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Minnesota Family Investment Program Minnesota House Research Department Page 22 Federal Work Participation Requirements for Two-parent Families Federal Fiscal Year Required weekly hours of work (both parents combined) if don’t utilize federally funded Child Care Assistance Percentage of MFIP families who must meet requirement Required weekly hours of work (both parents combined) if do utilize federally funded Child Care Assistance Percentage of MFIP families who must meet requirement 1998 35 75% 55 75% 1999-present 35 90% 55 90% If a state does not meet the federal work participation requirements, it is subject to losing a portion of its federal TANF block grant funds. The state MFIP law specifies that in the event the federal HHS imposes a fiscal sanction on Minnesota for failing to meet the federal work requirements, the state must pay 88 percent of the sanction. Counties must pay the remaining 12 percent of the sanction, each county in proportion to its percentage of the average monthly MFIP caseload (Minn. Stat. § 142G.79). In federal fiscal year 2023 (October 1, 2022, to September 30, 2023), Minnesota’s target work participation rate for all MFIP families, after the allowable caseload reduction credits were applied, was 3.2 percent. Minnesota’s caseload reduction rate was 46.8 percent. Minnesota’s 2023 work participation rate was 21.7 percent, meaning the state met the required work participation rate. Employment and Training Services Providers The MFIP law allows counties to choose from among three types of employment and training services providers: agencies with which a county has contracted to provide employment and training services; a county agency that has opted to provide employment and training services as its own provider; and a local public health department that a county has designated to provide employment and training services.42 Each county, or group of counties working cooperatively, must offer MFIP employment services participants a choice of at least two employment and training providers, unless doing so would be a financial hardship for a county. A county may choose to provide services on its own as one of these providers. A county can also meet this provider choice requirement by using a workforce center43 that uses multiple employment and training services and offers multiple service options as its employment and training services provider.

42 See Minn. Stat. § 142G.50. 43 A workforce center brings together state, county, and private nonprofit employment and training-related services under one roof, to provide a seamless and comprehensive system for job seekers and employers. There are 49 workforce centers throughout the state.