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(C) ENSURE THAT PARENTS AND CARETAKERS RECEIVING ASSISTANCE ENGAGE IN WORK IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 407 (SECTION 402(A)(1)(A)(III) OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT)

Families First/TANF employs the following strategies to ensure customers are working towards self- sufficiency:

• Adoption of the Two-Generation (2Gen) framework that intentionally focuses on creating services for the parent and child together, to harness the family's full potential and to put them on a permanent path to economic security. This framework is consistently applied when engaging our customers in all aspects of case management and service delivery.

• Families First/TANF customers will have goal-oriented time-limited Individual Opportunity Plan (IOP) that carry them through logical and productive steps to self-sufficiency;

• Sanctions will be imposed when a family fails to comply with the IOP without good cause;

• Cash benefits will be limited to sixty (60) months of eligibility in a lifetime, with some limited exceptions; and

• Families First/TANF customers who become employed and lose cash benefits may qualify to receive transitional childcare assistance, transitional cash assistance, and/or transitional Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

Once the goals are established and the customer is assigned to work or work-related activities that support those goals, TDHS TCM will ensure that customers receive the appropriate services while the customer is in the program. Although the Families First/TANF program does not establish a target goal set for transitioning customers off of assistance, the TCM will work with the customer to establish timeframes for the achievement of goals during the sixty (60)-month time limit. The Secretary of State was sent a notification from the Governor of Tennessee opting out of the provision to require a Families First/TANF parent or caretaker receiving assistance for two (2) months who is not exempt and who is not employed to participate in community service activity. The State plan requires all non-exempt Families First/TANF customers to have an Individual Opportunity Plan (IOP).

Transitional Cash Assistance

Effective December 1, 2018, Transitional Cash Assistance (TCA) is available to an AU with an increase in earned income that exceeds the maximum threshold for their household size. The AU may be eligible for up to six (6) months of the maximum grant allotment for all eligible AU members at the time of TCA approval if the household remains in compliance with TCA eligibility requirements during the six (6) month TCA period.

TCA Eligibility: • Become financially ineligible for Families First due to an increase in the AU’s earned income; • Meet all other Families First eligibility criteria, as defined in section A; and • Be working at least thirty (30) hours per week (OR a combined fifty-five (55) hours for two- parent households receiving federally funded childcare.