Section 597-2-5 - NO SUPPLANTATION; MAXIMIZING USE OF OTHER RESOURCES1.No supplantation . No CareerCenter or organization receiving CSSP funds may supplant other funds with CSSP or CSSF funds. Competitive Skills Scholarship Funds (CSSF) and other sources of funding available to assist people pursuing post-secondary education shall be combined to maximize available dollars. Policies affecting eligibility standards or level of education, training and support services available for individuals in post-secondary training and education under WIOA shall not be changed by local WIOA areas so as to reduce the level of such services absent written approval of the Director of the Bureau. The local WIOA areas must expend the percentage of WIOA spending on education and training established in their local WIOA plans.A.TAA and TRA. Individuals eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) must exhaust all other resources needed to participate successfully in their training program. If a participant receiving TAA needs a support service that is not available under TAA in order to participate successfully in his or her training program, eligibility for that support service under CSSP may be determined. Persons eligible for a TRA allowance are not eligible for the CSSP training stipend under section 6.11 of this rule. The case manager will determine whether applicants to CSSP may be eligible for TAA or a TRA allowance.B.WIOA. Participants enrolled in both WIOA and CSSP shall receive WIOA services in accordance with the written WIOA policies (including policies that determine the amount or nature of education, training and support services) that are applicable to all WIO A participants in the local WIOA area. Taking into account written local WIOA policies and CSSP rules, each ISS should maximize the availability of education, training and related support services from all funding sources. All ISS plans containing CSSP funding must be reviewed by the CareerCenter Manager designated by the Director of the Bureau. WIOA assistance shall not be reduced if a person who is already participating in WIOA applies for and is eligible for CSSP unless WIOA funding committed to the participant under local WIOA policy or WIOA funding for education and training and related support services for the region has been exhausted. For WIOA enrolled participants eligible for CSSP, written documentation must be obtained by participant case managers from the WIOA service provider that education, training and support service funds have been exhausted. This documentation is required before CSSP funds may be used to support a current WIOA funded Individual Service Strategy. The Bureau of Employment Services (BES) will review WIOA and CSSP expenditures annually to determine the extent to which both are being maximized for education and training and related support services.
C.Dislocated Worker Benefits (DWB). Applicants and participants who are likely to be eligible for Dislocated Worker Benefits must apply for those benefits. If a participant is determined eligible for DWB, the participant is not eligible for the CSSP training stipend.D.Vocational Rehabilitation. If an applicant or participant who has a disability is eligible for funding from Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) or a similar program that assists in providing education or training, then, to the extent that funding is available in a manner that does not delay commencement of their program, VR funding must be obtained. CSSP services necessary to participate in the education or training program and that are not available through VR may be provided. Case managers must assist those with a disability in accessing other programs that may assist them with education, training and support expenses in addition to assisting in access to CSSP.E.Parents as Scholars. Parents who are eligible for Parents as Scholars (PaS) (which provides support for education similar to CSSP) may not simultaneously be eligible for CSSP. Parents with children who receive TANF will be required to apply for PaS by contacting their ASPIRE case worker. Single parents or two-parent families in which one parent is disabled or unemployed with household income below 75% of the poverty level are required to apply for TANF and Parents as Scholars at the Department of Health and Human Services if they have not done so already.F.Financial Aid. Aid from CSSP must be calculated only after all other federal, state and campus-based sources of financial aid (not including loans or federal work study) have been considered. Applications for Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) are required. Student loans are not required to participate in CSSP and the decision to apply for student loan assistance is left to the discretion of the CSSP participant to cover unmet costs of participation in her or his education and training program. If the financial aid administrator confirms in writing that an application for federal financial aid would be futile then the applicant or participant need not apply and CSSP may assist.2.Identifying Non-CSSP Supports . The case manager and the applicant or participant must identify other sources of support in addition to CSSP that are available and required to participate in his or her education or training program.3.Documentation . Support from programs other than the CSSP to which the participant has been referred, has applied for, receives or expects to receive must be documented in the ISS.12- 597 C.M.R. ch. 2, § 5