GUIDANCE OF WORK For Employment First Counties

GUIDANCE OF WORK The Following Requirements must be met:

EF FORM  Food Assistance office completes an EF -102 referral form to notify the work registrant of their first orientation appointment.  The appointment date must be within 14 days of the referral date.  If the eligibility worker does not refer individuals at application, the EF unit must use the active client list to identify participants that need to be referred and schedule them within 14 days of the ACL run date. ABAWDS – This will prevent ABAWDS from receiving an ABAWD ticket without an opportunity to meet the work requirement!

CREATE A PAPER CASE AND CBMS FILE Todays Date Plan using todays date as the plan start date

PROVIDE AN ORIENTATION  Power Point Presentations should be State Approved

ASSESSMENT The Screening portion of the assessment must be done at orientation! A more complete assessment may be delayed … but MUST be done within the first 30 days of participation

WORK ASSIGNMENTS  All mandatory work registrants must be assigned to an allowable work activity:

 Recommended first activity, commenced at orientation: WORK ASSIGNMENTS Workfare – Initial Site/ 30 day Job Search Initial site = 1 hour Competency Training = 4 hours Regular Workfare = 8 hours

WORK ASSIGNMENTS Hours Initial Site……………………… 1 Competency Training………… Regular Workfare……………... 8 ______ Equals the required 12 Hours Competency Training

WORKFARE SITES  Must include a variety of jobs (to fit various interests, abilities & needs)  Sites should be developed that take into account the following barriers: Non-English speaking Homelessness Sex-offenders Ex-offenders  Should have access to public transportation, if possible.  Preferably have a possibility to hire.

WORKFARE SITES  Small Counties must have a minimum of - 5 Workfare Sites  Medium Counties must have a minimum of - 10 Workfare Sites  Large Counties must have a minimum of - 15 Workfare Sites Single agencies with multiple sites only count as one site.. Goodwill & ARC

WORK SITE CONTRACTS  All Contracts should be submitted for State Employment First review.  All Site contracts should be spelled out and not abbreviated.  All site contracts should list job titles and duties.  All site contracts should have complete contact information included.  All site contracts must include the name of the workers’ compensation provider and a written procedure to be followed. In case of injury. Colorado Law By Colorado Law, participants must be covered by workers’ compensation insurance on every work site!

WORK SITE CONTRACTS  State Employment First keeps a copy of the county Workfare Contracts.  Counties are expected to update them every two years.  Counties are expected to enter their sponsor contracts into the “Cloud” to create a statewide database of worksites. Go to Click on “sign –in” ( normally in the upper right hand corner) Go to “apps” or click on the quadrant that has 9 small squares in it: Click on Drive (Google Drive) Click on State Work Sites The different counties will be at the bottom of the document..Click on your county – edit your workfare site information The Cloud In the clouds

NON - WORKFARE  Activities must be described in the county plan and approved by the State Employment First office.  For the following activities, participation may be required for a minimum of:  Three hours a week for non-ABAWDS  80 hours a month for ABAWDS – up to a maximum of 120 hours per month in non- work activity.  Activities may be combined and hours may include classes, homework assignments, individual appointments and job contacts.

NON – WORKFARE - CONTINUED Already Working - but not working 30 hours a week or earning $ to be exempt. Provide an Employment Verification Provide Documentation of work in exchange for remuneration equal to minimum wage (In Kind). For working to be an activity it must include job seeking skills instruction and job contacts. The goal is :

NON – WORKFARE - CONTINUED Any of the following Employment and Training activities, alone or in combination can be used:

DOCUMENTS IN CBMS Activities must be data entered into CBMS when the person has provided written information.. Workfare contract The planned start date should be the date the participant is to begin the activity

DOCUMENTS IN CBMS The Actual Start date is entered once the commencement of the activity is verified

DOCUMENTS IN CBMS  If the Participants fails to begin the activity and the case is being closed for noncompliance: The actual start date is entered to equal the activity end date so that CBMS will Recognize the activity is closed!

PROOF NEEDED OF COMMENCEMENT:  Permanent Workfare- documented attendance at the work site  Employability or Job overview – Evidence of job search and/or class started and employability activity was begun.  All Educational Activities – Written verification of enrollment and attendance at the first orientation or class.  Working part-time – Verification of first day of employment.  Work Experience – Documented attendance  Self – Initiated Workfare – Documentation of attendance

MAINTAIN COMPLETE CASE COMMENTS The case comments should briefly indicate the following about the participant:  Attendance  Scheduled appointments and what happened at the appointment  What assigned activities the person did or did not do  What is expected by their next appointment  The date of the next appointment  Any Supportive Service  Transportation and/or service referrals

FOLLOW-UP APPOINTMENT LETTER Have the Participant sign the Follow-up Appointment Letter Make sure the date and location is on the letter

MEET WITH PARTICIPANTS YOU must meet with all participants once every 30 days no matter what activity assignment.

PARTICIPANT REIMBURSEMENT LOG Record each supportive service expenditure including :  Participant’s name  CBMS number  Last four digits of the participant’s social security number  Type or purpose of the expenditure  Amount  Date

CASE FILES Retain a complete Paper File of all correspondence/ agreements with participants Case file must contain:  Enrollment form -102  First Assessment  Activity Contracts  Documented contact with Food Assistance regarding action and information impacting benefits  Follow Up appointment Letters  Time Sheets  Completed Competencies  Verification of Exemption

CASE FILES Maintain Employment First Participant File system with closed Participant Case Files accessible to Employment First for at least six months.

DATA ENTRY All Data Entry must be completed with in 7 calendar days of any action!

MISSED APPOINTMENTS! You must respond to every missed appointment even if the participant reschedules. Enter a noncompliance within 7 calendar days of the missed appointment. The State approved “Good Cause” policy must be followed!

GOOD CAUSE POLICY  The noncompliance may be cancelled, if good cause for the missed appointment is provided within 10 days of the missed appointment AND before the sanction starts!

“NOAA” NOTICE OF ADVERSE ACTION  Send a Manual Notice of Action any time sanctions do not post. This also applies to: Pending Cases Closed Cases ( when it has another sanction waiting to post) Example would be: ABAWD case is closed on a current level sanction, but the ABAWD Third Ticket sanction is waiting to post when the case is re-opened.

COMPLY POLICY Counties are required to have a County Comply Policy. The suggestion could be – Attend an EF orientation Attend 4-6 hours of Competency training Complete 8 hours of workfare A comply power point is required that thoroughly explains sanctions, including levels and good cause: how they are complied and the fact that once the six months sanction level is reached, every subsequent sanction will be six months!

COORDINATE SERVICES  Eligibility staff – Develop and maintain a communication system to facilitate problem solving on specific cases. Notice of Change / s Define process for resolving problems with shared cases TANF referrals are also accepted for Workfare, but the Case Manager must receive the referral from the TANF case manager and share the time sheets etc.

BUILDING OUR CLIENT SERVICES  Negotiate non-profit/financial agreements as necessary for services for EF Participants They may include:  Public nonprofit work site  ESL classes  Community based supportive services  Referrals to Voc. Training  Job Listings  Job Seeking skills classes  Job Clubs  Assessments