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NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance- TA and SNAP Employment Policy Manual

Section 385.9- Page 22 Rev. 4/2025 • Actual hours of participation in vocational education will count toward the hours reported as work, not to exceed the federal limit. Hours of participation in a vocational education program must be documented by the provider through attendance rosters or other supporting documentation developed by the district or the provider. • Hours of participation may include the actual hours that an individual is engaged in an on- site background check or assessment to determine an individual’s suitability for a particular vocational education assignment. • Actual hours of participation in vocational education may include supervised homework/study time and up to one hour of unsupervised homework/study time for each hour of class time, provided that the total number of hours of homework/study time does not exceed the documented hours expected by the educational provider. In instances, when the colleges or institutions do not submit the requested documentation of the hours to the district, the district will require ongoing contact with the participant to establish adequate evidence that the participant is maintaining satisfactory attendance and making satisfactory academic progress. Vocational Education, like all unpaid activities must be supervised daily. Daily supervision means that a responsible party has daily responsibility for oversight of the individual’s participation, not necessarily daily, in-person contact with the participant. District case managers must document all client contact in the case record. While daily supervision must be provided, a minimum of a biweekly review of the case record is required with documentation supporting that the caseworker has spoken with the client about their education progress. Regular communication must be no less frequently than bi-weekly and can be by phone, in person, or electronically, to discuss attendance, along with such issues as progress in the educational activity, supportive service needs, and career planning. In addition, all participants will be required to submit documentation of their grade point average (GPA) and final grades at the end of each semester as a condition of their continued enrollment as being considered as an approved TANF work activity in the instructional program and consistent with the individual’s employment plan. Individuals who fail to demonstrate satisfactory progress using this method will be required to submit signed attendance sheets for any subsequent educational enrollments. Job Skills Training Directly Related to Employment - Training or education in job skills to improve a participant’s employability, to ensure clients have the basic skills competencies required by employers to support job entry and/or to advance or adapt to the changing demands of the workplace. Where identified as needed, such training may include the development of basic workplace skills including professional workplace behaviors and decision-making skills. Job skills training may include customized or technical training designed to provide participants with additional workplace skills, post-secondary education courses leading to a bachelor’s or other advanced degree or other training included under the definition of vocational education training. Job skills training may include literacy instruction, English language instruction or other basic education for an individual who has already obtained a high school diploma or equivalency when determined from a client’s assessment that such instruction is needed to improve the participant’s employability.