2.9.2 Up-front Job Search Activities as a Condition of Eligibility

The goal of up-front job search activities is to rapidly connect the applicant to sustainable employment.

Not all applicants are appropriate for an up-front job search. When deciding whether to assign up-front job search activities as a condition of eligibility, the RS Resource Specialist and the FEP Financial and Employment Planner must use the best available information. This includes information gathered through:

The informal assessment process;

The educational needs assessment Educational needs assessments determine if the individual needs, or would benefit from, education or training activities, including a course of study for the granting of a declaration of equivalency of high school graduation. In making this determination, the FEP must consider the following: • The information gathered on the applicant/participant’s current educational levels; • The level of education and training necessary to obtain full-time employment in the local labor market; and • The applicant/participant’s personal employment goals. ;

The career assessment A broad spectrum of assessment tools that W-2 agencies, applicants, and participants use to obtain greater awareness about how an individual’s work styles, skills, and interests can be used to define a career path, assign meaningful activities, highlight strengths, identify training needs, and match the individual to employment opportunities ; and

Any additional vocational evaluation/assessment Assessments which are conducted to help individuals living with a disability establish realistic vocational goals and a plan to achieve them. The vocational evaluation process is designed to assess the unique strengths, resources, and experiences of an individual in order to match that person’s abilities and preferences to appropriate work placements, jobs, or training programs. The process is interactive; the intent is for staff to learn about the participant and the participant to learn about themselves s or formal assessments obtained to date. (See Chapter 5 )

Assignment of up-front job search activities must be made on a case-by-case basis. W-2 agencies must not assign up-front job search without regard to an individual’s circumstances.

In two-parent households (see 14.1 ), either or both parent(s) applying for W-2 assistance may be assigned to up-front job search activities, depending on their individual circumstances.

W-2 workers should use the following table as a starting point for determining whether to assign up-front job search.

Applicants are likely to be appropriate for up-front job search if they: Applicants are unlikely to be appropriate for up-front job search if they: Have or can arrange access to safe and reliable child care; Have stable housing; Have access to safe and reliable transportation; Have a recent employment history; or Possess marketable skills in the current labor market. Do not have access to safe and reliable child care; Are unhoused and not ready to find immediate work; Do not have access to safe and reliable transportation; Have no employment history, have not been employed recently, or have a history of failed employment; Have barriers preventing them from entering the labor market, such as being 18- or 19-year-old and not having a high school diploma or GED; Are in a domestic abuse situation; Meet the characteristics of a W-2 T placement (see 7.4.2 ); or Are otherwise unprepared to begin work in the next 12 working days.