Date of Adoption: June 27, 2002.

     Purpose: The Division of Employment and Assistance Programs is adopting this new rule to create a child safetynet payment status for clients who are in sanction for not meeting WorkFirst program requirements and have surpassed the sixty month time limit for TANF/SFA (temporary assistance to needy families/state financial assistance).

     New WAC 388-310-1650 WorkFirst -- Child safetynet payments.

     Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 74.08A.010(4), 74.08A.340, 74.08.090, 74.04.050.

      Adopted under notice filed as WSR 02-10-076 on April 26, 2002.

     Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0;      Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
     Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.

June 27, 2002

Brian H. Lindgren, Manager

Rules and Policies Assistance Unit

     A Child SafetyNet Payment (CSNP) is a TANF/SFA time limit extension to maintain housing and basic utilities and other verified needs of the children in your household. (See WAC 388-484-0006.) Your family will get a Child SafetyNet Payment extension instead of a regular TANF/SFA time limit extension if:

     (a) You or another adult in your household has been getting TANF/SFA for more than sixty months; and

     (b) Someone in your household is in sanction status because they are not exempt (see WAC 388-310-0300 and 388-310-0350) and have refused to do WorkFirst requirements without a good reason. We will not place you into CSNP status unless we first offered you the opportunity to talk about the proposed sanction as required by WAC 388-310-1600(2) and gave you notice that we did not think you had a good reason for failing to meet WorkFirst requirements as required by WAC 388-310-1600(4).

     (2) How will I know if my family will be getting a Child SafetyNet Payment?

     We will send you a letter that tells:

     (a) What caused your household to go into sanction status;

     (b) When your Child SafetyNet Payments will start;

     (c) How to request a fair hearing if you disagree with the decision; and

     (d) How to become qualified for regular TANF/SFA time limit extension benefits.

     (3) Are there penalties when my household gets a Child SafetyNet Payment?

     (a) When your household gets a Child SafetyNet Payment:

     (i) We reduce your grant by forty percent or the noncompliant person's share, whichever is more; and

     (ii) Send your family's CSNP to a protective payee.

     (b) The protective payee can only pay your verified rent and utility costs with your CSNP and will spend anything left over to pay your children's expenses (like clothing, diapers, toiletries, school supplies or other school-related costs).

     (c) The Child SafetyNet Payment is cash assistance and if you get more than you are eligible to get, then we can recover the amount we overpaid you under chapter 388-410 WAC.

     (4) How do I end the penalties and get out of CSNP status?

     To stop the penalties and get out of CSNP status, you must:

     (a) Prove that you have been doing your WorkFirst requirements for one full month; or

     (b) Prove that you had a good reason not to do your required activities (see WAC 388-310-1600(3)); or

     (c) Become exempt from WorkFirst requirements (see WAC 388-310-0350).

     (5) What happens when I leave CSNP status?

     Once you leave CSNP status:

     (a) All your penalties will end if you proved that you had a good reason not to do your WorkFirst requirements or you became exempt; or

     (b) You will go into level three of sanction status described in WAC 388-310-1600(6). Your grant will be sent to a protective payee and reduced by forty percent or the noncompliant person's share, whichever is more.

     (c) The level three sanction penalties will end after you do all your WorkFirst requirements for four weeks in a row.

     (6) What if I reapply for TANF or SFA and my family was in CSNP status a when my case closed?

     If your case closes while you are in CSNP status, you will go back into CSNP status when your grant is reopened.

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