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TANF POLICY MANUAL

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1. Participant Agreement A participant agreement is completed with the participant’s signature indicating agreement with the assigned placement. The WKEP or COSP site supervisor must agree to submit a biweekly report, DSS Form 1246, Work Experience Agreement, or DSS Form 12119, Community Service Agreement, on performance and attendance to DSS.

2. WKEP/COSP Workers' Compensation WKEP/COSP participants who sustain an injury at a work site are subject to established Workers' Compensation guidelines. The following steps should be taken when an injury occurs. A. The WKEP/COSP participant must report the injury immediately to the WKEP/COSP site supervisor who is responsible for completing the attendance and performance report. B. The WKEP/COSP site supervisor should immediately contact the local DSS office to report the injury. C. The local DSS Human Resource representative must be informed of the injury and make a report to CompEndium according to the SC DSS Personnel Administrative Policy and Procedures Manual.

3. Compensation for Work Experience and Community Service Although WKEP and COSP are unsalaried, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that welfare recipients who are required to participate in WKEP or COSP be compensated for the hours of participation. FLSA allows compensation to be provided in the form of certain benefits a family might receive due to their economic status. NOTE: The TANF assistance and benefits that work experience or community service participants (WTA) receive are not considered wages for Social Security purposes, nor are they considered taxable income for purposes of the federal income or the Earned Income Tax Credit.

4. Work Training Allowance (WTA) Calculation Procedures WEP and CS participants will be paid a (WTA) if the number of monthly hours of WEP or CS participation multiplied by the federal minimum wage exceeds the combined dollar value of SNAP and TANF benefits for the month of WKEP/COSP participation. If the family is entitled to a WTA allowance, it must be provided as a supplemental TANF benefit. The automated TANF WTA Budget Sheet in Excel must be used to calculate the WTA allowance. The automated work sheet is designed to calculate the WTA in the following manner. A. Determine number of Work Experience or Community Service hours for the report month of participation based on verification from provider. Participation data should be available by the 10th of the month following participation on the appropriate verification. B. Multiply hours of participation in WKEP/COSP by federal minimum wage to determine the total WTA compensation due. Excused absences and holiday hours cannot be used in the WTA calculation. C. Determine the gross SNAP allotment for the month of participation. Check the "AMT" field on FSBH.