TEA 
Manual
09/28/07

3500 Employment Services - Non-Compliance

The purpose of the non-compliance process is to encourage the applicant or recipient to comply with the work activity requirement so that the months the family receives TEA assistance are productive in assisting the participant in successfully reaching the goal of full time employment while safeguarding the health and well being of the children.

TEA 
Manual 
09/28/07

3501 Defining Failure to Comply

TEA 
Manual 
09/28/07

3510 Good Cause

Good cause for failure to comply will be found to exist if:

1.  The individual is the parent or other relative personally providing care for a child under age six (6) years and child care is not available.

2.  Child care (or day care for any incapacitated individual living in the same home as a dependent child) is necessary for an individual to participate or continue participation in the program or to accept employment and such care is not available.

3.  Transportation is unavailable.

4.  The working conditions would be a risk to the person’s health or safety.

5.  The worksite is only available because of a labor dispute.

6.  The individual was subject to discriminatory practices based on age, sex, race, religion, disability, political affiliation, veteran status, color or national origin.

7.  The offer of employment is not a specific job at a stated wage, which meets the Federal minimum wage.

8.  The failure to participate was due to events beyond the participant’s control, which include, but are not limited to: inclement weather, family emergency, natural disaster, a short term illness which temporarily prevents employment, or mail loss.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

TEA 
Manual 
09/28/07

3511 Determining Good Cause  

 Once failure to comply with TEA work requirements has been established, the following

 procedures will be followed:

1.   Contact the participant to give him or her an opportunity to explain why he or she failed to comply and make a determination of good cause, if appropriate.  This contact should be in writing (DWS/TEA-1, letter, etc.). If the contact is made by phone or face-to-face, the case record must be documented accordingly.  The worker should provide the participant, at a minimum, the following information:

a.      The specific act of non-compliance;

b.      A reasonable time (e.g., 10 days if contacting the participant by mail) to establish good cause prior to applying the sanction.

c.      If the sanction is imposed, it will result in the cash assistance payment being suspended, reduced or terminated.

      Note:  Suspended is defined as a period in which the family’s financial assistance shall be held pending compliance.  After which the family’s assistance may be reduced, lost and/or paid at the regular grant amount

d.      That the sanction months in which benefits are received will continue to count toward the individual’s 24-month time limit.

2.      If the participant contacts the DWS local office and good cause is determined to exist, then all non-compliance procedures will stop and the participant will be rescheduled for an appropriate activity.

                  Note:  Any time a participant meets a deferral reason, the non-compliance process will be stopped.

3.      If good cause does not exist but the participant states a willingness to cooperate, the participant will be required to engage in an appropriate activity for a period of 2 (two) weeks.  If the participant does not satisfactorily complete the two weeks of participation then the non-compliance sanction process will proceed.

      NOTE:  If the worker becomes aware that the participant had good cause for failing to complete the two weeks of participation, consideration of that will be given.  However, it is not necessary to formally provide the person with an opportunity to show he or she had good cause in this situation.

4.      In the event good cause is not established and the participant does not state a willingness to cooperate, the cash assistance payment will be suspended, reduced or terminated in accordance with the Non-Compliance Sanction (refer to TEA 3520).

5.  An adequate notice, Form DWS/TEA-1421, Notice of Work Activity Non-Compliance will be sent to the participant advising that a sanction is being imposed.

TEA 
Manual 
09/28/07

3520 Non-Compliance Sanction  

TEA 
Manual 
09/28/07

3521 Applying the Non-Compliance Sanction

Note:  Infraction is the period of sanction until the participant complies or case closes.  For TEA work activity sanction purposes infraction means that the worker has determined that the participant is out of compliance

The infraction will be imposed as follows:

Suspension Period 1:

Participant’s TEA payment shall be suspended for one (1) month.

Note:  If the participant appeals the suspension of the TEA payment within ten days from the date of the notice, the payment will be restored to the amount received prior to the suspension pending the Administrative Hearing decision.

During thirty (30) days after Suspension of Benefits:

A face-to-face meeting with the participant including a home visit to the family will be completed.

Participant becomes compliant:

Suspension period 1, worker will end infraction.

Participant does not comply:

Suspension payment will not be released and sanction of 25% will be imposed for up to three months.

Suspension period 2:

On going infraction, participant’s TEA payment shall be suspended for two (2) months.

Participant becomes compliant:

The two (2) suspended payments shall be released.

Participant does not comply:

Participants shall lose the two (2) suspended payments at full grant amount and continue in non-compliance status at 50% for up to three months.  After this non-compliance, the case will be closed.

Note: Flow of non-compliance:

Suspension

25%

25%

25%

Suspension

Suspension

50%

50%

50%

Case Closure

The participant will be sent an advance notice of closure via form DWS/TEA-1421 if the decision has been made to close the case.

If the participant appeals any of the sanction actions within 10 days of the date of the action, the TEA payment will be restored to the amount it was prior to that appeal pending the Administrative Hearing decision.  If good cause is determined to exist at any time, the sanction will be lifted.

NOTE:  If the non-complying participant is the minor parent of one or some of the children included in the   case, the case will not be closed.  Refer to TEA 3350-3351.

TEA 
Manual 
09/28/07

3522 Home Visits and Contacts During the Non-Compliance Sanction

The primary purpose of the home visit is to discuss with the participant the importance of coming into compliance, encourage compliance, and identify any previously unknown barriers and to complete a basic screening on the safety and well being of the children.

 Since the time-limit clock continues to run during the non-compliance months, it is of the utmost importance for the worker to attempt to contact and counsel the sanctioned adult during this time.   The purpose of the contact and counseling is to encourage and ultimately get the sanctioned adult    into compliance and moving toward self-sufficiency before his or her sanction progresses further and the case is closed due to the sanction or reaching the time limit.

During the home visits and contacts the following items should be discussed with the sanctioned adult and documented on the DWS/TEA-1420, Sanction Documentation Checklist:

• Emphasize that the time-limit clock continues to run even though the grant has been reduced, and inform the adult of the number of months remaining in the time limit.
• Assess how well are the children’s basic needs being met on the reduced payment.
• Discuss any known problems or issues that are preventing the participant from complying and attempt to find solutions to those to encourage the adult to attempt compliance again (e.g., on-going transportation or child care arrangement problems, learning disability, etc.).
• Discuss any problems or issues that may not have been apparent previously, which may be preventing the adult from complying (e.g., a domestic violence situation, substance abuse, etc.)
• Discuss what actions the adult is taking on his or her own to ready the family for self-sufficiency when cash assistance is no longer available.
• Offer the adult the opportunity to come into compliance to have the sanction lifted.

Form DWS/TEA-1422, Child Health and Safety Screening Checklist will also be completed documenting information regarding the health and safety of the children. The case record will be clearly documented to reflect that the contacts were made or attempted. If, at any time, the participant states his or her willingness to comply, the worker will engage the participant in an appropriate activity.

TEA 
Manual 
09/28/07

3523 Lifting the Sanction

Note: "Imposition of a non-compliance sanction" means the TEA payment was in suspension or reduced by 25%, 50% or the case was closed.

TEA
Manual
09/28/07

3524    Reapplication After Closure