Human Services News

From Center for Law and Social Policy:

The changes made by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and the corresponding regulations have increased pressure on states to place TANF recipients in federally countable activities.

"Needy states" may qualify for extended counting of job search and job readiness assistance toward the TANF work participation rate.

The state qualifies as a "needy state" under the provisions of the Contingency Fund section of the law.

The average number of individuals participating in the Food Stamp program has grown at least 10 percent in the most recent 3-month period for which data are available compared to the corresponding period in FY 1994 or 1995, as adjusted for certain eligibility changes made by PRWORA and related legislation (known as the food stamps trigger).

These provisions were not affected by the TANF changes in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 or by the Interim Final Rule published by HHS on June 29, 2006.

If a state reports even one hour of job search and job readiness assistance as counting toward the participation rate calculation during such a 7-day period, it uses up a full week toward the limit.

Specifically, states may wish to use the "excused absence" policy to cover short periods of time spent in job search and job readiness by an individual primarily engaged in a different work activity, rather than counting this time as job search and job readiness.

In addition, if an individual does not participate for enough hours in a month to count toward the participation rate, there is no benefit to the state in reporting any hours they have participated in job search and job readiness.

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