016.20.98 Ark. Code R. § 025 - Title IV-A State Plan Section 6.5.3 - Extended Support Services Job Retention; TEA 5150
Those families who become ineligible for continued TEA cash assistance benefits due to employment may receive, during the twelve month period following case closure, a onetime cash payment for the purpose of enabling the adult to retain his or her job. The individual must show that there is an immediate job-related need which, if not resolved, will result in the termination of his or her job. in addition, there must be no other local resources available to meet the need.
The amount of the payment will be the actual amount needed to resolve the job-related need. Amounts in excess of $200 must be approved by the County Administrator. Any amounts of $1000 or more must also be approved by the Area Assistant Director.
The Extended Support Services Job Retention Payment will not count toward the adult's maximum twenty-four month limit.
The following are examples of situations in which a former recipient would need assistance in retaining a job:
Example: Ms. Smith started to work in July 1998 and her TEA case closed in December. Ms. Smith is still employed in February, 1999. However, her car has broken down and is in need of repairs in order for her to continue to work. All other resources have been exhausted and her case closed within the prior twelve months. In this instance, Ms. Smith may receive an Extended Support Service Job Retention payment to repair her car.
Example: Mr. Jones has been employed since March 1998 and his TEA case closed in September. Mr. Jones has not received any assistance for the past eleven months. In order for this former recipient to remain employed, he must purchase a special type of uniform. Mr. Jones states that after his expenses are met, he has very little or nothing left over for extras. All other local resources have been exhausted. In this Instance, Mr. Jones may be paid an Extended Support Service Job Retention payment to purchase the special uniform.
Job Retention payments will be authorized through the WISE reimbursement system using the close override feature. If the WISE system is not available to make the payment in as timely a manner as is required to meet the need, then the manual checking account may be accessed. (Please refer to the memorandum issued to county offices regarding the Manual Checking Account).
For those families who become ineligible for continued TEA benefits due to employment, or who choose to no longer receive cash assistance due to employment, extended support services will be available as provided for by federal and state law. Such services will include one year of extended Medicaid coverage for those who meet the eligibility criteria under federal law for such coverage and one year of extended child care assistance at no cost v^th an additional two years of child care assistance based on a sliding fee scale.
For those families who become ineligible for continued TEA cash assistance benefits due to employment, or who choose to no longer receive cash assistance due to employment, an Employment Bonus cash payment will be made to such fanuly provided a bonus payment has not already been made to the family in the preceding twelve (12) months. The purpose of such payment is to help the employed adult meet employment related expenses, such as transportation, clothing, and other miscellaneous work-related expenses, until he or she has received a fijll month's earnings. It is expected that this one-time bonus payment will help enable the adult to maintain his or her employment.
The Employment Bonus will not count toward the adult's maximum twenty-four month lunit.
For those families who become ineligible for continued TEA cash assistance benefits due to employment, or who choose to no longer receive cash assistance due to employment, two months of Extended Support Transportation assistance will be made to the family. These payments will assist the family in meeting transportation costs in the first two months following termination of TEA cash assistance.
The Extended Support Transportation payments will not count toward the aduh's maximum twenty-four month limit. This assistance will be fijnded by all state monies.
For those families who become ineligible for continued TEA cash assistance benefits due to employment, a one-time cash payment for the purpose of enabling the adult to retain his or her job may be made dunng the twelve-month period following the closure due to employmem. The individual must show that there is an immediate job-related need which, if not resolved, will result in the termination of his or herjob.
The Extended Support Job Retention payment will not count toward the adult's maximum twenty-four month limit.
A diversion payment may be provided to an otherwise eligible TEA family in certain specified circumstances so that the family does not come on to regular TEA cash assistance. To qualify for diversion, the adult caretaker must meet the following conditions:
The diversion payment will be the actual cost of what it would take to resolve the problem up to a maximum equal to three (3) months of what the monthly TEA cash assistance would have been for the family size.
Under Arkansas State Law, a diversion payment is considered a loan. If not repaid, it will count toward the adult's maximum time limit of twenty-four (24) months.
The same benefits will be available to new residents of Arkansas as are available to all other Arkansas residents.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.