RSA 167:82. Employment Program Characteristics.

I. The program shall provide financial assistance to assistance groups who meet and comply with all the eligibility and employment program participation requirements under RSA 167:79, 167:80, and 167:81. II. The following persons shall be temporarily exempt from participation in employment-related activities: (a) Dependent children under the age of 16. (b) Dependent children age 16 or older who are full-time students in an elementary, secondary, vocational/technical school, or the equivalent. (c) A parent or caretaker relative who is personally providing care for a child under one year of age, subject to a maximum exemption period for an individual of 12 months over their lifetime. A parent or caretaker relative who has exhausted the maximum allowable exemption and who subsequently gives birth to a child for whom financial assistance is requested, shall be permitted exemption immediately following the child's birth for a maximum period of 12 weeks. (d) A parent or caretaker relative who is 60 years of age or older. (e) A pregnant woman who is deemed medically unable to participate, as certified by a licensed physician. The physician shall certify, on a form provided by the department, the duration and limitations of the disability. (f) A person who is temporarily unable to participate in program requirements due to illness or incapacity as certified by a licensed physician or board certified psychologist. The physician or psychologist shall certify, on a form provided by the department, the duration and limitations of the disability. (g) A parent or caretaker relative required to be in the home to care for another relative or assistance group member who resides in the same household due to that member's illness, or incapacity or disability; and there are no other household members to provide the care; and required care is considered necessary by a licensed physician or board certified psychologist. The physician or psychologist shall certify, on a form provided by the department, the duration that care is required. The household shall meet participation and verification requirements in PRWORA, as amended by the DRA, and federal regulations promulgated thereunder. (h) Temporary exemptions shall remain in effect until the individual enters his or her 40th month of receipt of TANF financial assistance. (i) A person with significant employment-related barriers, as determined by the department by rules adopted pursuant to RSA 541-A, that prevent the person from accepting immediate employment. (j) Any other person as determined by the department by rules adopted pursuant to RSA 541-A as necessary to promote the purpose and goals of this subdivision. III. Financial assistance for an assistance group shall be reduced and can lead to case closure subject to the sanction policy as established under RSA 167:79, VI, 167:82, III, and 167:82, IV and by rules adopted pursuant to RSA 541-A, if a parent or caretaker relative of the assistance group: (a) Fails to assign child support rights to the department. (b) Fails to cooperate with child support requirements without good cause. A parent or caretaker relative shall have good cause for noncooperation with child support requirements when efforts to establish paternity or secure support are against the best interests of the child or parent or caretaker relative or when efforts to establish paternity or secure support can reasonably be anticipated to result in physical or emotional harm to the child or parent or caretaker relative. A parent or caretaker relative shall also have good cause for noncooperation with child support requirements when at least one of the following conditions exists: (1) The child for whom support is sought was conceived as a result of incest or forcible rape; (2) Proceedings for adoption of the child are pending in a court; or (3) A social service agency is helping the parent or caretaker relative decide whether to relinquish the child for adoption, and the discussions have not occurred for more than 3 months. (c) Voluntarily quits a job consisting of at least 20 hours of work per week without good cause 60 days or less prior to the date of application for financial assistance, and such parent or caretaker relative has not become reemployed at a level consisting of at least 20 hours of work per week. Good cause for leaving employment shall include any of the following: (1) Discrimination by an employer based on age, race, sex, color, physical or mental disability, religious belief, national origin, or political beliefs; (2) Work demands or conditions that render continued employment unreasonable, including but not limited to, employment in which the degree of risk to health or safety is unreasonable or employment yielding weekly earnings of less than the state or federal hourly minimum wage; (3) Resignation by a person under the age of 60 which is recognized by the employer as retirement; (4) Employment which becomes or is revealed to be unsuitable following acceptance of such employment, including, but not limited to, employment which the parent or caretaker relative is physically or mentally unfit to perform, or employment in which the distance from the parent or caretaker relative's home to the place of employment is unreasonable considering the wage and the time and cost of commuting; (5) Acceptance by the parent or caretaker relative of new employment or enrollment at least half time in a training or education program, that requires the parent or caretaker relative to leave current employment, provided that the training or education program meets the requirements in RSA 167:85, IV(h) or (i); (6) Leaving a job in order to accept a bona-fide job offer which job offer, because of subsequent circumstances beyond the control of the applicant, is withdrawn or results in employment of fewer than 20 hours per week or weekly earnings of less than the state or federal hourly minimum wage; (7) Leaving a job in connection with patterns of employment in which workers frequently move from one employer to another, such as migrant farm labor or construction work, even though employment at the new site has not actually begun; (8) Leaving a job because of circumstances beyond the control of the parent or caretaker relative which render continued employment impracticable, including but not limited to, lack of transportation or child care, or illness, incapacity or disability of the parent or caretaker relative, or illness, incapacity or disability of another household member serious enough to require the presence in the home of the parent or caretaker relative, net loss of cash income, required court appearance, or mandated appointments; or (9) Other good cause. (d) Voluntarily quits or refuses a job without good cause as defined in RSA 167:82, III(c) while receiving financial assistance. A parent or caretaker relative shall be considered to have voluntarily quit a job while receiving financial assistance if such person fails to report for work without good cause as defined in RSA 167:82, III(c), resulting in the termination of the parent or caretaker relative's employment while receiving assistance. A parent or caretaker relative who is fired or resigns from a job at the request of the employer due to such person's inability to maintain the employer's normal work productivity standard shall not be considered to have voluntarily quit the job. (e) Fails to comply without good cause with ongoing participation requirements in RSA 167:85, 167:88, 167:90, or 167:91. Good cause shall exist when circumstances are beyond the participant's control, including, but not limited to, lack of transportation or child care, or illness, incapacity or disability of the participant, or illness, incapacity or disability of another household member serious enough to require the presence in the home of the participant, net loss of cash income, required court appearance, mandated appointments, or unreasonable risk to the health or safety of any household member. The participant shall be allowed 7 business days from the date of notification of non-compliance to present verifiable information supporting good cause. (f) Fails to comply with other eligibility requirements as determined by the department by rules adopted pursuant to RSA 541-A as necessary to promote the purpose and goals of this subdivision. (g) Fails to provide verification of their participation in required activities or other verification as established by PRWORA, as amended by DRA, and federal regulations promulgated thereunder. IV. Financial assistance for an assistance group shall be reduced if a non-deferred dependent child of the assistance group: (a) Fails to comply without good cause with ongoing participation requirements as required by RSA 167:85, 167:88, 167:90, or 167:91. Good cause shall exist when circumstances are beyond the participant's control, including, but not limited to, lack of transportation or child care, or illness, incapacity or disability of the participant, or illness, incapacity or disability of another household member serious enough to require the presence in the home of the participant, net loss of cash income, required court appearance, mandated appointments, or unreasonable risk to the health or safety of any household member. (b) Failure to comply with other eligibility requirements as determined by the department by rules adopted pursuant to RSA 541-A as necessary to promote the purpose and goals of this subdivision. V. The department shall establish a sanction policy for participants who are non-compliant with program requirements. The goal of the sanction policy shall be to obtain compliance with the work requirements and move the client towards self-sufficiency. The sanction policy shall establish the timing and occurrence of benefit reduction and termination of the TANF financial assistance case for non-compliance as provided in this paragraph. No reduction shall be imposed which disregards the needs of the children when the parent or caretaker relative who is out of compliance lacks the means necessary to immediately come into compliance. The following progression of sanctions shall apply: (a) The initial sanction shall consist of reduction of financial assistance benefits representing the needs of the individual who is out of compliance. The second level of sanction shall consist of reduction of 1/3 of the adjusted payment standard for the assistance group. The third level of the sanction shall consist of reduction of 2/3 of the adjusted payment standard for the assistance group. The initial sanction shall apply for a 2-week period. The second and third levels of sanction shall each apply for a 4-week period, at the end of which the TANF financial assistance case shall close if the participant remains in noncompliance. Progressive sanctions shall apply unless and until the participant demonstrates full compliance. Termination of assistance shall not occur until reasonable efforts for a home visit have been made to ensure that the client was competent to understand the requirement and had the means to come into compliance. (b) For non-compliance in the employment program or for voluntarily quitting a job as defined in RSA 167:82, III(c), full compliance is demonstrated by completion of verifiable participation in approved employment-related activities for 2 consecutive weeks. (c) For non-compliance in paternity identification or assignment of support, full compliance is demonstrated by fully cooperating in all action necessary to identify and establish paternity or to identify, locate, assign and obtain support. (d) For non-compliance by a non-deferred dependent child in participation requirements, the initial sanction shall consist of reduction of financial assistance in the amount established to meet the needs of the dependent child. The benefit reduction shall continue for the duration of the non-compliance. (e) For all sanctions, the reduction period shall apply to the period immediately following the determination of non-compliance. A determination of non-compliance shall be made within 10 business days of an act of non-compliance, barring a finding of good cause. The participant shall be allowed 2 weeks from the date of benefit reduction to demonstrate full compliance. No sanction shall be imposed on a household unless the participant who is out of compliance has received prior written notice of the reason for the reduction of assistance and the specific actions which must be taken in order to reinstate full assistance. (f) A participant, other than a non-deferred dependent child, who is in sanction status for a cumulative period of 3 months over a 12-month period shall have his or her TANF case closed. (g) For a TANF financial assistance case that closes in sanction status, in the event of reapplication for financial assistance at a later time, the participant shall demonstrate full compliance before the TANF financial assistance case may be processed. VI. Participants shall be eligible for medical assistance as categorically needy provided they receive financial assistance under this subdivision, or are otherwise eligible to receive such assistance but do not. An assistance group that becomes ineligible due to new or increased earnings shall remain eligible for medical assistance for 12 months from when the assistance group became ineligible pursuant to rules adopted under RSA 541-A. VII. (a) Financial assistance payments shall be based on the characteristics of the assistance group under this section and the standard of need and payment standard as authorized in RSA 167:7, II. The financial assistance grant is the difference between the assistance group's net income and the payment standard. The financial assistance payments may be contingent on the performance of program activities and may be made after the performance of such program activities. The following disregards and deductions shall be allowed in determining net income: (1) An applicant earned income disregard. (2) A participant earned income disregard. (3) A deduction for all amounts actually paid by the assistance group for court-ordered payments. (4) A deduction for amounts actually paid for child care expenses not to exceed the applicable rate as determined by the department by rules adopted pursuant to RSA 541-A. (5) [Repealed.] (6) Any other disregard or deduction established by the department by rules adopted pursuant to RSA 541-A as necessary to promote the purpose and goals of this subdivision. (b) The department may establish the amount of the earned income disregard or any other disregard or deduction by rules adopted pursuant to RSA 541-A. VIII. When the department has made a final determination that a parent or caretaker relative, without good cause, has failed to comply with employment program work requirements under RSA 167:85, and assistance to the household has been reduced or closed pursuant to RSA 167:82, III(c)-(e) or IV(a), the amount of reduction shall be a qualified state assistance reduction. The reduction or closure shall remain a qualified state assistance reduction for so long as the parent or caretaker relative is a New Hampshire employment program recipient and maintains the present ability to cure the reduction by complying with employment program work requirements. The department shall provide advance notice to the parent or caretaker relative of the amount and effective date of the qualified state assistance reduction or closure and that a city or town may consider the amount as deemed income for purposes of calculating eligibility for and the amount of general assistance. Upon request, the department, in a timely manner, shall make available to the welfare administrator of any city or town information as to the existence and amount of any qualified state assistance reduction or closure or denial that has been imposed on any person applying for assistance from that municipality. Such reporting shall be in accordance with a confidentiality agreement executed between the department and the New Hampshire Local Welfare Administrators Association and in a manner sufficient to enable the tracking of any additional municipal cost which may result from the qualified assistance reduction, closure, or denial. Source: Source. 1995, 310:62. 1996, 170:3, II; 175:4. 2006, 325:8. 2007, 349:9-12, eff. Sept. 14, 2007.