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Page | 29 18.10 Satisfactory Attendance at Secondary School or Course of Study Leading to GED if the Recipient Has Not Finished Secondary School

A custodial parent under twenty (20) years of age (i.e., teen head of household), who has not completed high school or an equivalent course of education, is required to participate in these educational activities. The activities entail regular classroom attendance, in accordance with the requirements of the secondary school, course of study at a secondary school, or course of study that leads to a certificate of general equivalence.

Satisfactory attendance for teen heads of households, who are attending a secondary school or pursuing education directly related to employment, is defined as classroom attendance with no more than three (3) unexcused absences per semester. More than three (3) unexcused absences may result in a sanction.

19.0 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION COMPONENT Hawaii developed an education component that encourages and supports FTW participants who are enrolled as full-time students at a post-secondary educational institution. The component provides an incentive to full-time student participants to continue their education by reducing their work participation requirement to twenty (20) hours per week, of which a minimum of four (4) hours per week must be of paid employment. Part-time students must fulfill the overall participation requirement of thirty (30) hours per week. For part-time students, once the educational hours are determined, the remainder of the required hours may be in either paid or unpaid work activity. This educational component was extrapolated from the Section 1115 waiver program granted to Hawaii entitled, “Creating Work Opportunities for Hawaii's Families," which was eventually merged into the Pursuit of New Opportunities or PONO waiver which expired in 2004.

All other components offered under the program are the traditional education, training, and work activities. Hawaii believes the combination of these activities provides the best opportunities to assist TANF participants to become self-sufficient.