Page 396

The SSR must inform the applicant of the amount, requirements, and condition of the DPP payment.

Disbursement of DPP Funds to Vendors 3.7.1

As a general rule, DPP payments will be made directly to vendors. However, in certain circumstances such as purchase of work clothes or other situations where it is not feasible to pay a vendor directly, it may be necessary to make payments directly to applicants. After the section chief approves the DPP request, it is forwarded to the Central Control Unit. Within one business day of receipt, a transmittal list will be prepared for payment authorization to the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO). Upon receipt of payment authorization, the OCFO will generate checks to the appropriate vendors or applicant/recipients within 20 days.

Any vendor to whom a payment may be made must include their tax I.D. number and verification of estimates. Vendors who do not have a tax I.D. number must provide their SSN. Failure to provide this information will result in an inability to process the payment.

The SSR must also verify that the lowest bidder (on services provided) will accept payment from the District for those services. If not, the next lowest bidder should be selected.

DPP Payment Formula 3.7.2

A DPP payment may not exceed the amount needed to remove the barrier to employment and can never exceed three times the full grant for the applicant household size. The applicant may, of course, contribute his/her own resources to the amount necessary to resolve the problem if it exceeds the maximum amount allowed by the District.

Example Ms. Hernandez and her son apply for TANF and are found to be eligible. The SSR thinks Ms. Hernandez is a good candidate for DPP. The maximum benefit for a family of two is $298. If DPP is appropriate, the payment cannot exceed 3 X $298 or $894.

Following receipt of a DPP payment, the assistance unit cannot receive TANF, GC, or POWER (see Section 3.10: Program on Work, Employment, and Responsibility (POWER) in this Chapter) benefits for a period of time determined by dividing the Diversion payment by the full TANF grant amount for the household size and rounding down to the nearest month.

Example Ms. Travers has two children and receives a DPP payment of $867 for car repairs to enable her to drive to a new job. She could not reapply for TANF assistance for two months ($867/$379 (maximum TANF grant for a family of three) = 2.23 months of ineligibility).