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TANF Transmittal 65

901.6 TANF MANUAL 10/18 Page 6a

2. When a participant becomes exempt during a sanction period and the verified exemption still exists at the end of the minimum fixed sanction period, the EW will remove the sanction.

If the EW is notified by the ESW that the sanction was imposed in error or that the client’s failure to participate was due to disability or language barrier, the sanction must be lifted immediately by the ESW and deleted from the automated system by the EW. The sanction will not be included in the client’s overall sanction count.

3. When a sanctioned individual becomes disabled or becomes required to care for a disabled family member living in the household during the 24-month POI, and such disability or situation prevents the individual from being self-supporting, the individual must serve the fixed sanction period before the individual can be eligible for TANF due to his/her disability, or need to care for the disabled family member, during the 24-month POI.

Example: A VIEW sanction was imposed effective July 1, 2017 for six months. The client’s 24th month of assistance is September 2017. The 24-month POI begins October 1, 2017. The client becomes disabled (unable to work) and applies for TANF on October 13, 2017. She still has to serve the remaining two months of the fixed sanction period (in this example, six months) before she can be eligible for TANF due to disability. The earliest date that she can be eligible for TANF due to disability is January 1, 2018.

E. The EW must apply the sanction effective the month following the month in which she receives notice to sanction, if administratively possible. If this cannot be done, the action must be taken for the second month. The EW must mail the Advance Notice of Proposed Action as soon as possible after receipt of the Notice to Sanction. The advance notice must indicate the duration of the sanction.

Exception: In the case of a TANF-UP household, when one parent is participating in a FEP placement and the VIEW sanction is the result of non-compliance by the other parent, the ESW will advise the EW to delay imposition of the sanction until the month following the end of the FEP placement. This will allow the FEP placement to continue and not be disrupted by the closure of the TANF-UP case due to the sanction

F. The sanction time frames are as follows:

1. For the first sanction, the payment will be suspended for a minimum period of one month and will continue to be suspended until the client complies.

2. For the second sanction, the payment will be suspended for a minimum period of three consecutive months and will continue to be suspended until the client complies.

3. For the third and subsequent sanctions, the payment will be suspended for a minimum period of six consecutive months and will continue to be suspended until the client complies.

In determining the length of time that the sanction will be imposed, if the ESW determines that a previous sanction was due to an unaccommodated disability which