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THE VIRGINIA INITIATIVE FOR EDUCATION AND WORK (VIEW) TANF MANUAL

APPENDIX A

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Appendix A. TANF Work Participation Rate

A. Federal Work Participation Rate Requirements

A participation rate is a ratio. The federal work participation rate represents who is participating in work activities out of all those expected to participate. To count toward the numerator of the monthly participation rate, a TANF recipient must be in an allowable activity for at least a minimum average number of hours per week:

• 20 hours per week for single parents with children under 6, • 35 hours per week for two-parent families (55 hours if child care is provided), • 30 hours per week for all other families.

Each State must meet two separate work participation rates:

• the two-parent rate--based on how well it succeeds in helping adults in TANF-UP families participate in work activities, and • the overall rate--based on how well it succeeds in placing adults in both TANF and TANF-UP families in work activities. Each State must achieve an overall participation rate of 50% and a two- parent rate of 90%.

If the state fails to meet either minimum work participation rate for a fiscal year, it is subject to a severe financial penalty. The state loses 5% of the TANF block grant ($7.9 million) for failing to meet the rate. In addition, the state must increase state spending to make up the loss of federal funds and such spending does not count toward the state’s spending requirement. Additionally, the state’s spending requirement increases by $8.5 million. Local funding for VIEW will be impacted if the state is penalized.

C. Computation of the Overall Federal Work Participation Rate

The overall participation rate for a fiscal year is the average of the state's overall participation rates for each month in the fiscal year. The monthly participation rate is computed as follows:

(3) The number of families receiving TANF assistance that include an individual who is engaged in a work activity for the appropriate number of hours for the month (i.e., the numerator), divided by,

(4) all families receiving TANF assistance or the VIEW Transitional Payment minus: a) cases with a child under age one in which the caretaker has not reached the lifetime limit (12 months) of being exempt from the federal work participation requirement; and b) cases which do not include an adult receiving assistance unless such a person is a parent (payee cases); and c) cases in which the only adult(s) receives SSI or SSDI; and d) cases in which the only adult(s) is ineligible to receive assistance due to her immigration status; and e) cases in which a parent is providing care for a disabled family member living in the home who does not attend school on a full-time basis, provided that the need for such care is supported by medical documentation.

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