3300 Activities - This section contains the general characteristics of work program activities.
Assignment to activities should be
employment focused with client goals and family needs taken into consideration.
Information gained from the Self-Assessment and career/skills assessments
such as the WorkKeys should provide the basis for collaboration between
the EES case manager, the client and DCF community partners or work program
activity providers. With the exception of Physical Health Care and Mental
Health Care clients placed in Zero Hour activities
which don’t count towards federal participation should be placed in
a corresponding Primary activity such
as Job Search/Job Readiness, Vocational Education or Work Experience.
See the individual activities for
clarification. An individual client should never be assigned to work activities in excess of 40 hours per
week.
Work program progress reviews should occur as needed, but no less than once every 6 months. The progress review needs to document the client and the EES case manager have discussed the progress made toward self-sufficiency since the last review. Planned activities for the next six months will be documented at this time. The work program progress review may occur at the same time as a yearly TANF review, at a Food Assistance Interim review and/or whenever a change is reported.
3300.1 Work Activity Monitoring and Verification Requirements - Kansas employs a Sample Reporting Methodology for TANF work participation. All actual hours of work activities must be supervised, verified and documented in order to count in the work participation rate.
The case record must contain documentation of all hours of reported work participation. Paid employment must be documented by such things as pay stubs, time cards, sign-in/sign-out sheets, or rosters with recorded hours of work.
Non-employment activities must be documented by such things as time sheets, service provider attendance records, or school attendance records.
Internal controls ensure compliance with these procedures.
Hours missed due to excused absences up to 2 days or 16 hours per month but not to exceed 10 days or 80 hours per year, may be reported for clients in unpaid allowable work activities if the client was scheduled to participate during the period of the excused absence. Approved holidays may also be counted for unpaid allowable work activities if the client was scheduled to participate and the provider was closed that day. The approved holidays are: New Years Day, Martin Luther King Day, Veteran’s Day, President’s Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.
Documented supervised study time and un-supervised study time up to an hour for each hour of scheduled class time may count for work participation. The total of supervised and un-supervised study time may not exceed the hours required by the educational program for successful completion of the course.
3300.2 Job
Skills Training/Education Directly Related to Employment/ Attendance at
Secondary School Review and Authorization Guidelines
Review Guidelines - The following
review guidelines are applicable to all education/training activities:
Except for teen clients, education activities should be utilized in
conjunction with other activities
unless otherwise documented in the case record.
Frequent contact with clients and adult education providers or other
providers is of key importance. Monitoring of actual attendance with
the provider should be obtained and documented in the case record
monthly. Daily supervision is required.
Evaluation of progress toward the education goals may include input
from all relevant sources such as: the client, instructor, counselor,
and worker. The evaluation process will result in a decision regarding
the continuation of the activity or any changes necessary to effectively
address the clients' goals.
Support for these activities may
be denied if the client does not attend classes
as scheduled; maintain at least a satisfactory GPA (i.e., "C"
or 2.0) or as established by the institution for the current semester;
progress toward completing the course of study in a reasonable documented
time frame based on the individual’s situation. Exceptions to this
policy require supervisory approval and must be extensively documented
in the case record.
Authorization
Guidelines - It is necessary to authorize these activities
in order to:
Provide supportive services
for clients; and
Pay activity
costs.
These activities require daily supervision which means
daily oversight of the client’s participation, not necessarily daily
in-person contact. A review of client attendance records, grade point
average or progress report, etc. shall be made prior to approval of
further supportive services.
Educational/training activities should be offered to
a client if available and the assessment indicates that these activities would be appropriate. Participation
in prior work program activities may provide useful information on
the client's ability to succeed in these activities.
Correspondence or On-Line Distance Learning courses
may be authorized on a case by case basis if the course meets the
criteria for approved Vocational Education or Job Skills Training.
Institutions offering correspondence or On-Line Distance Learning
courses must provide a method of documenting attendance and progress
towards timely course completion through daily supervision.
Short-term, job-focused, and skill specific college
courses are approvable, including courses directed toward an associate's
degree, and a Bachelor’s degree.
Examples of other approvable short term job focused and skill specific
training/vocational education may include:
Vocational technical curriculums
such as Licensed Practical Nursing or Office Management; or
Child care provider certification.
No payments for supportive services or costs for approved
activity may be issued for months prior to the month for which the
activity was approved.
A determination that training is inappropriate, unrealistic,
or unnecessary at any point in the process would be adequate basis
to deny the training request.
The following criteria must be documented in order
to authorize/approval training activities:
In order to determine current
skills before approval, staff must document the results of the
assessment or the results of actual participation work program
activities.
Proposed training is for employment
in a Demand Occupation. Demand is based on projected growth for
a given occupation over the next ten years. Growth is determined
by projecting new openings plus projected departures from existing
openings minus projected training graduates.
Information on demand occupations is available on The Kansas Labor
Information Center/High
Demand Occupations. Training may be authorized for employment
in non-demand occupations in thoroughly documented situations.
EES staff may consult with EES Administration, WIOA, job service
staff, and/or educational facilities. Supervisory approval is
required for approval in non-demand occupations.
NOTE: To determine if the requested training is
for employment in a demand occupation:
Click on High
demand Occupations,;
Click on the appropriate Excel file or click on the state map to view in-depth reports and charts.
Willingness of client to re-locate.
NOTE: Plans approved by Rehabilitation Services (RS), WIOA, or the Kansas Foster Child Educational Assistance Act of Foster Care Tuition Waiver Program or the Work Force Development Loan Program are approved activities for work program participation.