723-3          ENDING A PENALTY

Once an individual expresses their intention to comply, certain activities need to be completed before the penalty is ended.

723-3 A.      DETERMINING COMPLIANCE

1. Developing an FSSPFamily Self-Sufficiency Plan or cooperating with CSSDChild Support Services Division.

Compliance occurs once the individual develops and signs their FSSPFamily Self-Sufficiency Plan or takes action to cooperate with CSSDChild Support Services Division.

2. Work or self-sufficiency activities

To end a work or self-sufficiency activities penalty, the individual must participate in the missed activity, or an alternate activity as described below, to be in compliance. For activities such as job search, that occurs over a period of time, participants may be required to demonstrate their commitment by participating in the required activity for up to:

• 5 days for a first failure to comply;
• 10 days for a second failure to comply; and
• 30 days for a third or subsequent failure to comply.

3. Compliance that requires participation in an alternative activity

When the activity that was originally agreed upon by the participant and case manager occurs only weekly or monthly (e.g., vocational counseling), is no longer available (e.g., a special training opportunity), or is no longer appropriate, the Work Services case manager works with the participant to identify an alternative activity to demonstrate compliance.

The alternate activity may be one that is already included in the family's FSSPFamily Self-Sufficiency Plan, or a newly identified activity that moves the family toward self-sufficiency. If necessary, the family's self-sufficiency plan is updated to include the new activity. The individual may be required to participate in the alternative activity for a period of time, as outlined in subsection 2 above.

723-3 B.      RESTORING BENEFITS

Benefits are restored to the date the individual stated their intent to comply, or the date they actually comply, whichever is earlier. The penalty end date entered into the system must be the day prior to the compliance date that was determined by either the client's case manager or CSSDChild Support Services Division.

The case manager will work with the participant to clearly identify an action that can be taken to comply. Compliance must begin within 10 days for benefits are not restored back to the original date of their statement of intent.

Example 1 - Ending a WAWork Activity Penalty:

Lisa Bell is serving her first WA penalty for not performing her work activities as she previously agreed upon in her FSSPFamily Self-Sufficiency Plan. Her Work Services case manager was able to verify that Lisa started performing her work activities again on Monday, 7/7/19 and she had complied with performing 36 hours of work activities by Friday 7/11/19.

Lisa's case manager notified DPADivision of Public Assistance by setting an alert and entering a CANOCase Notes saying that Lisa's WAWork Activity penalty should be ended and that her date of intent was 7/07/2019. The caseworker ends her WAWork Activity penalty by entering the end date of 7/09/2019 in EISEligibility Information System, issues a supplemental ATAPAlaska Temporary Assistance Program benefit for the month of July, and restores full benefits for the month of August.

Example 2 - Ending an SSSelf Sufficiency Penalty:

Chris Davis has an SS penalty that went into effect on 5/1/19. It was previously requested by his Work Services case manager on 4/16/19 after he missed his appointment to develop an FSSPFamily Self-Sufficiency Plan on 4/10/19.

Chris developed and signed a current FSSPFamily Self-Sufficiency Plan on 5/7/19. The Work Services case manager entered a CANOCase Notes and set an alert requesting the SS penalty be ended and states that Chris developed a current FSSPFamily Self-Sufficiency Plan on 5/7/19.

The caseworker ends the SSSelf Sufficiency penalty by entering the end date of 5/6/19 in EISEligibility Information System, issues a supplemental ATAPAlaska Temporary Assistance Program benefit for the month of May, and restores full benefits for the month of June.

Example 3 - Deleting an SSSelf Sufficiency Penalty:

Barry Williams has an SSSelf Sufficiency penalty scheduled for June 2019, it was previously requested by his Work Services case manger 5/12/2019 after he missed his appointment to develop a new FSSPFamily Self-Sufficiency Plan on 5/11/2019.

Barry developed and signed his FSSPFamily Self-Sufficiency Plan on 5/30/2019, but his case manager wasn't able to inform DPADivision of Public Assistance until 6/02/2019 because it was late in the afternoon when they developed the FSSPFamily Self-Sufficiency Plan.

The caseworker receives an alert and CANOCase Notes on 6/02/2019 stating Barry developed his FSSPFamily Self-Sufficiency Plan on 5/30/2019. The caseworker deletes the SS penalty from Barry's case, issues a supplemental ATAPAlaska Temporary Assistance Program benefit for June, and restores full benefits for the month of July.