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f. Family emergency; g. Breakdown in transportation; h. Suspension from school; or i. Other circumstances beyond the control of the child or family. If the family wishes to request good cause for absences, the explanations must be reasonable in the judgment of the worker or supervisor, according to the “prudent man” concept. The case record must be documented to explain the reason the good cause request was approved or denied. There will be no good cause determination when a “NO MATCH” alert is received because the needy caretaker will be required to provide correct information to the school district. The caretaker relative may provide MDHS with verification from the school district that the information has been provided in order to avoid a sanction. SANCTION FOR NONCOMPLIANCE If the caretaker relative fails to verify compliance with school attendance requirements or to show good cause, a sanction will be imposed for the next possible month after the 30-day period has expired. The 30 days begins when Notice X910/A910 is sent. In situations where the caretaker relative states that the child is not attending school and will not be attending, a sanction may be initiated without sending the A910. This will generally occur with teenagers who have dropped out and the caretaker relative has been unable to enforce attendance.

The sanction (notice A913), once imposed, will apply for one month for each month of unsatisfactory attendance without good cause. Due to the timing of the receipt of the attendance verification from MDE, the caretaker relative may provide form MDHS-EA-310 completed by the school when the child is attending satisfactorily in order to have the sanction removed at the earliest possible date. Otherwise, the sanction will be removed when the attendance verification from MDE is received verifying compliance. In the case of a dropout, the sanction will remain in place until the caretaker provides written proof that the child has re-enrolled and attended satisfactorily for one month. Any month that school is in session for at least 10 days during the month may be used to meet the attendance requirement, including summer school. In situations where the caretaker relative fails to provide verification from the school district that the discrepancy in the non-compliant child’s identifying information has been resolved, a sanction will be imposed for the next possible month after the 30-day period has expired. The sanction will remain in place until verification is received that the child is in compliance. In situations where the noncompliant child will turn 13-years-old during the sanction, a tickler should be set to rework the case, disqualifying the child. EXAMPLE: The 30-day period for compliance/good cause determination has passed, and good cause has been denied. The report from the school showed two months of unsatisfactory attendance. If the 30 days ends December 1, the first possible month to apply the sanction is January. The sanction period must be two months, minimum, due to the two months of unsatisfactory attendance. The earliest possible date for removing the sanction, regardless of when compliance occurs, will be March. MISSISSIPPI NON - FINANCIAL CRITERIA: SCHOOL ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS

Revised 06 - 01 - 09