For example, a person may speak only Spanish while the proposed work environment is purely English. A recipient may have partial disabilities such as a bad back, which prohibits lifting children in a daycare site. If a recipient's child is officially disabled, the single parent does not have to do community service. Recipients should seek legal advice here. Once a recipient actually does claim an exemption, their community service employment is suspended until the exemption request is ruled on .
Transportation is also an issue.
Especially on Cape Cod, recipients have had up to three hour bus trips to reach their community service sites and have been repeatedly sanctioned for refusing to continue working under these conditions. When problems are as pervasive and persistent as the Cape's, advocates should go directly to the central office with complaints rather than trying to solve then case by case. In general, DTA prefers community service to take place during school hours, as this relieves them of subsidizing childcare. There is no firm cut-off for childcare eligibility. It generally occurs when a child is around 12-13 years old.