1007-9          PENALTY RESOLUTION

Before increasing a penalty to a higher percentage, a Penalty Resolution (PR) visit must be completed. The purpose of a PRPre-Employment Skills visit before imposing a 75% or full reduction in assistance is to ensure that everything possible has been done to re-engage the family in efforts toward self-sufficiency and to determine the effect of the reduction on the children. Penalty Resolution visits are intended to achieve the following objectives:

• To observe the family's situation;
• To encourage the recipient to comply with the activity for which they were penalized;
• To determine if the recipient is refusing to comply, unable to comply, or needs additional supports or services; and,
• To gather information to assess the impact of further reductions in benefits if the recipient is able, but chooses not to comply.

To following actions must be taken before a family's assistance can be reduced by 75% or 100%:

1. Complete a PRPre-Employment Skills.
2. Consider any information obtained from a PRPre-Employment Skills, other information about the family, and the availability of services in the community that might fit the family's needs.
3. Determine if the health, safety, and well-being of the children in the family will not be significantly jeopardized by imposition of the 75% or 100% reduction in assistance.
4. Document the health, safety, and well-being determination.

Note:

As an agent of the State of Alaska, Work Services providers are mandated reporters and will comply with guidance in Admin MS 100-9. Work Services providers must describe their reporting protocol in their internal procedure manual.

1007-9 A.      ARRANGING THE PENALTY RESOLUTION VISIT

The PRPre-Employment Skills visit is made any time after the initial penalty is imposed and before a further reduction is made. The PRPre-Employment Skills visit may be made by the case manager, other designated staff, partner agencies, or an approved vendor. The visit may be made with staff from other agencies if appropriate releases of information have been obtained.

A decision may be made, in consultation with a supervisor, that a PRPre-Employment Skills visit cannot be attempted due to lack of staff or travel resources, or because the home's location is inaccessible or remote. This decision must be documented in a CLNOClient Notes in CMSCase Management System. In these cases, the family's assistance may not be reduced further.

Procedures for conducting a PRPre-Employment Skills visit must be described in the Work Service provider internal procedures manual. The essential steps for arranging a PRPre-Employment Skills visit are:

1. Contact the recipient to arrange a PRPre-Employment Skills visit at a time and place agreeable to the family. Not all families have a traditional primary residence. The PRPre-Employment Skills visit should take place at the client's home or primary place of residence. The primary place of residence for some families could be in a multi-family home, a shelter, or another temporary housing situation.

2. More than one means of contacting the family may be needed and each may need to be tried more than once. Methods include telephone calls, messages left at contact numbers, or in-person meetings. A notice may also be sent to the family asking them to contact the worker to schedule the visit.

3. If the recipient cannot be reached, schedule a time and send a notice to the family informing them when and where the PRPre-Employment Skills visit will be made and asking them to respond if they want to schedule a different time or location.

4. Explain that the purpose of the PRPre-Employment Skills visit is to explore the family's situation, discuss ways to end the reduction to their assistance, and describe what will happen next if they continue noncompliance.

5. Document each attempt to arrange the PRPre-Employment Skills in a client note (CLNO) in CMSCase Management System.

1007-9 B.      CONDUCTING THE PENALTY RESOLUTION VISIT

Use the Penalty Resolution form TA 40 to conduct and provide initial documentation about the findings of the PRPre-Employment Skills visit. The notes on the form are then transferred into a CLNOClient Notes in CMSCase Management System.

The following elements help to determine penalty resolution or progression to 75%:

• The family's understanding of the reasons for the penalty;

• Whether they will take action to comply with the activity for which the penalty was imposed and if not, any reasons they gave;

• Problems or challenges that need to be addressed so that the recipient can comply if they are willing, or if the recipient is now exempt from completing the required activity;

• Revisions to the family self-sufficiency plan and what additional supports and services are to be provided;

• A description of the family's basic living expenses for housing, utilities, food, clothing, or transportation, and any child support obligations that must be met for a child not in the home;

• A description of the extent to which the family's available income, resources, and supports will cover these expenses;

• A description of community services that are available to meet the family's basic needs, and an assessment of whether further reduction in the assistance amount will result in conditions that threaten the children's health or safety by depriving them of essential needs.