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6.3 Special Household Categories

6.3.1 TANF Participation CCA only authorizes care based on the time the recipient is participating in an approved TANF activity. TANF recipients who are in deferral status are not eligible for TANF CCA but may be eligible under the general Child Care Assistance program.

When an individual reports a TANF Activity, the EABS must add the TANF Activity employment record on the Person page. Once added, the eligibility worker can add the TANF Activity hours on the Working Hours on the TANF Activity employment record. Corresponding unpaid employment evidence of type ‘TANF Activity’ for this employment a system generated record will be created.

This allows CCA rules to exempt the individual from meeting the minimum work requirement of 80 hours per month. TANF individuals will need to have some number of TANF activity hours to be exempt.

TANF CCA Applications. Applications that include TANF and CCA will have special titles and priority in the work queue for processing. Applications that report a TANF participation should be prioritized and processed ahead of general CCA applications.

Addition of unpaid employment evidence is new with the addition of CCA. TANF activities will be recorded on the unpaid employment evidence.

TANF Sanctions. When a TANF recipient is 50% sanctioned, Child Care Assistance can remain in place as the TANF recipient is still in an approved activity. When a TANF recipient is 100% sanctioned, Child Care Assistance can allow 90 days of job search. The Employment Specialist should notify CCA when the TANF recipient receives a 100% sanction. This process allows the child care EABS to update the unpaid employment evidence and send a notice to the family informing them of continued care for job search.

In the Personal Responsibility Plan developed by the Employment Specialist, TANF parents are informed of the exception to the individual penalties associated with the TANF work requirements for single parents who have demonstrated inability to obtain child care for a child younger than 6 years old. The parent must prove the unavailability of childcare because of distance, the unavailability or unsuitability of childcare by a relative, or the unavailability of appropriate and affordable care.

6.3.2 Foster Care/Protective Services Foster care/protective services applications are families who have children placed in their care who are in the custody of the State or Tribal Child Protective Services. This case type may also include children on a long-term safety plan, present danger plan, or in the Harbor Families program.

Foster care applications for families who have children placed in their care who are in the custody of the State of South Dakota, Division of Child Protection or in the custody of a Tribal Child Protection agency are handled in much the same way as other applicants, with the following exceptions: • Eligibility can be backdated three months prior to receipt of the application. • Income of the foster parents is not considered, and they are not subject to the asset limit. • There are no minimum work requirements for foster parents. However, eligibility will only be given for times when foster parents need care while they are working or going to school.