South Carolina Code of Regulations › Chapter 114 - DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES › Article 11 - FAMILY INDEPENDENCE PROGRAM › Section 114-1160 - Work Requirements

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 6, June 28, 2024
A.
			 Individualized Self-Sufficiency Plan.
(1) Each
			 adult and minor parent recipient of FI must sign an Individualized
			 Self-Sufficiency Plan (ISSP) with the Department that states the actions the
			 recipient must take to become employed and the time frames for completing these
			 actions. The agreement must also state the services the Department will provide
			 and coordinate to assist the recipient to become employed. Refusal to sign the
			 ISSP will cause the FI case to be subject to sanction.
(2) An FI recipient who fails, without good
			 cause, to comply with the employment and training requirements of the ISSP
			 shall be granted a thirty-day conciliation period to reconsider the decision
			 not to comply with the terms of the agreement.
(a) The notice of conciliation serves to
			 advise the recipient that a conciliation conference is necessary and that his
			 case may be terminated at the end of the thirty-day conciliation period if
			 conciliation has not been accomplished.
(b) A conciliation conference must be
			 conducted within ten calendar days of the date of the notice, unless the
			 recipient can establish good cause for failure to keep the
			 appointment.
(c) If the recipient
			 agrees to comply, within the thirty-day conciliation period, FI benefits will
			 be continued without interruption, although they may be delayed.
(d) A timely and adequate notice must be sent
			 to terminate benefits to the entire family if the client fails to keep the
			 conciliation appointment or if the client fails to comply with the conciliation
			 requirement.
(e) If the
			 conciliation decision is adverse to the recipient, the recipient has ten days
			 in which to request a fair hearing.
(f) If the recipient agrees to comply after
			 the thirty-day conciliation period has expired, compliance must be demonstrated
			 by participating in the employment and training program for thirty days prior
			 to the reinstatement of FI benefits.
(g) If the recipient's FI case is closed a
			 new written FI application is not required if the recipient agrees to comply
			 with the requirement that caused the case closure and reapplies within sixty
			 days of the closure. The existing application on file must be resigned and
			 dated. The requirement of section A(2)(e) above applies to this
			 reapplication.
(3) A
			 recipient may be exempted from complying with the employment and training
			 requirements for the following reasons:
(a)
			 The parent or caretaker relative has a child under one year of age; however,
			 custodial parents under age twenty-five who have not completed their high
			 school education shall comply with these provisions regardless of the age of
			 the child;
(b) Is at least six
			 months pregnant and the pregnancy is verified by a qualified licensed health
			 care provider;
(c) Is incapacitated
			 and the incapacity is verified by a physician, and if the Department considers
			 it necessary, confirmed by an assessment performed by the Department of
			 Vocational Rehabilitation, as a physical or mental impairment that prevents the
			 recipient from engaging in gainful employment or participating in education or
			 training;
(d) Is caring for an
			 incapacitated person whose incapacity has been verified by a physician, and if
			 the Department considers it necessary, confirmed by an assessment performed by
			 the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation;
(e) Is unable to participate because child
			 care and reasonable transportation were not provided when needed for
			 participation in employment and training programs.
(4) All FI benefits will be terminated if a
			 recipient completes the training requirements contained in the ISSP and then
			 refuses an offer of employment.