60BBER09-3: TANF Subsidized Employment
SPECIFIC REASONS FOR FINDING AN IMMEDIATE DANGER TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY OR WELFARE: The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program caseload has risen substantially from 24,017 TANF eligible adults in State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2006-2007 to 34,817 TANF eligible adults in SFY 2007-2008. At the end of the SFY 2008-2009 the caseload stood at 47,554, representing a 49% increase from SFY 2006-2007. These numbers include many individuals who have either exhausted their unemployment benefits or do not qualify for unemployment compensation.
Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) that provides supplemental appropriations for job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed, and State and local fiscal stabilization. Subtitle B of the Act creates the Emergency Contingency Fund for State Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (“Emergency Fund”), and authorizes states that have an increase in assistance caseloads or increased expenditures for non-recurrent short term benefits or for subsidized employment to request additional federal TANF funding in fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2010. The Emergency Fund provides grants equal to 80 percent of a state’s increased TANF and maintenance-of-effort expenditures on basic assistance, non-recurrent short-term benefits, and subsidized employment to help families unable to find jobs or to help families with low earnings during this difficult economic time. In order to determine which individuals are eligible and most qualified for these subsidized employment projects, and to create and fill jobs as quickly as possible, it is necessary that the eligibility determinations and the application forms incorporated by reference into this emergency rule be established immediately, without the delay attendant with regular rulemaking procedures. The Agency will immediately begin the regular rulemaking process for incorporating these forms and procedures into Chapter 60BB-10, Florida Administrative Code.
REASON FOR CONCLUDING THAT THE PROCEDURE IS FAIR UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES: The forms incorporated by reference provide the most efficient means of identifying those individuals that qualify for TANF services. In adopting these forms, the Agency has acted to ensure that all procedural remedies available to TANF and up-front Diversion applicants will be available to supplemental employment program applicants under state law and under the terms of the governing agreement with the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
SUMMARY: This rule prescribes the eligibility criteria and incorporates by reference the forms to be used to participate in subsidized employment.
THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE EMERGENCY RULE IS: James Landsberg, Deputy General Counsel, 107 East Madison Street, MSC 110, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-4128, (850)245-7150
THE FULL TEXT OF THE EMERGENCY RULE IS:
60BBER09-3 TANF Subsidized Employment.
(1) Applicability. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work activities are designed to assist the participant in obtaining employment to achieve economic self-sufficiency. TANF participants who apply for or currently receive cash assistance and other persons who meet TANF eligibility requirements and all other requirements of this rule may engage in Subsidized Employment. Participation will be contingent upon funding and on the availability of jobs.
(2) Definitions. The following words, phrases, or terms, as used in this rule, shall have the following meanings:
(a) “Parent/Relative Caregiver” means the mother, legal father, natural or biological father, maternal relatives, relatives of the legal father, and relatives of the natural or biological father. The dependent child must be related within the fifth degree (no greater than the first cousin once removed) to the caretaker relative.
(b) “Participating Employer” means a public agency, nonprofit private agency, or private employer that agrees to participate in a subsidized employment project.
(c) “Eligible Individual” means a person who has been determined eligible to participate in a TANF funded Subsidized Employment Project.
(d) “Qualified Participant” means a TANF eligible individual who meets the requirements for participation in a TANF funded subsidized employment project and has the job skills required by the employer participating in the project.
(e) “Subsidized Employment” means employment for which the employer receives a subsidy from TANF to offset some or all the wages and costs of employing a TANF eligible participant. Public agencies, nonprofit private agencies, and private employers are eligible to participate.
(f) “Up-Front Diversion” means immediate assistance to secure or retain employment as an alternative to welfare (cash assistance), and includes linking a person to a job opportunity as a first option.
(3) Eligibility Requirements. To be eligible to be considered for participation in a subsidized employment project, an individual must:
(a) Be a TANF participant currently receiving cash assistance who is available for immediate employment; or
(b) Be a new TANF applicant who meets the TANF eligibility requirements for cash assistance, be available for immediate employment, and be accepted into subsidized employment as an up-front diversion; or,
(c) Be an individual who meets the following requirements:
(i) Have a gross family income at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, as established annually by the Department of Health and Human Services, available at http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/ for the month of placement;
(ii) Be a U.S. citizen or qualified non-citizen as defined in Section 414.095(3), F.S.;
(iii) Be a legal resident of the State of Florida;
(iv) Be a pregnant woman or a parent or caretaker relative of an unmarried dependent child under age 18, or a full time student who is under the age of 19 and who resides in the home;
(v) Provide a social security number or proof of application for one; and
(vi) Sign an agreement not to apply for temporary cash assistance for six months from the month an individual begins subsidized employment, unless an unanticipated emergency occurs;
(vii) Be a noncustodial parent that has a family income below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, if the regional workforce board has established an employment program for non-custodial parents.
(4) How to Participate.
(a) Current TANF Participants. A regional workforce board may review its current TANF caseload to identify individuals who are currently receiving cash assistance who meet the job skill requirements of a job created by a subsidized employment project. The regional workforce board shall refer qualified participants who wish to participate to the participating employer for consideration for the subsidized employment position. A TANF participant or other eligible person who is currently receiving cash assistance who enters subsidized employment must sign Form AWI-SEP 0011, TANF Subsidized Employment Program Agreement, incorporated herein by reference.
(b) An applicant for TANF cash assistance. Individuals who have made application and have been determined eligible for TANF cash assistance will be considered for participation in a subsidized employment project as a TANF diversion activity if that individual meets the job skill requirements of a job created by a subsidized employment project. The regional workforce board shall refer qualified participants who wish to participate to the participating employer for consideration for the subsidized employment position. A TANF applicant who enters subsidized employment must sign Form AWI-SEP 0011, TANF Subsidized Employment Program Agreement, incorporated herein by reference.
(c) Others. A person who meets the eligibility standards listed in subparagraphs (3)(b) (i) through (vi), above, who is neither a TANF applicant nor a current recipient of cash assistance must contact a Florida one stop career center or other designated location. Regional workforce board staff will collect the information necessary to complete Form AWI-SEP 0005(c), Request for TANF Funds/Eligibility Determination – 2009/2010 from the individual and, if determined eligible, determine if that individual meets the job skill requirements of a job created by a subsidized employment project. The regional workforce board shall refer qualified participants who wish to participate to the participating employer for consideration for the subsidized employment position.
Rulemaking Authority 445.004(5)(c) FS. Law Implemented 445.004, 445.024(1)(b), 445.024(1)(c) FS. History–New 10-20-09.