Page 143

Identified causative factors should be documented on the eligibility system. Any hard copy material pertaining to the reasons for the child's absenteeism should be maintained in the case file.

After the reasons for excessive absenteeism have been determined and documented, a written plan of action will be developed with the parent. If the school has a plan in place, the DFR need not devise another. The plan should explain specific barriers to school attendance and specific measures to be taken by the parent to remove them. It is necessary that the plan be developed as a collaborative effort between the eligibility worker and the recipient caretaker. By working with the eligibility worker, the recipient caretaker is more likely to gain a clear understanding of what is expected and the consequences of failure to fulfill their part of the agreement.

A parent or other recipient caretaker is in compliance with the school attendance requirement unless there is refusal or failure (without good cause) to: • Cooperate in developing a written plan. • Perform the specific activities included in the written plan. • Consent to release the school attendance information when such consent is required to obtain school attendance information.

A parent or caretaker relative may be penalized (the $90 fiscal penalty) immediately after failing or refusing to cooperate with the treatment plan after the child has three (3) unexcused absences. Refusal or failure to comply with a treatment plan can occur at any time and as early as at the time of plan development. The child may only be penalized (the $59 fiscal penalty) if there is three or more unexcused absences in a subsequent grading period or semester.

Therefore, if, attendance is acceptable in a subsequent semester or grading period, there is no parental non-compliance, even if the adult ceases or fails to follow the improvement plan. Conversely, the caretaker relative is considered to be in compliance as long as he is following the improvement plan, whether the child's attendance improves or not.

The monitoring of the adult recipient's cooperation with the improvement plan will involve obtaining verification (no less frequently than at each subsequent redetermination of TANF eligibility) that each specific required action in the plan is being taken.

A penalty for non-compliance is not to be imposed without verification that the recipient caretaker relative failed or refused (without good cause) to perform the specified, mutually agreed-upon activities included in the school attendance improvement plan.

If the parent or caretaker relative is in compliance but the child continues to have unexcused absences in any subsequent grading period, the grant will be reduced by an amount equal to removing the child's needs from the grant determination. The earliest a penalty against a child can occur is a subsequent grading period. Penalties against a child last until the end of the grading period and start again with the fourth unexcused absence in the following grading period.

If the parent or caretaker relative fails or refuses to cooperate in the attendance improvement plan and the child does not meet the attendance standard in a subsequent semester or grading period, the TANF benefit amount will be reduced by an amount equal to removing the needs of the parent or caretaker relative and the child. In a two-parent TANF cash assistance group, both