016.28.21 Ark. Code R. 005
Transitional Employment Assistance Policy Manual, Section 2000
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DHS County Offices will accept and process applications for Transitional Employment Assistance (TEA).
A TEA application must be disposed of by either approval or denial as quickly as possible but no later than thirty (30) calendar days from the date the application was received by DHS, unless the eligibility worker determines that the applicant needs more time in order to establish their eligibility for services.
The TEA eligibility requirements are:
Each requirement above is discussed in detail in the section of the manual that deals with that specific requirement.
Information, to establish whether a family meets the above requirements, is obtained from the application form and during the application interview.
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No person shall be prevented from participation, be denied benefits or be subject to discrimination on the basis of age, religion, disability, political affiliation, veteran status, sex, race, color, or national origin. The Department will comply with provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Department has the responsibility of informing applicants and recipients that assistance is provided on a nondiscriminatory basis and of their right to file a complaint with the agency or federal government if they think that discrimination has occurred on the basis of age, religion, disability, political affiliation, veteran status, sex, race, color, or national origin.
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Requests for assistance will be made by completing an application form (DCO-0004, Application for SNAP, Health Care, and TEA/RCA Benefits) and submitting the application to the county office, or by completing an online application through the DHS Access Arkansas websitehttps://access.arkansas.gov/. Application must be made by the parent or another adult caretaker relative of the child.
The application must be signed by the applicant under penalty of perjury. If both parents are in the home with the child, either may sign the application. The eligibility worker will assist with completing the form, if requested.
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Applications Submitted to DHS
An interview with the applicant is required for applications. If the household consists of two (2) adults, both will be interviewed. If only one (1) parent is present for the initial interview and it is determined that the family is potentially eligible, an interview will be scheduled for the second adult to ensure that both parents understand their responsibilities.
If the applicant family consists of a parent who is a minor (non-head of household) and his or her child(ren), then the adult with whom such minor parent and child are living will also be interviewed with the minor parent. See the Note below.
* NOTE: The adult caretaker of the minor parent is required to attend to ensure that he or she is aware of the program requirements and responsibilities that will be expected of the minor parent. In addition, the adult, with whom the minor parent is living, will, in most situations, be made the payee for the cash assistance grant, and therefore be responsible for ensuring that the grant is used on behalf of the minor parent and child. This will be explained to the adult and minor parent during the interview.
The application will be reviewed with the applicant, including a review and discussion of the Personal Responsibility Agreement (refer to TEA 2004.1).
The Personal Responsibility Agreement (PRA) is an agreement that provides the individual with responsibilities with which he or she must comply while receiving cash assistance.
The responsibilities include:
* Cooperation with the Office of Child Support Enforcement;
* Ensuring school age children are in school;
* Ensuring that pre-school children receive appropriate immunizations; and
* Participation in work requirements, if applicable.
The PRA will be reviewed with the applicant during the interview. The PRA reviews are conducted to ensure that the applicant understands it and agrees to comply by signing it.
As part of the PRA discussion, the eligibility worker will be responsible for advising the applicant of the supportive services that are available to both recipients and former recipients who become employed. This will include a thorough review of the PUB-389 (Supportive Services), with a copy given to the applicant. DWS will give a more detailed explanation of supportive services during the assessment.
If the family includes a non-head of household minor parent, the PRA will also be reviewed with such minor parent who must also sign it (see TEA 2120 for specific requirements related to minor parent households).
If a non-head of household minor parent fails to sign the PRA, the application may be approved with the non-compliance sanction applied (refer to TEA 2121).
The applicant is the primary source of information and is responsible for providing necessary verifications, as requested, to establish initial and ongoing eligibility. However, if the applicant is unable to provide essential information, or is having difficulty in obtaining it, the eligibility worker will assist in obtaining required information.
The applicant is expected to provide information as requested. Although the County Office may assist the applicant, when necessary, the applicant should be encouraged to obtain as much information as they can, on their own, before requesting assistance. Such assistance may range from simply advising the applicant how or where to get the information, to actually obtaining the necessary documents (e.g. accessing the Department of Health birth records through ARIES).
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Diversion Assistance is intended to help a family through a financial problem which jeopardizes employment and which, if not solved, could result in the family requiring regular ongoing cash assistance. Diversion Assistance is a replacement for, not a supplement to, regular assistance.
Diversion Assistance is a one-time payment to or on behalf of the family, which will resolve a financial problem so that the adult can maintain or obtain employment. Diversion is only available to an adult once during their lifetime.
The eligibility requirements for Diversion Assistance are as follows:
The regular TEA income and resource requirements do not have to be verified and established. If the family's resources are obviously over the resource limit, then Diversion Assistance will not be authorized.
The Diversion Assistance payment will be the actual amount needed to resolve the crisis up to a maximum of three (3) months of maximum grant payments for the household (e.g., h/h of 3 = $204 x 3 months = $612 maximum diversion payment). If the amount needed to resolve the problem is more than the maximum payment, and there are no other resources available to assist with the cost, it will be determined whether the maximum will alleviate the crisis in any way. If not, the payment will not be authorized.
Under Arkansas state law, a Diversion Assistance payment is a loan which the client should repay to the State of Arkansas when able to do so. Repayment, though, does not entitle the individual to another Diversion payment in the future.
A Diversion Assistance payment counts as a TEA month(s) for purposes of the twenty-four-(24)month time limit, if the adult later applies for TEA assistance, unless the payment has been repaid. If not repaid, the diversion payment counts for up to three (3) months of the time limit (based on the amount of the diversion payment), divided by the maximum grant for the family size. The number of months will be rounded up to the next higher number. (See TEA 2130.)
Note: If the client requests to apply for Diversion Assistance, the client will be referred to the Department of Workforce Services (effective January 2022).
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016.28.21 Ark. Code R. 005