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48 North Carolina

have received the material and trained their Work First staff through compliance monitoring. Counties will require all Work First staff and agencies who serve Work First participants to complete Family Violence training before speaking with participants about the Family Violence/Domestic Violence option. The training will include the following: (1) the dynamics of domestic violence, sexual harassment, sexual assault and stalking; (2) state procedures designed to prevent domestic violence and other forms of gender based violence and assist survivors; and (3) procedures to ensure confidentiality of survivors’ personal information.

The state will provide training through the NC Learning Gateway to all Work First case managers in the state and any other external agencies that work with TANF clients. Individuals/agencies with whom the county contracts for family violence services must also be trained on the Option and Work First. All Work First personnel including county staff, and Work First contract staff must complete Domestic Violence training annually and it is the counties responsibility to record county staff/contractor completion.

ENFORCEMENT (state level) The state office will incorporate the new Family Violence requirement into existing Monitoring plans when conducting county reviews to ensure compliance with this requirement.

LOCAL DEMONSTRATIONS OR PILOT PROGRAMS

Counties may request approval from the Division of Social Services to design and operate demonstrations or pilot programs to investigate various ways of meeting the Work First program purposes and goals. These demonstrations will likely be in areas where the county lacks the authority to make specific program changes. Funding, in addition to the county’s local block grant, may or may not be provided. There may be instances in which the state asks for proposals to address a specific topic. In other situations, counties may apply to the state to operate a pilot without an official request from the state.

TANF ELIGIBLE FAMILIES

To achieve the goals of Work First, North Carolina opts to take advantage of the flexibility allowed in the federal law and regulations. The Division defines several categories of eligible families. Eligible families include the following:

• Families that meet the income and resource requirements will be provided with Work First Cash Assistance or Benefit Diversion. • Unwed parents, teenage parents or other high-risk populations in need of services to prevent or delay pregnancies without regard to family income. • Pregnant women with Work First eligible children in the household and whose income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level may receive support services.