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901.13 TANF MANUAL 7/21 Page 13

901.14 Full Employment Program - The Full Employment Program (FEP) is a subsidized, training-oriented employment activity for VIEW participants who have been unable to find a job on their own. FEP uses government funds to directly subsidize wages paid by the employer. Wages are paid through the regular employer payroll based upon hours worked. A monthly stipend is issued to the employer for the duration of the FEP placement. The VIEW participant is an employee of the FEP employer and receives a paycheck and a TANF payment.

The FEP placement and stipend periods are a fixed six-month period unless the case will reach either the 24- month or 60-month limit on the receipt of TANF. Under those conditions, a shorter placement (of at least three months) can be established so that the placement end will coincide with the end of the receipt of TANF payments. The placement begins the month FEP employment begins and ends on the last day of the final month of the placement, e.g., placement begins June 10 and continues through November 30, and the corresponding stipend period begins on July 1 and ends on December 1.

Any caretaker who is participating in VIEW may participate in FEP. Any active VIEW participant on a case shall be assigned to a FEP placement at any time. No member of a case serving a VIEW sanction can participate in FEP unless the minimum sanction period has elapsed. For TANF-UP cases, both parents can participate in FEP – these placements may be simultaneous. FEP participants may only participate in one FEP job placement at a time for no more than 6 months during the VIEW participation period.

Example: An individual is enrolled in a FEP activity for 6 consecutive months - 2 months are with Employer A and 4 months are with Employer B. The total months participating will be 6 months and the income will be countable beginning the 7th month of VIEW participation.

Example: TANF household with 1 parent, John Smith, is enrolled in a FEP activity component with Employer A for 4 consecutive months and the FEP activity is closed. ESP worker will inform the EW of the closure and the EW should re-run eligibility to re-evaluate TANF benefits for the household. Upon running eligibility, the household will be evaluated for TANF benefits. Earned income of the household will be considered by eligibility while determining TANF benefit amount. The FEP stipend will end the following month.

A. Payment To Employer - Upon receipt of notification from the ESW that the participant has entered a FEP placement, the eligibility worker will complete the required VaCMS screens to start the employer’s stipend as soon as administratively possible. The recipient is enrolled in FEP by completion of the Activity and Employer/Employment Details screens in the ESP module of VaCMS.

If the Eligibility worker receives notification of a FEP placement during the 10-day notice period, the VaCMS system should not be updated until the first of the following month. It will be necessary to issue the initial employer stipend out of Benefit Adjustment. The EW should act on the reported change within three business days whenever possible. However, the EW must act on the reported change within 10 days. Example: On May 23, the Eligibility Worker receives the FEP Communication Form from the ESW indicating a FEP Placement began on May 18. The Eligibility Worker should wait until June 1 to

TANF Transmittal 71