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• a properly verified illness or medical condition of the recipient or a member of the recipient's household prevents the recipient from meeting requirements, • appropriate and affordable child care is not available within a reasonable distance from the recipient's home or work site and the applicant/recipient has a need for child care (need for child care for TANF purposes means that the applicant/recipient is caring for a child under six or for a child with a special health need as verified by medical evidence that prevents regular attendance at school), • participant is a parent or caretaker who personally provides child care for a child under six and already participates in work activities for at least 20 hours per week, • an extraordinary and unforeseen circumstance beyond the recipient's control prevents compliance with meeting work requirements, • accepting work or participating in a work activity may result in an act of domestic violence against the applicant/recipient or other in his/her family or household (see Section 3.8: Domestic Violence in Part VIII), • an individual has met an exemption criteria but has not been exempted from requirements because the exemption-related circumstance was undetected, and • a household emergency occurs such as a death in the family. FS Noncompliance with work requirements with good cause includes circumstances beyond the applicant/recipient's control, such as, but not limited to the following: • personal illness, • illness of another group member requiring presence of or care by the applicant/recipient, • lack of adequate child care for children who have reached age six but are under age 12 • lack of available transportation, and • a household emergency such as a death in the family. All circumstances that constitute good cause for non-participation in work activities must be verified.

SANCTIONS FOR NONCOMPLIANCE WITH WORK ACTIVITIES WITHOUT GOOD CAUSE 1.8

TANF A non-exempt TANF recipient who fails to comply with work requirements, including applicant job search/job clubs (see Section 3.9: Job Clubs in Part VIII), without good cause will be sanctioned. The noncompliant applicant/recipient will be disqualified from the unit resulting in a reduced grant being provided to the group. The sanction will remain in place for a minimum sanction period or until s/he complies with program requirements, whichever is later. If an applicant fails to comply, the application will continue to be processed but the noncompliant individual will be disqualified from the unit. If the SSR receives a request for sanction, but has evidence that the recipient is exempt, no sanction should be imposed. If the recipient reports prior to the effective date of sanction that a medical condition expected to last more than one month prevented participation in work activities, the sanction should not be imposed. The recipient should be told to submit a medical report for determination of eligibility for POWER, and granted a 90-day exemption. If a noncompliant recipient becomes exempt, the SSR must lift the sanction for the month after the exemption is confirmed. If confirmation of the exemption is delayed due to timely provision of verifications from the recipient, or untimely action by the agency, an underpayment should be