapacity is of a short-term nature, he will not be referred to ARS for a disability assessment. A review of his deferral status should be made at the end of the six weeks, however. Since there is no verification that the mother is needed in the home throughout the day to care for the father and she meets no other deferral reason, she must engage in work activities (WPST code – 1M).

7. Question: A two-parent family applies for assistance because the father states he cannot work at all due to back trouble. He states he has not worked in several months and has no idea when he can ever return to work. He provides a doctor’s statement verifying he has recently been seen for back trouble and indicating that he is unable to work due to it. Is this acceptable verification to defer him due to a medical incapacity?

Answer: It will be sufficient to temporarily defer him pending an assessment from ARS on his disability. He should be referred to ARS upon approval of the application and coded 1R – Deferred, Adult Referred to ARS for Disability Assessment. The deferral will end if he is accepted for ARS services or if he fails to follow-through with the assessment. If ARS finds him to have an impairment too severe for them to work with, then he will be deferred as a "disabled parent" and coded 1D on WAFM.

8. Question: A two-parent family is not receiving any type of childcare assistance since the children are teenagers. Neither parent is deferred. What is the minimum number of hours per week the parents must meet?

Answer: 35 hours total. Since the family is not receiving childcare assistance, they must participate only 35 hours per week. The fact that childcare is not needed for the children does not matter

9. Question: The mother in situation #5 above is engaged in work experience activities at the sheltered workshop for 15 hours per week. If the father works part-time for 20 hours per week, will they meet their minimum participation requirements? (No childcare assistance is being provided.)

Answer: Yes. The two parents can share the minimum 35 hours per week so, as long as their activities total at least 35 hours, minimum participation requirements are met.

10. Question: A two-parent family includes a three-year old child and an eight-year old. Must one parent be deferred to care for the children in order for the 35 hour per week minimum requirement to apply?

Answer: No. It is not necessary to defer one of the parents to care for the children. As long as the family is not receiving childcare assistance, the 35-hour minimum applies. This allows both parents to engage in activities but at separate times so that childcare assistance is not needed. One parent takes care of the children while the other participates.

11. Question: Then when would the 55 hour minimum per week apply?

Answer: The 55 hour minimum applies only when federal childcare assistance is provided to the family and neither parent is disabled or caring for a severely disabled child.

12. Question: TEA 3201 specifies that two-parent families may engage in education or training activities but they must still fulfill the 35 or 55 hour minimum requirements as appropriate. Why? Single parents can only be required to participate for no more than 15 hours per week if they are engaged in post-secondary education or training activities.

Answer: Arkansas Act 1567 allows the flexibility regarding post-secondary education and training as long as it does not jeopardize the State' s meeting the federal participation rate. Since we met the "all families" rate for FFY 1998, we can allow the flexibility for single-parent families. However, since we did not meet the two-parent rate, we cannot allow the same flexibility for those families. However, county staff should not discourage any parent from engaging in education or training activities if he or she chooses to do so. Remember, the parents in a two-parent family can share the minimum participation hours and in most cases, that will be only 35 hours per week. Therefore, caseworkers should work with the family to engage the other parent in work activities to the maximum extent possible so that the hours required of the student parent are minimal.

By applying these definitions and clarifications when working with two-parent families, the two-parent participation rate is expected to increase. One of the most important factors for caseworkers to consider when working with two-parent families is that the parents can share the minimum weekly hours. In most cases, that minimum will be 35 hours per week. Effective October 1, 1999, single parents must engage in activities for a minimum of 30 hours per week. Based on that expectation, it is not unrealistic for two parents to engage in a total of 35 hours per week.

TEA manual policy is being revised for consistency with the clarifications and definitions provided in this directive. Until that policy is issued, this directive will remain in effect.

Inquiries to:  Lorie Williams, TEA Unit, 682-8256

 Ron Johnson, TEA Unit, 682-8182

 Renee Green, TEA Unit, 682-8266

 Gerry Reed, TEA Policy Unit, 682-8253