SR 12-07 Dated 06/12

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

INTER-DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION

SUMMARY

This SR releases formalized policy on:

·   how Family Intervention activities in the New Hampshire Employment Program (NHEP) can be counted towards NH’s federal work participation rates;

·   what NHEP activities are considered to be Family Intervention activities and how these activities must be verified;

·   what Employment and Training Support services are now available to participants in Family Intervention activities;

·   how long participants can be active in Family Intervention, Job Search, and Job Readiness activities and have the activities count towards NH’s federal work participation rates; and

·   verification procedures related to Barrier Resolution activities. The NHEP Unit wants these activities tracked and entered into New HEIGHTS, as the federal government has previously requested information on what activities TANF recipients were doing in lieu of participating in the NHEP work program.

Although the NHEP unit has been implementing some of these changes since 2008, the changes are now being formalized in policy.

As a result of the changes described above:

·   Form NHEP268, Family Intervention Activity, was developed to verify the NHEP participant’s time spent in Family Intervention activities. Instructions for this form were created accordingly; and

·   the use of Form NHEP269, Client Statement For NHEP Non-Participation And Plan, was expanded to track Barrier Resolution activities and document the time spent in these activities. The instructions for Form NHEP269 were updated accordingly.

This SR additionally releases an unrelated obsoletion of Form NHEP240, Partner Agency Participation Form, and its associated instructions.

POLICY

Family Intervention

NHEP participants can use hours spent in Family Intervention activities toward their NHEP work participation requirements and these hours may be counted toward NH’s federal work participation rates when:

·   the activities have been approved by the NHEP ECS and are described on the NHEP participant’s EP;

·   a qualified medical, mental health, or substance abuse professional has determined the activity to be necessary for the NHEP participant; and

·   a qualified medical, mental health, or substance abuse professional provides the activity.

The NHEP participant cannot be required to participate in a Family Intervention activity if the activity generates a cost to the NHEP participant.

Family Intervention includes the following activities only:

·   Mental Health Counseling;

·   Substance Abuse Counseling;

·   Life Skills Training;

·   Rehabilitation; or

·   Domestic Violence Counseling.

Family Intervention activities are reported on Form NHEP268, Family Intervention Activity, on a biweekly basis. The ECS provides Form NHEP268 any time a Family Intervention activity is indicated on the NHEP participant’s EP. It is the NHEP participant’s responsibility to document the time spent in this activity and have a qualified medical, mental health, or substance abuse professional sign it, verifying the information entered, prior to the NHEP participant returning the Form to the ECS.

NHEP participants in Family Intervention activities are provided with the same ETS services as are provided to NHEP participants in Job Readiness activities. The ETS services include:

·   Child care registration fees;

·   Auto repairs;

·   Transportation assistance;

·   Education or training related fees;

·   Books and supplies;

·   Uniforms;

·   Tools of the trade;

·   Auto insurance;

·   Auto registration;

·   Driver’s license fees;

·   Dental work;

·   Work office clothing;

·   Personal care items; and

·   Other employment training services approved at the State Office level.

Job Readiness, Job Search and Family Intervention

NHEP participants can only participate in a combination of Job Readiness, Job Search, and Family Intervention activities for a maximum of 240 hours for households whose youngest child is under 6 years of age, and 360 hours for all other households, in a rolling 12-month period. If the participant is involved in one or a combination of these activities for at least 20 hours a week, the activities are considered to be a core activity. Job Readiness, Job Search, and Family Intervention can only be used as a core activity for four consecutive weeks in a rolling 12-month period to meet federal participation requirements. A participant using Job Readiness, Job Search, and Family Intervention as their core activity for a 5th consecutive week in a rolling 12-month period, can not use hours spent in these activities to meet federal participation requirements or toward participation requirements in the NHEP work program. Hours spent in Job Readiness, Job Search, or Family intervention as a secondary activity can be added to the participant’s hours spent in a core activity to meet minimum weekly participation hours.

The federal government expanded participation hours from 120 hours for households whose youngest child is under 6 years of age, and 180 hours for all other households, to the current limit of 240 and 360 respectively, for those States designated as "needy" by the federal government. New Hampshire is currently considered to be a "needy" State based on an increase in Food Stamp recipients. The federal government set a threshold of total Food Stamp recipients based on numbers from 1994 and 1995. For every month that NH exceeds this threshold, the State is classified as "needy" thus allowing for the expanded participation hours for Job Search, Job Readiness, and Family Intervention activities. NH’s Food Stamp population has far exceeded the federal threshold to be considered "needy" and will continue to remain a "needy" State until federal Food Stamp regulations begin to restrict Food Stamp eligibility, thus reducing the number of Food Stamp recipients back to numbers seen in 1994 and 1995.

Barrier Resolution

Barrier Resolution activities and time spent in the activities must now be entered into New HEIGHTS, although these activities still do not count towards NH’s federal work participation rates, per current policy. Barrier Resolution activities include time spent seeking services for any of the following:

·   Homelessness;

·   Impending eviction;

·   Finding Child Care;

·   Finding Transportation;

·   Short-term recovery from injury/surgery;

·   Substance abuse or addiction of a family member;

·   A crisis within the family or with a child or another family member;

·   Legal problems; or

·   Any other situation, which is out of the NHEP participant’s control, that impedes the NHEP participant from complying with NHEP requirements.

Form NHEP269, Client Statement for NHEP Non-Participation and Plan, can be used to capture the time the NHEP participant spends in the above activities, for compliance purposes. The ECS provides Form NHEP269 any time a participant notifies the ECS of participation in Barrier Resolution activities. Form NHEP269 is not a required form, but is a useful tool for the ECS and participant to work through a plan to overcome personal barriers. The ECS can accept any self-reported hours of Barrier Resolution efforts, written or verbal. Those hours are then entered into New HEIGHTS.

ECS PROCEDURES AND IMPLEMENTATION

Hours spent in Family Intervention activities will be recorded on the "Activity Verifications" tab on the "Activity Hours Verifications" screen and will count toward the Family Intervention, Job Search, and Job Readiness participation time limit. Family Intervention must also be entered on the "Activity Details" tab.

NHEP participants involved in Family Intervention activities are now authorized to utilize the following ETS services, which are not currently linked to Family Intervention activities in New HEIGHTS.

·   Education or training related fees;

·   Books and supplies;

·   Uniforms;

·   Tools of the trade;

·   Auto insurance;

·   Auto registration;

·   Driver’s license fees;

·   Dental work;

·   Work office clothing; and

·   Personal care items.

When an NHEP participant is involved in Family Intervention, and in need of one of the above ETS services, the ECS must choose Employment Obstacles other (SO Approval) on the ETS service screen in New HEIGHTS. The ETS services will then be reviewed and approved at the State Office level, and the ECS will be notified. New HEIGHTS will automate this process at a later date, under separate cover.

Hours spent in Barrier Resolution activities also need to be entered on the "Activity Verifications" tab on the "Activity Hours Verifications" screen. Barrier Resolution must be selected from the Activity dropdown box and the appropriate number of hours entered below, however these hours do not count towards participation.

DESCRIPTION OF FORMS

New Form NHEP268, Family Intervention Activity, is a one-page, single-sided form that the ECS provides on a bi-weekly basis to NHEP participants who are engaged in one of the Family Intervention services, as indicated on the participant’s EP. The NHEP participant completes the top half of this form to document dates and time spent with a qualified medical, mental health, or substance abuse professional. The qualified professional must complete the "Agency Use Only" section of the form. This form is used as verification of participation in a Family Intervention activity.

New Form NHEP268 is retained in the case record for 3 years from date of completion. Instructions for this form were created accordingly.

Form NHEP268 can be used immediately upon receipt and as instructed in this SR. Reorder using the current forms ordering system. The form is also available electronically on the DHHS website and internally, for Department staff only, on the Lotus Notes Family Services Database.

Form NHEP269, Client Statement For NHEP Non-Participation And Plan, is a one-page, double-sided form, which is now used to both report Barrier Resolution activities or a good cause reason for not complying with NHEP requirements. Barrier Resolution activities do not have to be verified by a third party, but are self-reported by the NHEP participant. The ECS uses Form NHEP269 to work with the client to clearly identify the barrier, develop a plan to resolve the barrier, and record the steps the client has taken to resolve the barrier. This form was revised to include a column for participants to record time spent in the activities in 15-minute increments. This revision was requested by the TANF Unit, the Bureau of Welfare to Work, and NHEP Field Support Managers team. The language was simplified throughout the form to bring it closer to an 8th grade reading level.

District Office staff must deplete the old version of Form NHEP269 before the new version is printed. Once the current supply of Form NHEP269 is exhausted, the new version will be available from the DHHS warehouse in the usual manner, via the Quarterly Forms Order (QFO). The form is also available electronically on the DHHS website and internally, for Department staff only, on the Lotus Notes Family Services Database.

UNRELATED FORMS OBSOLETION

Additionally, Form NHEP240, Partner Agency Participation Form, and its associated instructions, are obsolete effective with the release of this SR. This form had originally been a tool for the NHEP partner agencies to communicate with the NHEP workers about the participation status of NHEP clients in the programs and services the NHEP partner agencies provided. However, a form is no longer required for this communication; the partner agencies keep NHEP workers well informed of NHEP clients’ participation status without use of the form.

All District Offices and partner agencies may recycle any remaining supply of Form NHEP240 in their possession upon receipt of this SR. A Certificate of Destruction has been included below.

POLICY MANUAL REVISIONS

Revised Family Assistance Manual Topics

Section 808.27  Hourly Participation Requirements

Section 808.29  Documenting and Verifying Hourly Participation Rates

Section 808.39  NHEP Activities: Interim Activities

Section 808.39  NHEP Activities: Job Readiness

Section 808.39  NHEP Activities: Job Search

IMPLEMENTATION

New Form NHEP268 can be used immediately upon receipt and as instructed in this SR. Reorder using the QFO. The form is also available electronically on the DHHS website and internally, for Department staff only, on the Lotus Notes Family Services Database.

District Office staff must deplete the old version of Form NHEP269 before the new version is printed. Once the current supply of Form NHEP269 is exhausted, the new version will available from the DHHS warehouse in the usual manner, via the QFO. The form is also available electronically on the DHHS website and internally, for Department staff only, on the Lotus Notes Family Services Database.

CLIENT NOTIFICATION

No special client notification is planned or needed.

TRAINING

No special training is planned or needed.

FORMS MANUAL POSTING INSTRUCTIONS

DISPOSITION

This SR may be destroyed or deleted after its contents have been noted and the revised manual topics released by this SR have been posted to the On-line manuals.

DISTRIBUTION

This SR will be distributed according to the electronic distribution list for Division of Family Assistance policy releases. This SR, and revised On-Line Manuals, will be available for agency staff in the On-Line Manual Library, and for public access on the Internet at www.dhhs.nh.gov/DFA/publications.htm, effective July 30, 2012. Additionally, this SR, and printed pages with posting instructions, will be distributed under separate cover to all internal hard copy holders of the Family Assistance and Forms Manuals.

DFA/LRB:s