10-144 C.M.R. ch. 607, § 1 - DEFINITIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS

Summary: This section describes organizational units, programs, acronyms and significant terms pertaining to the ASPIRE-TANF program.

DEFINITIONS

Organizational units, programs, and their acronyms, and other significant terms pertaining to ASPIRE-TANF are defined below:

Alternative Education - An educational program that embraces subject matter or teaching methodology that is not generally offered to students of the same age or grade level in traditional school settings.

ASPIRE-Plus - ASPIRE-Plus is an On-the-Job training program that provides an employer subsidy for up to 26 weeks, depending on the length of training time needed, of up to 50% of the hourly wage paid by the employer.

ASPIRE-TANF - "ASPIRE-TANF" stands for - Additional Support for People in Retraining and Employment - Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. ASPIRE is the welfare employment and training program created by the Governor and the Maine Legislature in July 1988, to provide case management, education, training, support and employment services to help TANF recipients to find or create jobs in the local labor market.

ASPIRE-TANF Unit - A unit within the Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Family Independence, or an agent or contractor thereof, which provides ASPIRE-TANF services to TANF participants. These services include but are not limited to Assessment, prevocational activities, support services, Good Cause determination, case management and employment services.

Assessment - An individualized process designed to integrate the array of ASPIRE-TANF services with the educational and vocational needs, interests and abilities of each participant.

Basic Literacy Level - The capability to read and write at a level equivalent to an 8.9 grade level as demonstrated either by an educational achievement test; maintaining a grade point average of at least 2.0 at a post-secondary institution; or having passed the reading portion of a high school equivalency test.

Case Management - The process of identifying the needs of the participant and the participant's family, coordinating services appropriate to meet those needs, and monitoring the participant's progress through ASPIRE-TANF so the participant can gain the skills and support to obtain employment.

Child care, affordable* - Affordable child care arrangements are those for which the participant incurs no cost or is reimbursed by another program such as ASPIRE or through a deduction for child care from income by the TANF program or by any combination of these methods.

Child care, appropriate* - Appropriate child care is affordable child care furnished by a child care provider, of the participant's choice, who has passed background checks as required by 22 M.R.S. §§8301-A and 8302-A 0.

* these definitions apply only to single parents with a child under age 6

Child care, reasonable distance* - Reasonable distance means that the ASPIRE participant is required to commute no more than 15 additional miles between home and work activity in order to transport the child to the child care provider.

Child care, unsuitability of informal care* - Unsuitable child care is that provided by an individual who cannot pass a required background check or is unaffordable or would require the ASPIRE participant to travel an unreasonable distance.

Component - Education, training and employment activities approved by ASPIRE-TANF including: pre-training; educational activities through post-secondary level; job skills training; job readiness activities; group and individual job search; on-the-job training; and community work experience.

Department of Health and Human Services (Department or DHHS) - The agency authorized by Federal statutes to administer the ASPIRE-TANF program and other programs within the Office for Family Independence.

Education - Activities including remedial-education, high school or equivalency, and post-secondary certificate programs designed to prepare the participant for employment.

Exempt from the Time Limit - A TANF recipient who has a month or months that do not count against his or her 60-month time limit.

Exempt from Work Participation - A TANF recipient who is not required to participate in ASPIRE-TANF in accordance with Federal or State regulations.

Extension - A one to six-month time period during which TANF benefits may be received, based on hardship or receipt of the Step Earnings Disregard, approved by the Department. This allows a household to receive benefits past its 60-month time limit, when the recipient is complying with program rules and meets all other TANF eligibility requirements.

Fair Hearing (also known as an Administrative Hearing) - A hearing conducted before a Department of Health and Human Services hearings officer in which a participant has an opportunity to dispute a decision made by the Department. The hearings officer's decision is binding on all parties involved in the particular case.

Family Contract A form signed by a representative of the Department and each TANF caretaker relative that states the responsibilities of the parties to the agreement, including but not limited to cooperation in child support enforcement and determination of paternity, and the requirements of program participation. The contract may also include referral to parenting activities and health care services where the need for such services has been established.

Family Contract Amendment - The binding agreement ASPIRE participants enter into with the Department, ASPIRE Unit, pursuant to 22 M.R.S.A.§3788(4-A). In these agreements, specific action steps are listed that both the Department and the participant agree to perform. ASPIRE support services to be provided are listed in the FCA.

Federal Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance (HHS/ACF/OFA) - The federal agency that administers and regulates the TANF Program and other programs of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Family Independence, and provides block grant funds for these programs.

* these definitions apply only to single parents with a child under age 6

Field Training - A non-wage, time limited, training placement with a public, private non-profit or profit employer which enables the participant to explore a preliminary career decision, gain experience in the work world and/or improve specific job skills.

Fraud, Investigation and Recovery Unit (FIRU) - the unit in the department responsible for investigating allegations of misuse, fraud, and over-payments. The unit also is responsible for seeking repayment when appropriate or referring the matter to the Attorney General's office for prosecution.

Gainful Employment - Activities that a person can perform which are intended to provide an income and which are a source of consistent revenue for the worker, such as a steady job.

Good Caus. - Acceptable reasons, as determined by the Department of Health and Human Services, for a participant's failing or refusing to participate in ASPIRE-TANF or in a particular ASPIRE-TANF component.

Intentional Program Violation - (IPV) means that an individual has purposely misused "cash benefits" and/or misrepresented actual circumstances in order to receive benefits, and the individual would not have been eligible had the proper information been available at the time of application, redetermination of eligibility, or within ten days of the change in circumstances. An IPV will result in a referral to the Fraud, Investigation and Recovery Unit (FIRU) for further review and recovery.

Job Club - A structured and supervised job search group which assists participants in their efforts to obtain and retain employment.

Job Development/Placement - Specific actions by ASPIRE-TANF or a service provider in identifying subsidized and unsubsidized jobs, marketing participants based on their career goals for those jobs and securing job interviews for participants.

Job Readiness - Pre-training activities focusing on life management skills, work maturity skills, work place expectations and work behavior and attitudes necessary to succeed in the labor market.

Job Search - Counseling and pre-employment training on job-seeking skills either individually or in groups. The group "Job Club" is the preferred job search activity.

Job Skills Training - Vocational training focusing on the required skills, knowledge and abilities of a specific occupation or business.

MaineServer A community service program designed to provide parents who are eligible for TANF opportunities to serve their communities and the State in a manner that assists them in developing and renewing their skills in ways that may lead to employment that is sufficient to sustain their families.

Matriculation - For the Parents as Scholars Program, matriculation is defined as acceptance and enrollment into any two-year or four-year academic program in an institution of post-secondary education.

Net Loss of Cash income - Net loss of cash income results if the family's gross income, less necessary work-related expenses, is less than the TANF benefit and any other cash assistance the participant was receiving at the time the offer of employment is made.

Non-Compliance - Failure of a mandatory ASPIRE recipient to sign or abide by the terms of the Family Contract Amendment without Good Cause, which will result in termination of benefits to the individual for the lesser of ninety (90) days or until the failure to comply ceases.

Office for Family Independence (OFI) - The organizational unit with the Department of Health and Human Services which administers the ASPIRE-TANF program. OFI also administers the following services: TANF, Food Supplement Benefits (SNAP), General Assistance, MaineCare, Support Enforcement and Recovery, and Emergency Assistance.

On-the-Job Training (OJT) - A means by which a participant is hired and trained in a specific occupation by a private or public employer who receives a partial reimbursement of wages paid for providing skills and training necessary to perform the job (See ASPIRE-Plus).

Order of Reference A document in which the Department's Commissioner gives specific instructions to the Office of Administrative Hearings regarding: the issues to be addressed at hearing and the handling of a hearing request. This may include, but is not limited to, an instruction that the Hearing Office issue recommended findings and a recommended decision with the authority to make the final findings and decision reserved to the Commissioner.

Parents as Scholars Program (PaS) - A student aid program based on need for up to 2000 participants, to aid needy students who have dependent children and who are matriculating in post-secondary undergraduate 2-year and 4-year degree-granting education programs.

Participant - A TANF recipient who is involved in ASPIRE-TANF activities.

Period of Enrollment The time frame from the opening of activity with the ASPIRE-TANF program, until participation with ASPIRE-TANF is ended.

Pre-Training - Activities designed to prepare the participant for occupational skills training, post-secondary education and employment. Such activities include secondary education programs, job readiness activities, employment counseling, field training, self-employment evaluation, and referral to services to improve life-management skills.

Sanctions - Actions taken by the Department of Health and Human Services as a result of a participant's failing or refusing to participate in ASPIRE-TANF without Good Cause. These actions generally cause a reduction in TANF and Food Supplement benefits for a specified time period for participants who are not exempt, and a loss of services for a specified time for voluntary participants.

Satisfactory Progress - The requirement that a participant meet standards of performance imposed by an educational or training institution and by ASPIRE-TANF while participating in an education or training activity.

Step Disregard - A disregard of earned income as detailed in the Maine Public Assistance Manual, 10-144 CMR 331, Chapter IV, Step Disregard.

Support Services - Services such as child care, transportation, eye and dental care, which enable the participant to complete the Family Contract Amendment and take employment.

TANF Earnings Disregard Extension - An extension granted to a household for each month in which they receive TANF/PaS and a Step disregard of either 100% or 75% (see Maine Public Assistance Manual, 10-144 CMR 331, Chapter IV, Step Disregard). This extension type is only available for families that have reached 60 months on or after October 1, 2019.

TANF Recipient - An individual whose family's financial needs are met in part with TANF payments in accordance with the Maine Public Assistance Manual. (September 1, 2020) 1-5 Policy #26A

TANF Single Parent Family - A TANF family which receives benefits under the program authorized in the Federal Social Security Act, as amended by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, and the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005, whose children are deprived of parental support or care by reasons other than the underemployment of the parent who is the principal wage earner, or the incapacity of a parent.

TANF Two Parent Family - A TANF family which receives benefits under the program authorized in the Federal Social Security Act, as amended by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, and the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005, whose children are deprived of parental support or care either by reason of the underemployment of the parent who is the principal wage earner, or by reason of incapacity of a parent.

Time Limit - The limit of 60 months during which a family may receive TANF assistance in the absence of the family qualifying for a time limit exemption or extension.

Training and Work Site Agreement - An agreement which is included as part of the Family Contract Amendment and which stipulates specific performance requirements for a participant enrolled in education, training and/or work experience.

Transitional Employment for Maine Parents (TEMP) - a volunteer work experience position.

Up-front Job Search - Newly-granted TANF recipients who are considered job-ready, and who are eligible for TANF based on unemployment of the primary wage earner or single parent recipients whose children are 5 years of age or older, may participate in individual or group job search activities during the work evaluation phase of involvement with ASPIRE-TANF.

Voluntary Participant - A TANF recipient who is not required to participate, by Federal or State regulations but chooses to enroll in ASPIRE-TANF.

Work Activities - Work activities are those activities that are allowable under PRWORA (Sec. 407, (d)), and are listed in this manual in Section 3 (IV)(A)(3) and (IV)(B)(2).

Work Eligible Individual (WEI) - An adult, or a minor child, who is a head of household, receiving assistance under TANF or a separate State program, who is not otherwise exempted from meeting a work requirement.

Work Evaluation - Consists of all activities related to Assessment, employability plan development and initial amendment to the Family Contract Amendment. Work evaluation is limited to a maximum of 90 days, unless extended by the Commissioner (or the designee of the Commissioner).

Work Experience - This is a generic term used to describe a variety of experiential activities (such as TEMP, On-the-Job Training, Community Service, etc.) that lead to, or include, employment.

Work Readiness Activities - These activities include job shadowing, job coaching, mentoring, situational assessment, and any other activity that will encourage obtaining or retaining employment.

Notes

10-144 C.M.R. ch. 607, § 1