TANF

TANF State Plan

EFFECTIVE October 1, 2005
Executive Office of The Governor
State Capitol
500 East Capitol
Pierre, South Dakota 57501-5070

"States must resubmit TANF State Plans to renew eligibility status for federal TANF funds.  South Dakota's state plan has not changed.  It is being resubmitted in the same format as the previous plan that was submitted and deemed complete.  On an ongoing basis we respond to questions/ comments about our plan and program from various agencies and individuals.  The states' website includes the State TANF Plan as well as the administrative rules, TANF forms, and caseload statistics.  Questions/ comments may be submitted at any time."


TANF BACKGROUND
The elimination of an open-ended entitlement program changed the focus of welfare from providing financial assistance to one of assisting families as they move into work and ultimately self sufficiency.  In May 1994, South Dakota began promoting self sufficiency through the implementation of a welfare reform 1115 waiver.  The objectives of that waiver were to strengthen families by increasing parental responsibilities, reducing long term dependency on the welfare system, and encouraging employment.  With its implementation the eligibility process changed, whereby the primary emphasis in working with recipients/applicants moved from eligibility and benefit determination to having two equally important components:  1) determining eligibility and  2) promoting work first and self sufficiency.  The TANF philosophy and goals of the program were developed through discussion between top state and department officials and local department and partner-agency staff, and representatives from the private/public sector. Reinforcement of the goals and ongoing training is provided to staff at the state, district and local levels as the program continues to evolve.  Performance of staff is evaluated through established review processes as well as less formal forums such as one-on-one supervision, partnering with co-workers and intradepartmental staff is used to provide staff with relevant skills to meet the goals of the program. 

GOALS, RESULTS, AND PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT
The overarching goal for the department is to use TANF funds so:

  • Children are cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives;

  • Parents are less dependent on governmental benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage;

  • Out-of-wedlock pregnancies are prevented or at least reduced;

  • Strong two-parent families will be formed and maintained.

Many governmental and private sector organizations have helped shape and remain involved in the current TANF welfare reform plan.  Examples include:   

  1. Cooperative Extension Service agents;

  2. WIA funded career learning centers;

  3. The Department of Labor One Stop Career Centers;

  4. Tribal JOBS Welfare-to-Work programs;

  5. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Indian Health Services (IHS);

  6. Community Action Programs;

  7. Head Start Programs;

  8. The Department of Education and Cultural Affairs and local school districts;

  9. The Department of Health;

  10. The Department of Human Services; and

  11. The Social Security Administration.

All subcontractors including the Department of Labor and other non-profit organizations are expected to meet these outcomes and performance measures: 

  1. Increase employment among adults who receive welfare;

  • Number of TANF recipients who enter employment;

  1. Increase family income, help them get jobs with health insurance benefits, and improve the well being of children from welfare families; 

  • Achieve a specific average starting wage;

  • Percentage of all job placements with employer provided health insurance;

  • More families using licensed/approved child care providers

  1. Encourage more participants to accomplish program mile stones;

  • Persons preparing for a GED or high school diploma;

  • Persons in vocational training;

  • Persons in short-term skills training projects;

  1. Create obligations for participants to become self sufficient faster;

  • Persons in community work;

  • Persons in job clubs or pre-employment job readiness workshops;

  • Persons in self directed job searches;

  • Swift and strict sanctions for non-participation;

  • Close monitoring of participation;

  • A large portion of cases will be involved in 20 or 30 hours per week in a work activity (depending on age of youngest child).

  1. Help applicants avoid public assistance by offering diversion programs;

  • Offer diversion programs at all office locations;

  1. Reduce recidivism; 

  • Persons receiving transitional child care or medical benefits;

  • Persons receiving transitional employment payments;

  • Persons receiving the Earned Income Tax Credit, Work Opportunity Tax Credit, or other work related benefits;

  • Persons getting follow-along job retention and re-employment services;

  1. Achieve TANF participation requirements contained in section 407 with all families;

  • Percent of families who are “engaged in work”;  and

  • Average number of hours performed each week by individuals.

Accountability for measuring the above outcomes and performance level is accomplished with these steps: 

  • Automated client information tracking system and associated reports;

  • Internal management review process;  and

  • On-site local office reviews. 

NEEDY FAMILIES
The TANF program will assist low-income South Dakota families with a dependent child or children under the age of 18, or under the age of 19 and a full-time student in a secondary school,  who have been deprived of parental support and care due to the continued absence, incapacity, or  death of at least one parent.

There must be a specific degree of relationship between a child and a parent or relative in order to be eligible for assistance.  Acceptable degrees of relationship are as follows: 

  1. Father, mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew or niece, including those of half blood; relatives of the preceding generation denoted by the prefixes of grand, great, or great-great; first cousin once removed; and great-great-great grandparent;

  2. A person who achieves the degree of relationship specified in (1) by the process of legal adoption;

  3. Spouses of any of the relatives specified in (1) or (2) even though the marriage is terminated by death or divorce; and,

  4. Any individual specified in (1), (2) or (3) who have a step relationship with the child even though the marriage is terminated by death or divorce.

Needy families are defined as those families whose income and resources are within limits according to Administrative Rules of South Dakota (ARSD) CHAPTER 67:10:03 - INCOME REQUIREMENTS, including 10:03:03 “Income Exempt from Consideration”; 10:03:04 “Deductions from Income”; 10:03:05 “Standard Earned Income Deduction” and CHAPTER  67:10:04 – RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS.  These limits are set by the State legislature or the Secretary of the Department of Social Services via Administrative Rule making authority granted under South Dakota State law.

All families, in State operated TANF areas, have access to the same program and services.  In addition this same program is offered to families who have moved from another state.  Eligible citizens and eligible qualified aliens are also treated the same.  The State provides federally funded TANF assistance to qualified aliens to the maximum extent allowable under federal law. South Dakota Administrative Rules chapter 67:10:01 “General Provisions” addresses citizenship and alienage, and assistance for qualified aliens.  Provisions of Public Law 104-193 section 402(b)(2) (110 Stat.2264) are followed.  Likewise the provisions in P.L. 106-386 Division A, 114 Stat. 1464 are followed in regards to victims of trafficking.

South Dakota does not provide any State funded assistance for individuals who are barred for their first five years.

The privacy and confidentiality of families is protected by South Dakota Codified Law - SDCL 28-1-29, which states, "All applications and records concerning any applicant for, or recipient of, public assistance provided under the laws of this state through the department of social services shall be confidential except:

  1. For inspection by persons duly authorized by this state or the United States in connection with their official duties;

  2. For the purpose of fair hearings provided by law."

The state uses a system of Fair Hearings, administered through South Dakota Administrative Rules (ARSD) 67:17:02 which gives applicants and beneficiaries the right to challenge a decision. 

WORK AND SELF-SUFFICIENCY
The goal for work and self-sufficiency is to move applicants/recipients into whatever private sector job they are capable of handling, as quickly as possible, while trying to empower them to support their own families.  

An applicant who applies for TANF assistance must sign a Personal Responsibility Agreement and complete/sign their Personal Responsibility Plan as a condition of eligibility. A Personal Responsibility Plan and an assessment will be done to determine parents who are ready to “engage in work” as defined by this Act.  The department will meet the minimum requirements contained in section 408 relating to Personal Responsibility Plans.   The state completes plans with custodial parent regardless of age, and with youth 16 years of age or older, who hasn’t completed high school or a GED and who isn’t currently enrolled in high school or an alternative secondary educational institution.     

The department determines when to offer these services based on the assessment and potential each person demonstrates for becoming self supporting: 

  • Diversion payments for new applicants;

  • Employment counseling or testing;

  • Pre-employment job readiness workshops;

  • Job referrals/job development;

  • Job clubs and other self directed job search efforts;

  • Short term skill training;

  • Supportive service payments;

  • Case management for student in vocational training;

  • Monitoring of students in secondary educational programs;

  • Community work;

  • On-the-job training;

  • Follow-along job retention and re-employment services;

  • Child care benefits; or

  • Other approved services. 

Welfare diversion is an important service offered to TANF applicants.  Where or when feasible, the department requires new applicants to make their first contact with staff assigned to the TANF program who will:

  1. Ask why the person wants to apply and if there are ways to help them avoid welfare;

  2. Determine appropriate candidates for diversion assistance;

  3. Screen applicants to see who is hypothetically eligible for assistance based on the department’s eligibility criteria;

  4. Offer applicants the choice between accepting diversion payments or proceeding with an application for TANF cash assistance; and

  5. Provide job placement, training, and support services as needed.

Another critical service, which is available statewide to former TANF recipients, is a comprehensive follow-along job retention and re-employment service.  This project will reduce the numbers of participants who reapply for benefits because fewer persons are likely to leave their jobs when they have a stronger support system.  The department implemented a uniform approach to monitor employed persons who have received TANF benefits.  This program produces accurate data about what happens to recipients after they leave cash assistance with a job.  This follow-along support includes these steps: 

  • The first contact will usually be done within 7 days after getting a job. Additional contacts will be made at a minimum of 30, 60,  90, 180, 270 days, and  one year.

  • Staff will determine if the person is still employed, their earnings, if they have health insurance, and identify problems that threaten their chances to remain employed. 

  • Staff will help these former recipients to find child care, housing, transportation, or secure new jobs.  Staff may also refer them to appropriate community resources. 

  • Supportive service payments may be used to help these individuals to remain employed rather than reapply for cash assistance.  Supportive service payments can be used in conjunction with any follow-up contact;

  • Assist in the development of opportunities for an upgrade of the client’s job skill level through additional assessment and training.

The department offers these program components in order to achieve the participation standards as outlined in section 407:

  1. Unsubsidized employment;

  2. Subsidized private sector employment;

  3. Subsidized public sector employment;

  4. On-the-job training;

  5. Job search and job readiness [4 consecutive weeks and a maximum of 6 weeks];

  6. Community work;

  7. Vocational education;  (limited to 12 months and no more than 30% of caseload may be counted toward participation rate);

  8. Teen parents who are in high school or an alternative secondary education program;

  9. Short term job skills training directly related to employment;

  10. High school or GED training for adults who didn’t complete high school;

  11. Child care so a recipient is able to perform community work.

All adults and minor custodial parents, who are not needed in the home to care for a severely incapacitated household member or who are not caring for a child under twelve (12) weeks of age will be required to be “engaged in work” as defined by TANF regulations.    A single custodial parent of a child under age 6 who has demonstrated an inability to obtain suitable child care will not be required to be "engaged in work".

South Dakota TANF Program requires parents who have received assistance under TANF for more than two months to perform community service, as defined in section 402.  The department implemented all relevant provisions.

The assessment, upon which the Personal Responsibility Plan is developed, will be the initial occasion to identify persons who are victims of domestic violence or others who are likely to have particular difficulty to successfully make the transition from welfare to work. Staff will be trained to identify these situations whenever they have contact with a participant.  Additional targeted support will be added as needed.  Staff will help them access specialized services like counseling, support groups, training programs, and related community organizations.    

When the department implements a subsidized private or public sector employment component, employers will not be allowed to receive TANF money if they:

  • Have employees who are laid-off from the same or equivalent jobs; or

  • Terminated a regular employee in order the fill the resulting vacancy with a subsidized worker. 

The department receives help from various community organizations in order to provide work or training for applicants/recipients.  This assistance includes:

  • Educational institutions providing short term skill training projects and GED instruction;

  • Public and private sector employers offering on-the-job training, subsidize employment, or community service sites (i.e. Head Start programs);

  • Tribal, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Services programs;

  • Child care resource and referral networks will help parents identify child care providers; and

  • South Dakota child care providers associations will help to improve the quality and quantity of available child care.   

The department delivers TANF services in all political subdivisions of South Dakota except for areas covered by an approved tribal TANF program.  Parents who are covered by the State’s program will have access to job preparation, work, and support services to enable them to leave the program and become self-sufficient. The program will be delivered primarily by state agencies but charitable, religious, or private organizations will be used when feasible to address the self sufficiency needs of families.

BENEFITS
Benefits provided to needy family include cash assistance, supportive services, follow-along services, child support enforcement, and other services as identified by the state.  The cash assistance is determined according to South Dakota Administrative Rules (ARSD) 67:10:05. These same families will be referred to a variety of programs which may include but are not limited to: Child Protection Services, Office of Child Care Services, Rehabilitation Services, Division of Mental Health, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse,  One Stop Career Centers,   Department of Health, Community Health Nursing, Department of Education, career learning centers, and other related state or local organizations.  If the TANF case closes due to the earnings of the caretaker and it appears the employment will be permanent, the family will receive an additional payment for one month in the form of a Transitional Employment Assistance (TEA) payment.

Assistance to eligible families is furnished in the form of cash warrants or vouchers. 

Time limits are incorporated into the department’s program.  TANF cash assistance for an assistance unit that includes an adult parent is limited to 60 monthly payments.  The 60 months do not have to be consecutive months.  The state disregards any month an adult lived in Indian country if the most reliable data available indicates that at least 50 percent of the adults living in that area are unemployed.

Eligibility for benefits may be extended beyond 60 months if an assistance unit that includes an adult parent meets the States’ hardship criteria.

South Dakota incorporates sanctions into the program to ensure that parents are engaged in work activities in accordance with section 407 by implementing a series of penalties.  Persons who fail to sign a Personal Responsibility Agreement, (PRA) or Personal Responsibility Plan (PRP) or who fail to comply with the activities contained in the PRA or the PRP face the following penalties:

  • Failure to sign a Personal Responsibility Agreement or  Personal Responsibility Plan will result in ineligibility for the assistance unit, and,

  • Failure to comply with the work activities will result in a progressive series of penalties, including a written warning for the first occurrence, a 50% reduction in cash assistance grant for one month for the second occurrence and a one month disqualification for any subsequent occurrences.

Recipients will be granted good cause for not participating if they are able to substantiate one of the following reasons: 

  1. Scheduled appointments with a prospective employer or department staff;

  2. Illness or crisis situations such as the death of an immediate family member;

  3. Adverse weather conditions which prevent participation;

  4. Lack of suitable child care for children under age six or for special needs situations like a disabled child;

  5. Breakdown in transportation arrangements;

  6. Being battered or subject to extreme cruelty [physical violence, sexual abuse, abuse to their child, or related threats];

  7. Similar reasons which are acceptable to the department.

The department will purchase or give cash reimbursements for supportive services (other than child care) and for work related expenses designed to assist applicants/recipients up to established limits set by the department.  These supportive services include but are not limited to: 

  1. Minor auto repair/car insurance; 

  2. Employment related clothing;

  3. Tools and Equipment;  

  4. Relocation;  

  5. Temporary travel and re-employment interview expense;  

  6. Employment related medical;  

  7. Job related training; and    

  8. Diversion payments for on-going expenses so applicants can avoid further cash assistance. 

Child Care costs associated with approved education and training, community work, or other non paid work activities will be paid through the Department of Social Services. 

PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
Important parts of the Personal Responsibility Agreement and Personal Responsibility Plan will be to identify and address these critical parental obligations:

  • Attend school if appropriate and maintain certain grades and attendance;

  • Keep school age children in school;

  • Immunize children;

  • Undergo appropriate substance abuse treatment/counseling;

  • Accept personal therapy if appropriate;

  • Supply medical information to substantiate limits on being able to “engage in work”;

  • Attend parenting/money management and other resourceful living type classes when needed; or

  • Take steps needed to become and remain employed in the private sector.

Child support enforcement interacts with the TANF program in several ways.  First, applicants/recipients must cooperate with the department to establish paternity or in obtaining, modifying, or enforcing a support order with respect to their dependent children.  Second, the custodial parent must further assign to the State any rights they may have (on behalf of their children) to receive support from an absent parent.    

The department is taking the following actions to reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies: 

  1. Cooperate with other stake holders involved in this issue.

  2. An informational brochure will be provided to all TANF applicants regarding the availability of family planning services and general information about methods for planning a family.

  3. Through a family assessment process, family planning is discussed at the time of application and continues during the period of time the individual is an active TANF recipient.  Services are provided as well as appropriate referrals being made.

Through these efforts it is hoped that there will be a decrease in the number of out-of-wedlock births.  The goal is to have a 1% reduction each year when the formula is applied to the data.

The department promotes an on-going cooperative effort in order to provide education and training about the problems related to domestic violence and statutory rape.  These efforts will involve but are not limited to the following organizations: 

  • Law enforcement officials;

  • State Attorney General’s office;

  • Department of Health;

  • Department of Education;

  • Department of Social Services;

  • Department of Corrections;

  • Department of Human Services;

  • Office of Child Support Enforcement;

  • Office of Child Protection Services;

  • Representatives of local school districts;

  • South Dakota Counselors Association.

The department trains staff regarding this issue.  The Office of Child Support Enforcement will continue to make presentations that target high school age men about the consequences of out-of-wedlock pregnancies. 

TRIBES
Persons served by tribes [who receive a Tribal Family Assistance Grant], will not be counted in either the State’s denominator or numerator when calculating participation rates for “all families." 

The State accepts the interpretation that persons served by tribes operating only a Tribal Native Employment Works (NEW) program will count when determining a State’s participation rate.  If these Tribal NEW participants are not in a countable work activity as defined under section 407, the State reserves the right to be able to require them to perform such approved work activities under section 407 in order for the State to meet it’s work participation rate requirements.  

The State provides equitable services to Indians on or off the reservations through our established network of local offices and staff, and the Tribal NEW program, Welfare-to-Work programs.   Pertinent information regarding past experience will be shared with all Tribes upon request for their planning purposes related to applications for a TANF grant.  The State will expect to negotiate with individual Tribes at such time they implement a TANF program to ensure cooperation.      

ADMINISTRATION
The structure of the agency administering the TANF program is attached.  The Department of Labor and other private non profit organizations will help to deliver the work components. Elements of the program have been phased in with: 

  • procedural/policy revisions;

  • program memos; 

  • administrative rule changes;

  • supervisor meetings;

  • staff training;

  • system enhancements; and

  • State enabling legislation.   

FUNDING
Section 403(a)(1)(A) provides that each eligible State shall be entitled to receive for each of the fiscal years 1996 through 2002, a grant in an amount equal to the State family assistance grant as defined in section 403(a)(1)(B).

I.  Payments to Agency Administering the TANF Program

  • Payments for the TANF program should be made to the Department of Social Services which managed the AFDC/JOBS programs as of August 22, 1996.   

II.  State Payments for TANF Program

  •  The State’s estimate for each quarter of the fiscal year by percentage is: 

For FY 2005  and future Years

1st Quarter         2nd Quarter        3rd Quarter     4th
Quarter
25%          25%        25%  25%