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1000.20 TANF MANUAL 10/18 PAGE 72

3) The child care arrangements must be affordable. This means the cost of the child care is less than or equal to the payment amounts specified in the Child Care Subsidy Manual; and

4) If the child care is with a relative, it must meet the requirements for relative care in the Child Care Subsidy Manual.

The participant is responsible for demonstrating that she is unable to find child care for one or more of the above reasons.

While one of the criteria for acceptable child care is affordability based on the payment amounts specified in child care guidance, the client’s selection of child care arrangements whose costs exceeds the payment amounts is not a good cause reason for program non-compliance when other child care arrangements meeting the acceptable child care criteria are available.

The local agency is responsible for determining if the information provided substantiates that needed child care that meets the above criteria cannot be arranged. The ESW must consult with the Child Care worker in evaluating whether a sanction is appropriate.

c) Accepting employment would result in a net loss of cash income for the assistance unit. Net loss of cash income would result if the family's gross earned income, less necessary work related expenses, was less than the TANF payment which the recipient was receiving at the time the offer of employment was made.

3) The good cause investigation will include an evaluation of information in the case record. When there has been no recent contact with the participant, efforts will be made to determine if the participant has contacted the EW or Child Care Worker to discuss the problem, given a reason for not attending an ESP interview, or for not completing an assignment, or having not kept any program-related appointment.

In all cases, in order to ensure that the participant understands the mandatory nature of the program and has an opportunity to explain the reason for noncompliance, the ESW will attempt to contact the client by telephone or by personal contact. The ESW will document the record that the contact was made or attempted.

4) Prior to imposing a sanction, the ESW is to complete the VIEW Non-Compliance Checklist. Once the form is completed, the supervisor must review the form and circumstances of the proposed sanction to ensure that the participant has been screened for disabilities or screening has been offered and refused, reasonable accommodations have been provided if needed, and the agency has attempted to notify the client verbally. The supervisor must not approve the sanction if any of these steps have not been taken. The supervisor or designee must sign the VIEW Non- Compliance Checklist. The completed checklist must be placed in the case record.

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