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North Carolina
6 Goal 2: Achieving Sustainable Employment Families receiving cash assistance and Work First Family Services will obtain sustaining employment Strategy 1 Make work a mandatory program requirement with certain exceptions.
Strategy 2 Limit how long a family can receive Work First cash assistance. Once the participants move into the work components of the program, they can continue to receive benefits for up to 24 months. In most cases, families who have reached the 24-month limit cannot receive Work First Cash Assistance for three years. Federal law sets a 60- month cumulative lifetime limit for receiving these benefits.
Strategy 3 Require all adults who are included in the assistance payment to sign a Mutual Responsibility Agreement (MRA)/Outcome Plan. Goal 3: Retaining Stable Employment Families who exit Work First will remain self-sufficient. Strategy 1 Provide families with tools to save money and help to make sure they really are better off working than on Work First.
Strategy 2 Increase in resource limits to ease the burden on low-income families pursuant to the change from Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) to Work First.
Strategy 3 Raise income eligibility limits for families who receive subsidized child care to help families stay employed in2014 by state legislature.
Strategy 4 Counties to continue providing services, such as transportation, child care, financial counseling, short-term training, and child and family enrichment services to families whose income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.
Strategy 5 Families leaving Work First cash assistance for work may receive a Job Bonus payment for up to three months.
Ensuring optimal health and well-being of all North Carolinians is of the utmost concern. Toward that end, North Carolina has taken advantage of the opportunity offered by the TANF Block Grant to enhance our efforts in this area.
The NC TANF program provided services to approximately 91,537 cases with 166,089 participants during the previous state plan years. Adult recipients that remain on the caseload have multiple barriers that include but are not limited to medical and mental health issues, learning disabilities, lack of skills and work experience.