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North Carolina

23 • Civil leave, including jury duty, or a required court appearance.

If a participant fails to meet their required hours of work activities or other MRA requirements, without good cause, the MRA/Outcome Plan serves as notification that their Work First case will be terminated. The child support payment for the following month (if they have one) will be sent directly to the recipient. The family will have to reapply for Work First following termination for failure to meet their required hours of work activities or other MRA requirements.

ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER (EFT)

All Work First cash assistance payments are issued by electronic funds transfer (EFT). The two methods of issuance are direct deposit to a financial institution or electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card.

Direct deposit allows for the monthly Work First cash assistance payment to be electronically deposited to a personal savings or checking account of the case head. There may be fees associated with direct deposit that are imposed by the financial institution. These fees are the responsibility of the recipient. The financial institution cannot impose charges for an account that it does not impose on its other customers for that same type of account. EBT is an electronic system that allows recipients to access their benefits with a plastic card, similar to a bank card. Work First households will receive the initial EBT card at no cost. If the family receives Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) benefits, the Work First payment may be issued on the same card. The first cash withdrawal transaction at an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) is free. There is a $0.85 fee for each additional cash withdrawal. There are not any fees for point-of-sale (POS) transactions. Work First households that request a replacement EBT card shall be assessed a $2.50 fee. The fee shall be deducted from the account of the Work First household. The fee shall be refunded if the EBT card:

a) was lost in the mail or damaged by the vendor prior to receipt by the Work First household, b) is being replaced due to a name change on card, c) was lost due to a natural disaster such as a fire, flood, tornado or hurricane d) was damaged by a retailer or vendor. Fees associated with the use of the EBT card will be deducted from the balance of the card based on the available benefits in the account. If the recipient is receiving FNS benefits and Work First, the $2.50 card replacement fee will be deducted from the FNS allotment first. If there are not sufficient funds in the FNS EBT account or the recipient does not receive FNS, the replacement card fee will be deducted from the program account with funds available to cover the fee. If there are not sufficient funds in any single account, the EBT system will issue the card and deduct the funds at the next benefit issuance. Federal law prohibits Work First recipients from using EBT cards “in any liquor store, any casino or gambling establishment, or retail establishment which provides adult-oriented