135.2 Employment and Training Activities

To become self-sufficient, an individual must seek and accept employment. An individual must accept referrals to employment, seek and accept any bona fide offer of employment, maintain employment and participate in employment activities specified on the AMR. The federal government defines the types of activities that count toward the Work Participation Rate ( WPR ) . There are two types of activities; core activities and non - core activities .

55 Pa. Code § 165.31(a)(1) & (2)

Core activities are required for all individuals who are mandatory to participate in RESET.

Noncore activities are available if additional hours are needed to meet the minimum work requirement after the required core activity hours are met , when the individual has been granted good cause or an exemption for core hourly requirements, or when all opportunities to participate in a countable core activity have been exhausted or are not available.

N OTE: If the CAO and/or E&T program assert there is no core activity available, prior to engaging individuals in noncore or other activities listed on the AMR, approval must be secured by contacting the Bureau of Employment Programs (BEP) via e-mail at RA-PWBEP.TANF@pa.gov .

The CAO must narrate the intention to seek approval and how they intend to engage the individual. This does not pertain to individuals 22 and older participating in High School Equivalency (HSE), Adult Basic Education (ABE), or English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) programming or individuals participating in post-secondary education past 12 months in a lifetime with granted good cause (GC 74). The CAO must narrate when all opportunities to participate in a countable core activity have been exhausted or are not available.

Individuals, who are mandatory to participate, must engage in non-core or other activities listed on the AMR, even when no core activity is available. This includes accepting referrals from the CAO to companies that may be hiring and conducting an independent job search from home.

Individuals must be referred to a contracted E&T program prior to considering a CAO-directed activity; CAO-directed activities are restricted to specific instances. See Section 135.11, RESET Enrollment Status, Program Referral Chart .

An individual can participate in more than one core activity to meet the minimum work requirement. Once the required number of core hours is met, an individual may choose to participate in any additional core or noncore activity to fulfill hourly requirements .

Example: A parent is required to participate for a minimum of 30 hours weekly in work activities. At least 20 of the 30 hours must be in a core activities.

A parent is working at the movie theater for 10 hours per week and participating in community service for 10 hours per week. As these are both core activities, the parent is participating for 20 of the 30 weekly hours in core activities, as required.

To meet or exceed the required 30 weekly hours, the parent may participate in any core or non-core activity for the remaining 10 hours.

For example, the parent could:

Increase the hours in current activities by at least 10 hours weekly;

Participate in an additional core activity for at least 10 hours weekly; or

Participate in a non-core activity for at least 10 hours weekly.

Core Activities

Unsubsidized Employment (AC 33)

Full or part-time employment. This includes self-employment .

Income-in-Kind or in-kind employment is also considered unsubsidized employment (AC 30)

Subsidized Public or Private Sector Employment (AC 23)

Full or part-time employment in which the employer receives a time limited wage subsidy paid by the E & T contractor. The amount of the subsidy is negotiated by the E & T contractor and the employer.

This includes Paid Work Experience (PWE) . (AC 26)

NOTE: Work study is counted as subsidized employment. (AC 31) Work study income is excluded for eligibility calculation purposes. See Chapter 150.5 Income Excluded in Computing Eligibility .

On-the-Job Training (OJT) (AC 22)

Full or part-time employment that combines a period of subsidized employment with training.

Job Search and Job Readiness Assistance

CAO-directed (AC 44)

Contractor-directed (AC 42)

Activity of seeking employment combined with instruction for finding, accepting and keeping employment. Consists of workshops and time the individual spends looking for employment on their own including registering with CareerLink, attending workshops, job fairs and computer labs.

Substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, and other rehabilitative treatments are included with job search and job readiness when the necessity of treatment is documented by a qualified medical, substance abuse, or mental health professional. (AC 49)

NOTE: This does not include individuals participating in physical health rehabilitative activities.

T here is a combined time limit of 12 weeks in a rolling 12-month period for participation in job search/job readiness and rehabilitative service activities to count as a core activity for TANF recipients in Pennsylvania.

Guidance from the Administration of Children and Families indicates that the amount of time spent in job search or rehabilitative activities that count toward the 12-week limit can be calculated using actual hours engaged in the activity rather than in weeks. Participation for one or several hours per week does not constitute a full week.

For example: A single custodial parent , a single custodial parent of a two-year old child, participates in mental health treatment for five hours a week. Four weeks of the mental health treatment (4 weeks x 5 hours/week = 20 hours) would use only one week of the 12-week time limit for the 12-month period.

One week of job search is defined as:

20 hours for a single parent with a child less than six years of age. (for a total of 240 hours for the 12-week limit in a 12-month time frame)

30 hours for other individuals who have a 30 hour per week requirement (for a total of 360 hours for the 12-week limit in a 12-month time frame)

To determine the 12-month period, begin with the activity start date and count the number of hours used during the previous 12 months. As this is a rolling 12 months, the 12-month period changes as the months proceed.

There must be a break of one week (seven consecutive days) after four consecutive calendar weeks of job search activities regardless of the number of hours the client participates during those four weeks. The individual must engage in a different core activity during the one week break. The individual may continue participation in this new activity and is not required to immediately return to job search.

I f an individual chooses to continue in job search activities during the one-week break, participation hours from that week must be excluded when adding the number of hours used toward the 12-week limit. After the one-week break concludes, the CAO may resume counting job search activities as a core activity for up to another four consecutive calendar weeks followed by a one-week break, until the 12-week time limit is exhausted.

Community Service (AC 20)

Unpaid work for the federal, state or local government, or a non-profit organization to increase skills and attain an employment history including AmeriCorp Vista Volunteer Community Service. For information on calculating allowable Community Service hours, see Section 135.213

Vocational Educational Training (AC 14,16, 24)

Specific training provided by a contracted employment and training vendor, accredited educational provider or accredited Internet- based educational institution intended to prepare an individual for a specific occupation. For information on time limits , see Section 135.212 .

Providing Child Care for an Individual in Community Service (AC 6)

Caring for the child(ren) of another TANF individual, without payment, while the TANF individual is participating in community service. Individuals providing the child care must have child abuse and FBI clearances.

Satisfactory attendance in secondary school or GED Program (AC 18)

Education activity for those up to the age of 22 providing a high school diploma or its equivalent when it is generally required as a minimum requirement in the individual’s anticipated field of employment.

Non-Core Activities

Job skills training directly related to employment (AC 38)

Formal training specifically designed to improve an individual’s skill on the job.

Education directly related to employment (AC 35)

Supplementary educational activity specifically designed to improve an individual’s employability.

English as a second language (ESL) (AC 11)

E ducation activity specifically designed to improve an individual’s proficiency in English or increase literacy to levels consistent with employment goals.

NOTE: When l iteracy activities such as High School Equivalency (HSE), English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) , and Adult Basic Education (ABE) are embedded in a core work activity they may also be counted as core hours within the career pathway .

On - going job search and job search preparation training (AC 28) -

Identifies the activity of job search and job preparation training when AC 42 and AC 44 have been exhausted but job search and preparation is required or requested by the individual continue to seek or prepare for employment. Use this noncore activity only after core hours have been satisfied .