1351 Sanctions | TANF

A material violation is a failure by an individual to meet, unless good cause exists, any of the following:

The individual who committed the material violation does not have to be a member of the AU.

Refer to Section 1345 Personal Responsibility Requirements, Section 1349 Work Requirements, and Section 1335 Living with a Specified Relative.

A sanction is the application of a 25% reduction or termination of cash assistance for the commission of a material violation by an individual without good cause.

A sanction is imposed on the entire AU. The individual who committed the material violation remains a member of the AU, if otherwise eligible.

The sanction is assigned to the individual who committed the material violation.

The sanction follows the individual if he or she leaves the AU. The sanction does not follow the dependent children.

An individual who may have committed a material violation has the right to claim good cause for failing to meet the requirement.

An individual may claim good cause at any time concerning the original material violation.

Good cause for failure to meet a requirement of the TFSP or to report that a child left the home is defined as a situation, event, or condition beyond the individual’s control, which temporarily prevents the individual from meeting one of those requirements.

When the individual asserts a claim of good cause, the county must determine whether the claim merits a good cause exception.

Examples of good cause for failure to meet a requirement include, but are not limited to, the following:

Refer to Section 1347 School Attendance, for additional good cause provisions related to the personal responsibility of ensuring that minor children attend school.

If the individual claims good cause and the worker determines that good cause did in fact exist, the individual did not commit a material violation.

If the individual claims good cause and the worker determines that good cause did not exist, the individual did commit a material violation.

Conciliation is the process by which the case manager provides an individual with the opportunity to discuss the material violation that may have been committed.

An individual can conciliate a material violation only one time in his or her receipt of TANF.

Conciliation is only available prior to the first step in the sanction process.

The conciliation process provides the individual who may have committed the material violation an opportunity to meet with the worker and discuss the following:

The worker initiates the conciliation process by scheduling a conciliation appointment with the individual who may have committed the material violation.

The individual who may have committed the material violation is the grantee relative and/or parent who signed the TSFP.

The grantee relative must attend the conciliation interview with the individual who may have committed the material violation, if the violator is someone other than the grantee relative.

The case manager is required to initiate conciliation only once for a personal responsibility, work requirement or failure to report a child absent from the home, unless there is good cause.

After an individual has conciliated one time, the worker will not provide that individual with another conciliation opportunity if the individual fails again, without good cause, to meet a personal responsibility or work requirement or to report a child absent from the home.

A successful conciliation is one in which the individual who committed the material violation agrees to meet the requirement in the future. This is a conciliated material violation and no sanction is imposed.

A subsequent failure to meet any requirement will result in a sanction, without an opportunity to conciliate. The individual always has the right to claim good cause concerning the original material violation.

An unsuccessful conciliation is one in which the individual who committed the material violation indicates that he or she will not cooperate, and good cause cannot be established. This is an unconciliated material violation.

Conciliation that results in a good cause determination does not constitute use of the individual’s one conciliation.

When an individual fails to respond to a request for conciliation without good cause, including failure to keep the conciliation appointment, the AU’s application must be denied or cash assistance terminated for failure to cooperate with the conciliation process. The worker must document the reason for TANF closure and the pending conciliation.

A notice must be sent to the AU explaining the reason for the closure for failure to cooperate. Timely notice is required for a recipient. A sanction is not imposed.

An individual may have good cause for not keeping the conciliation appointment.

If the AU reapplies, conciliation must take place prior to approval. Failure to successfully conciliate at application will result in denial.

Use of the conciliation process at application, whether pending from a previous receipt or resulting from a material violation committed during the application process, constitutes the use of the individual’s right to one conciliation.

An applicant who fails to participate with applicant services or meet a personal responsibility requirement without good cause, and who does not successfully conciliate, will be denied. No sanction will be imposed for failure to meet work requirements or personal responsibility requirements at application.

A recipient who fails to meet a TFSP requirement without good cause, and who does not successfully conciliate, will cause the AU to be sanctioned.

An applicant or recipient who fails without good cause to keep an appointment with a case manager to discuss eligibility or work requirements will cause the AU’s application to be denied or cash assistance terminated.

Sanctions are imposed in a progressive two-step reduction/ termination process. An AU will receive a 25% reduction in cash assistance for the first material violation without good cause, and a termination of cash assistance for a second material violation without good cause. If the AU reapplies after the initial termination period expires, the two-step process begins again, but results in a longer termination period.

Once any sanction is imposed, there is no opportunity for the AU to comply in order to lift it. The sanction remains in place until the expiration of the appropriate time period.

An individual who has been sanctioned can choose to volunteer to participate in work activities. If the individual volunteers to participate, they can receive all work supports as needed. The client’s request for support services is subject to the case manager’s approval.

The case manager should take into consideration voluntary participation during a sanction period. Work participation hours entered for a work eligible individual are not countable towards the work participation rate during a sanction period but will count against the individual’s limit for any time limited activity.

After the one-time-only conciliation is used, the commission of another material violation will result in the first step in the two-step sanction process, a first sanction and a 25% reduction in the cash assistance.

The sanction is imposed on the entire AU. The individual who committed the material violation remains a member of the AU, if otherwise eligible.

The AU may claim good cause at any time concerning the material violation.

The case manager must provide the AU with timely notice via the Form 329, TANF Sanction. This notice is auto generated when the sanction has been imposed and authorized in Gateway.

The 25% reduction in cash assistance to the AU is applied effective the month following the month in which the timely notice expires. Sanctions are not imposed for historical months.

A sanction is considered imposed when timely notice expires.

Once imposed, the first sanction must continue for three calendar months.

A closure for any reason during the first sanction period will result in the first sanction pending until such time as the AU is approved for TANF again.

There is no compliance process.

The AU may avoid the first sanction by meeting the requirement before the timely notice expires.

The AU may request voluntary closure of the case, but the sanction will be imposed if the AU reapplies at a later date and is determined to be eligible.

The commission of another material violation after the first sanction will result in the second step of the two-step process, a second sanction.

There is no opportunity for conciliation prior to the imposition of a second sanction.

A second sanction will result in termination of cash assistance for three full calendar months.

The AU may claim good cause at any time concerning the material violation. The case manager must provide the AU with timely notice via Form 329, TANF Sanction Notice. This notice is auto generated when the sanction has been imposed and authorized in Gateway.

The AU may avoid the second sanction by meeting the requirement before the timely notice expires.

The second sanction is considered imposed when timely notice expires and is effective the following month.

Once imposed, the second sanction must continue for three full calendar months. There is no compliance process.

An AU on which a second sanction has been imposed may reapply for cash assistance at any time. However, the application must be denied if the date of application is more than 45 days prior to the last day of the third calendar month of the three-month sanction period.

The AU cannot receive cash assistance again unless good cause is established based on the material violation that caused the sanction, or the three-month termination is completed.

An AU may not request voluntary closure of the TANF case to avoid a second sanction. The cash assistance will be terminated based on the second sanction and will remain closed for the duration of the three-month period.

Once an AU has been terminated for a second sanction, the two-step sanction process begins again if an individual commits another material violation without good cause.

The AU will receive a 25% reduction in cash assistance for three calendar months for the first subsequent sanction of eligibility and a termination of cash assistance for twelve months for the second subsequent sanction.

There is no opportunity for conciliation prior to the imposition of a subsequent sanction.

All requirements for a first and second sanction apply to subsequent sanctions.

An AU on which a second subsequent sanction has been imposed may reapply for cash assistance at any time. However, the application must be denied if the date of the application is more than 45 days prior to the last day of the twelfth calendar month of the 12-month sanction period.

Once a second subsequent sanction has been imposed and an AU becomes eligible for TANF again after the 12-month sanction period, any material violation will lead to the subsequent sanction process. The first violation will result in a 25% reduction and the next will cause a 12-month termination. This cycle may be repeated for as long as the AU accesses the TANF program during the 48-month lifetime limit and continue to commit material violations.

Every sanction requires written supervisory approval. The supervisor must review the case to ensure that all contacts, attempts to contact, conciliation efforts and justification for the application of the sanction are fully documented.

A panel review must be completed of any case that is about to receive a 12-month termination for a second subsequent sanction.

The panel review must be initiated at the point the worker determines that an individual has committed a material violation that will result in the second subsequent sanction.

The case must be submitted for internal review within the county by the supervisor or other designated county staff.

If the internal review upholds the application of a second subsequent sanction, the case is submitted for a panel review.

The sanction review panel includes the field area’s TANF Program Specialist, the Office of Family Independence (OFI) District Manager, the County Director or his or her designee, and the appropriate supervisor(s) and case manager(s).

The purpose of the panel review is to determine the following:

If the panel review upholds the second subsequent sanction, the case manager must provide the AU with timely notice via the Form 329, TANF Sanction Notice. This notice is auto generated when the sanction has been imposed and authorized in Gateway.

Results of the panel review are documented by the TANF Program Specialist on the panel review checklist. A copy of the checklist must be provided to the OFI District Manager and the OFI Program Manager at the State Office if the second subsequent sanction is imposed.

Before a second subsequent sanction can be imposed, a home visit must be made. The purpose of this home visit is as follows:

A minimum of two attempts to complete the home visit must be made. The county determines how to assign staff to make the home visit.

The Form TANF-HV, TANF Home Visit Guide, must be completed by the case manager at the home visit.

Imposing any sanction requires written timely notice to the AU. The notice of sanction must include the following information:

Failure to satisfy the notice requirements could result in invalidation of the sanction.

TANF regulations require close cooperation between TANF staff and social services staff to ensure that children are not abused or neglected as a result of sanctions.

The case manager must provide the services worker with copies of the TANF Family Service Plan if there is an existing service case of any kind for a TANF AU. The case manager must provide the services worker with a copy of the conciliation appointment letter if an individual commits a material violation and has not already used the one conciliation that is available. Copies of all sanction notices must also be sent to the services worker.

The services worker may attend the conciliation interview and any other appointments the AU may have. The services worker may also attend the second subsequent sanction panel review. A county may determine that a services worker is the appropriate person to make the home visit.

Follow the steps below if an individual may have committed a material violation during the application process and has not previously conciliated:

Impose a first sanction and a 25% reduction if a material violation is committed and the one-time-only conciliation has been used

Take the following actions:

Impose a second sanction if another material violation occurs after a first sanction has been lifted.

Take the following actions:

Impose a subsequent sanction if the AU applies for and becomes eligible for TANF after the three-month termination period ends, and another material violation is committed.

For the first subsequent sanction, impose a 25% reduction in cash assistance. Repeat the actions for a first sanction.

For the second subsequent sanction, take the following actions: