Bureau of Workforce Transformation (BWT)

STATE OF MICHIGAN JENNIFER M. GRANHOLM DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, LABOR & ECONOMIC GROWTH STANLEY “SKIP” PRUSS GOVERNOR DIRECTOR LANSING

E-mailed: xx/xx/xx (be) Bureau of Workforce Transformation (BWT) Policy Issuance (PI): 08-XX

To: Michigan Works! Agency (MWA) Directors

From: Liza Estlund Olson, Director, Bureau of Workforce Transformation

Subject: Fiscal Year 2009 Customer Work Participation Incentive Payments

Programs Affected: Jobs, Education, and Training (JET)

Rescissions: None

References: Public Act (PA) No. 248, dated July 17, 2008, Public Assistance, Section 693 (1)

Background: PA No. 248 of 2008 stipulates that a $50 payment shall be provided to Family Independence Program (FIP) recipients who meet their federal work participation requirements for three consecutive calendar months. Each recipient may receive this benefit up to four times per year. PA 248 also stipulates that recipients who are eligible for the $50 dollar payment described above may also elect to receive an additional $25 to be put into an Individual Development Account (IDA). This policy issuance distributes funding to be used for the aforementioned payments and establishes the guidelines MWAs are to follow in issuing these payments. FUNDS ARE CONTINGENT ON DELEG’S RECEIPT OF STATE ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD APPROVAL AND ENACTMENT OF THE INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES.

Policy: MWAs must provide a $50 payment to FIP recipients who meet their federal work participation requirements for three consecutive calendar months. Guidelines specifying the federal work participation requirements for each family type and all

DELEG is an equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids, services and other reasonable accommodations are available upon request to individuals with disabilities.

BUREAU OF WORKFORCE TRANSFORMATION VICTOR OFFICE CENTER  201 N. WASHINGTON SQUARE, 5TH FLOOR  LANSING, MICHIGAN 48913 www.michigan.gov/dleg  (517) 335-5858  TTY 1-888-605-6722 related stipulations regarding allowable participation activities are outlined in PI 06-11 and its changes.

A One-Stop Management Information System (OSMIS) report listing the participants who are eligible for the $50 payment will be emailed to MWAs at the end of each month. This report, titled the “Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Individual Work Participation Award” report, will contain the participant name, address, contact information, MWA, and the three consecutive months in which the participant met their federal participation requirements. If DELEG determines that a participant has met their federal participation requirements for three consecutive months, the individual will be included in the report distributed the month following the third consecutive month in which the individual met federal participation requirements. For example, if an individual meets their federal participation requirements the months of October 2008, November 2008, and December 2008, the participant’s name and the information listed above will be included in the OSMIS report sent in January 2009. MWAs are to issue a $50 payment to each of their participants identified on these reports, each of the times a given participant’s name appears. MWAs are not to issue such payments to participants who are not included on these reports.

Please note that if an individual meets their federal participation requirements a fourth consecutive month, the individual will be listed on the OSMIS report both the month following the first three-consecutive month period, and the next month. For example, if an individual met their federal participation requirements the months of October 2008, November 2008, December 2008, and January 2009, the individual will be listed on the January 2009 report, for the three-month period of October 2008, November 2008, and December 2008, and the individual will be listed on the February report for the three-month period of November 2008, December 2008, and January 2009. The individual must be issued a separate $50 payment for each of these periods. If the participant in this example also met their participation requirement in February 2009, the participant would be listed on the OSMIS report in March for the period of December 2008, January 2009, and February 2009, and the MWA would required to issue the participant, etc. A $50 payment may be provided to each recipient a maximum of four times, through September 30, 2009. Any given participant will be listed on the TANF Individual Work Participation Award report no more than four times.

Please note that in order to be listed on TANF Individual Work Participation Award OSMIS report and therefore eligible for the $50 payment, an individual must meet federal participation requirements for three consecutive calendar months. Three non-consecutive months will not be combined. For example, if an individual met federal participation requirements for October 2008, November 2008, and January 2009, the individual would not be eligible for the $50 payment, and thus not listed on the OSMIS report. The next three consecutive month period in which the individual would have the opportunity to be eligible for the $50 payment would be January 2009, February 2009, and March 2009.

of 5 The process for determining whether an individual met federal participation requirements for a particular month will be conducted three times; once each of the three months following the month being evaluated. For example, the participation in the month of October 2008 will be reviewed once in November 2008, once in December 2008, and once in January 2009. The monthly reports will take into account the actual hours entered into the OSMIS by 7 p.m. the 25th of that month. Thus, if an MWA did not have enough verification in November 2008 regarding participation in October 2008 to enter all of the actual hours required for an individual to meet their participation requirement, but obtained verification by 7 p.m. January 25, 2009 indicating that the participant had in fact participated in the additional hours required to meet requirements in October 2008, the participant would be considered to have meet participation requirements for October 2008 in the January 2009 report (if the actual hours were entered by 7 p.m. January 25th).

Consequently, please note that an individual may be listed up to three times on any given month’s report. MWAs must issue $50 to the individual for each instance the individual’s name is listed on a report. For example, if a participant were listed in the March report three times (once for meeting participation requirements the October-December period, once for meeting participation requirements the November-January period, and once for meeting participation requirements for the December-February period), the MWA would be required to issue that participant $150 dollars upon receipt of the March report.

Applicable Months

The funds allocated through this policy issuance apply to the period of October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009. However, due to the time required for DELEG to determine whether a family has met their federal participation requirement for a given month, the last month to be reviewed for participation information will be August 2009. The TANF Individual Work Participation Award OSMIS reports will be mailed the months of January 2009 through September 2009 (each monthly report accounts for participation through the end of the previous month). Thus, the last three consecutive month period for which a participant may be awarded a $50 incentive payment is the period from June 2009 through August 2009.

Two-parent Families

If a two-parent family meets its federal work participation requirements for three consecutive months, each of the parents will be listed on the TANF Individual Work Participation Award report, regardless of how the hours of participation were distributed between the parents. For example, if a family’s federal work participation requirement is 35 hours per week, and one parent participated in all 35 countable work participation hours per week for the three consecutive months while the other parent participated in zero, each parent will still be listed on the OSMIS report, and each parent is to be issued a $50 payment.

of 5 Distribution of Payments

The method for distributing the payments of $50 is left to the discretion of the MWA. Methods of payment may include, but are not limited to, checks, direct deposit payments, or pre-paid credit cards.

Please note, if an OSMIS report indicates that a terminated participant is eligible for an incentive payment, MWAs must issue the payment to the individual, regardless.

Individual Development Account Payments

A recipient who is eligible for the $50 incentive payment described above may also elect to receive an additional $25 to be placed in an IDA. If a recipient elects to receive the additional $25, the payment must be distributed into the recipient’s existing IDA or the recipient must have an IDA created for receipt of the payment. Individuals must meet all eligibility criteria for obtaining an IDA in order to qualify for the additional $25 payment, as the payment may only be placed into an IDA. Participants are to be informed that the $25 incentive payment placed into an IDA will not be matched by the Michigan IDA Partnership, as other funds placed into an IDA would be. Please note that an IDA Program may not exist in all MWA areas. Please see http://www.michigan.gov/mshda/0,1607,7-141- 45866_45869-177685--,00.html for further detail on IDAs, including eligibility criteria for establishing an IDA.

Informing Participants

MWAs must provide information to participants regarding the $50 incentive payments and the additional $25 IDA incentive payments, including eligibility requirements for the payments and expected time frames for customers’ receipt of the payments. This information is to be provided during the orientation session at a minimum. For participants who attended an orientation session prior to the date of this policy issuance, the information should be provided during the next case management contact.

Receipt of TANF Individual Work Participation Award OSMIS Reports

The TANF Individual Work Participation Award OSMIS Reports will be mailed electronically to the staff member indicated on the OSMIS under “Special Functions”, “Staff Admin”, “Staff Account Admin”.

Documentation of Payments Issued

MWAs are to record all issued work participation incentive awards on the OSMIS. Such payments are to be documented in the recipient’s case record as

of 5 the supportive service titled “TANF Participation Award”. The supportive service funding code to be used on the OSMIS for these payments is “TANF Work Participation Award”.

Please note, MWAs must also enter this information for customers who were terminated prior to being issued an incentive payment.

Fund Source and Fund Type

The fund source and fund type for the Customer Work Participation Incentive Payment funds is 23F.

Administrative Costs

A maximum of 12 percent of the MWA’s allocation may be used on administrative costs associated with distributing the incentive payments to participants.

Unclaimed funds

Please see the Michigan Department of Treasury, Unclaimed Property Division Manual for Reporting Unclaimed Property at http://www.michigan.gov/documents/2013i_2598_7.pdf for procedures for handling unclaimed or uncashed payments. Such unclaimed payments may not be reclaimed by the MWA for use towards program, administrative, or other costs.

Action: MWAs must submit a Budget Information Summary (BIS) to both Ms. Barbara Elkins at [email protected] and the MWA’s assigned Welfare Reform state coordinator within 30 days of the issuance date of this policy. Approval/Modification Request Pages are not required.

Inquiries: Questions regarding this policy issuance should be directed to your Welfare Reform state coordinator at (517) 335-5858.

The information contained in this policy issuance will be made available in alternative format (large type, audio tape, etc.) upon special request received by this office.

Expiration Date: September 30, 2009

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of 5 JOBS, EDUCATION, AND TRAINING (JET) TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES (TANF) CUSTOMER WORK PARTICIPATION INCENTIVE PAYMENTS BUDGET INFORMATION SUMMARY (BIS) INSTRUCTIONS

SECTION I - IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION

1. Michigan Works! Agency (MWA): Enter the name of the MWA.

2. MWA Number: Enter the number assigned to the MWA.

3. Program Title: Enter the program title. “Jobs, Education, and Training” has been preprinted.

4. Policy Issuance (PI) Number: Enter the appropriate PI number. “08-XX” has been preprinted.

5. Plan Period: Identify the time period covered by the plan (e.g., 10-01-08 through 09-30-09). “10-01-08 through 09-30-09” has been preprinted.

SECTION II - TOTAL FUNDS AVAILABLE

1. Allocation: Enter total amount allocated for the plan period.

SECTION III - CURRENT PLANNED EXPENDITURES BY COST CATEGORY

1. Payments: Enter the amount to be spent on the customer work participation incentive payments during the plan period.

a. Enter the amount to be spent on $50 incentive payments during the plan period.

b. Enter the amount to be spent on additional $25 Individual Development Account payments during the plan period.

2. Administration: Enter the amount to be spent on costs associated with the general administration and coordination of the program for the plan period. Limited to 12 percent of the MWA’s allocated funds.

Examples of Administrative Costs taken from the TANF Regulations:

 Salaries and benefits of staff performing administrative and coordination functions;

 Preparation of program plans, budgets, and schedules;

 Monitoring of programs and projects;  Fraud and abuse units;

 Procurement activities;

 Public relations;

 Services related to accounting, litigation, audits, management of property, payroll, and personnel;

 Costs for the goods and services required for the administration of the programs (e.g., supplies, equipment, postage, utilities, rental and maintenance of office space);

 Travel costs incurred for official business;

 Management and information systems not related to the tracking and monitoring of TANF requirements (e.g., payroll system for the MWA staff); and

 Preparing reports and other documents.

3. Total Planned Expenditures: Enter the total of the lines above to obtain the total planned expenditures for the plan period. JOBS, EDUCATION, AND TRAINING (JET) TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES (TANF) CUSTOMER WORK PARTICIPATION INCENTIVE PAYMENTS BUDGET INFORMATION SUMMARY

SECTION I – IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION 1. Michigan Works! Agency (MWA): 2. MWA Number: 3. Program Title: Jobs, Education, and Training 4. Policy Issuance Number: 08-XX 5. Plan Period: 10-01-08 through 09-30-09

SECTION II – TOTAL FUNDS AVAILABLE Funding Source: TANF Amounts 1. Allocation $

SECTION III – PLANNED EXPENDITURES BY COST CATEGORY Cost Categories Amounts 1. Payments a. $50 payments $ b. Additional $25 IDA Payments $ 2. Administration (limited to 12% of allocation) $ 3. Total Planned Expenditures $

The Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth does not discriminate in employment or in the provision of services based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, height, weight, marital status, arrest without conviction, disability, political affiliation or belief, in programs funded under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996. Fiscal Year 2009 Jobs, Education, and Training Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Customer Work Participation Incentive Payment Allocations

Michigan Works! FY 2009 Agency Allocation ($) ACSET 82,335 Berrien/Cass/Van Buren 39,414 Calhoun ISD 47,384 Capital Area 48,380 Career Alliance 119,673 Central Area 25,310 City of Detroit 345,194 Eastern U.P. 5,747 The Job Force 12,839 Kalamazoo-St. Joseph 44,613 Livingston County 3,398 Macomb/St. Clair 70,810 Muskegon County 57,044 Northeast 15,094 Northwest 20,362 Oakland County 63,041 Ottawa County 7,971 Region 7B 21,119 Saginaw/Midland/Bay 70,997 South Central 32,321 SEMCA 134,055 Thumb Area 17,160 Washtenaw County 22,796 West Central 18,475 Western U.P. 8,193

Total 1,333,725

The distribution of funds is based on the following data. Data is for the period of April 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008.

1) Average FIP caseload (50%) 2) Total new FIP cases (20%) 3) Total JET participants by MWA (30%)