16 Del. Admin. Code § 3000-3011
DSS expects work-eligible adults to participate in either employment or activities related to finding work (e.g. employment and training activities) for the required number of hours twenty (20), thirty (30), or forty (40) hours a week for two (2) consecutive weeks prior to TANF benefits being authorized. The TANF benefit will continue uninterrupted as long as the participation in work or work activities continues for the required number of hours per week (see sections 3006, 3006.1, 30061.1, and 30061.2).
10 DE Reg. 706 (10/01/06)
18 DE Reg. 143 (08/01/14)
Clients must keep appointments with employment and training staff, cooperate in the development of the Employability Plan, and participate in employment and training activities equivalent to the required weekly amounts.
Clients who have secured employment are expected to continue employment unless they have good cause for terminating a job (see Good Cause definition under 3001 Definitions) and participate in approved employment and training activities.
Parents are expected to cooperate with school officials and other service providers in helping their child(ren) maintain satisfactory attendance. Penalties can be imposed if parents do not cooperate. Parents with children under age 16 are expected to exert more influence over their children since early school attendance is so important in moving children down the path to self-sufficiency. (See section DSSM 3009 and 3012 for requirements and sanctions related to cooperation to ensure school attendance by children 16 and over and children under the age of 16.
10 DE Reg. 706 (10/01/06)
This policy applies to cases in which one or more parents are required to participate in TANF employment and training activities.
Each week clients are required to engage in and verify their participation in assigned employment and training activities. The TANF case is sanctioned when a client does not complete the required hours or does not submit the required verification of their hours for any week. The sanction known as a Full Family Sanction or Self-sufficiency Sanction is closure of the TANF case until the sanction is cured or the parent becomes exempt from employment and training requirements.
Each week clients are required to engage in and verify their participation in assigned employment and activities. The TANF case is sanctioned when a needy non-parent caretaker does not complete the required hours or does not submit the required verification of their hours for any week. The sanction is removal of the caretaker from the grant until the sanction is cured or the caretaker becomes exempt from employment and training requirements.
10 DE Reg. 706 (10/01/06)
18 DE Reg. 143 (08/01/14)
This policy applies to TANF cases with a single custodial parent caring for a child under age six and the parent is required to participate in TANF employment and training activities.
A Full Family Sanction is not applied to a TANF case when the parent demonstrates that child care is not available.
Credible evidence of any one of the following conditions demonstrates that child care is not available.
Affordable care is defined as care that would provide access to a full range of child care categories and types of providers; appropriate care is care that meets the health and safety standards as defined by State licensing guidelines, as well as the needs of the parent and child.
Parents who claim an inability to obtain needed child care must contact a DSS worker to press their claim. Parents have ten (10) days, either from the date when they first attempted to find child care or ten (10) days from the date DSS instructed them to participate in work activities.
DSS staff have twenty (20) days to review and decide whether the parent's claim that child care is not available is legitimate. If DSS determines that the parents did not demonstrate their claim, DSS will impose applicable sanctions if the family has not met the employment and training requirement. DSS workers will document in the client's record the client's claim and their legitimacy determination.
While a parent may not be sanctioned as a result of child care being unavailable, the parent is not exempt from the TANF time limits.
18 DE Reg. 143 (08/01/14)
This policy applies to TANF cases that have been sanctioned as a result of not meeting the TANF requirements for employment and training.
To cure the sanction clients must work with an assigned employment and training vendor. The vendor will develop a plan with the client that specifies the weekly activities and hours the client must complete to be in compliance with the TANF program. Based on family composition clients are generally required to complete twenty (20), thirty (30), or forty (40) hours per week of approved activities.
To cure the Full Family Sanction clients must complete and submit required verification of their required activities and hours to the employment and training vendor. They must complete four (4) consecutive weeks of full participation.
For the TANF program purposes a week is a seven (7) day period which begins on Monday and ends on Sunday.
When the TANF family has remained technically and financially eligible for TANF during the cure sanction period, once the requirement of four (4) consecutive weeks of full and verified participation has been completed the TANF case will reopen effective the first day of the four (4) week cure sanction period.
16 Del. Admin. Code § 3000-3011