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COMBINED MANUAL

ISSUE DATE 09/2019

EMPLOYMENT PLAN (EP)

0028.15

● The job counselor has final approval of an EP or any revisions to the plan. If the job counselor does not approve activities in the plan, the county must provide written reason why the activities are not approved and document how the denial of these activities does not interfere with the safety of the client or children.

● If the client fails to cooperate with the EP the 60-month time limit exemption ends and the client must be invited in to develop a new Employment Plan. See 0028.30 (Sanctions for Failure to Comply - Cash).

● Employment plans for participants with family violence waivers must be reviewed every 6 months.

SELF-EMPLOYMENT

Self-employment activities may be included in an Employment Plan (EP) contingent on the development of a business plan.

All participants should be encouraged to look for employment that will lead to their self sufficiency. Participants with an approved EP that includes self-employment must meet the participation requirements. Only the hours the participant earns the federal minimum wage count toward the participation requirements. The number of self-employment hours is determined by dividing the net self-employment income by the federal minimum wage. When the number of self-employment hours is less than the number of hours required for the participant to be included in the numerator, the participant’s EP should be revised to include additional countable activities, such as job search, paid employment, or unpaid work experience.

DWP: Follow MFIP. Before issuing DWP benefits to a family unit, the caregiver or caregivers must, in conjunction with a job counselor, develop and sign an EP. Also, activities in EPs must not cover a period of more than 4 months. The purpose of the EP is to identify the most direct path to unsubsidized employment for each participant within the 4-month DWP period. The EP must clearly outline the commitments on the part of both the county/Employment Services provider and the participant.

The activities in the EP must focus on obtaining the necessary evaluation, medical assessment and/or documentation if a DWP participant believes he/she may meet 1 of the DWP unlikely to benefit categories. The job counselor or county must assist the DWP participant in gathering this information.

DEVELOPING AN EP AS PART OF THE DWP APPLICATION PROCESS

A DWP applicant must meet with an employment counselor to develop and sign an initial EP before issuing any DWP benefits to or on behalf of the family. The employment counselor and applicant have 10 working days from the date he/she is referred to Employment Services to develop and sign the initial EP. The ES provider has 1 working day to notify the county that the job seeker’s initial EP was signed. Once notified, the county has 1 working day to issue the DWP benefits. DWP benefits cannot be issued until the initial EP is signed.

When the EP is not signed within 30 days of the application date, the ES provider must notify the county. The applicant must submit a new application for DWP benefits and the time lines will start over. If the initial EP was not developed and signed within 30 days of the original application due to county or Employment Services agency error, issue DWP benefits based on the original application date. The requirement that the participant signs the EP before benefits are issued still applies to these situations. In most cases, the EP should include 35 hours of work or work-related activities per week. If fewer hours are included in the EP, the reasons for reducing the hours should be noted.

A more limited initial EP can be developed to meet the 10-day requirement provided that a date at which the EP will be revised is included. Because DWP is limited to 4 months, the initial EP should be revised as soon as possible.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR 2-PARENT FAMILIES

In 2-parent families where only 1 caregiver meets a DWP exclusion category and the other caregiver does NOT meet a DWP