Virginia Administrative Code › Title 22 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Agency 40 - DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES › Chapter 35 - VIRGINIA INDEPENDENCE PROGRAM › Part I - General Provisions › Section 22VAC40-35-10 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms when used in this chapter
					 shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
					 otherwise:
"Actively seeking employment" means satisfactorily
					 participating in any assigned job-seeking activity while in the program.
"Adult portion" means the TANF amount paid on behalf of the
					 parent or other caretaker-relative with whom the TANF child resides, including
					 a minor parent. This amount is the difference in the standard of assistance for
					 a family size, which includes the adult and the standard of assistance for a
					 family size of one less person.
"Agreement" means the written individualized agreement of
					 personal responsibility required by § 63.2-608 of the Code of
					 Virginia.
"Allotment" means the monthly SNAP benefit given to a
					 household.
"Applicant" means a person who has applied for TANF or
					 TANF-UP benefits and the disposition of the application has not yet been
					 determined.
"Assistance unit" means those persons who have been
					 determined categorically and financially eligible to receive assistance.
"Caretaker-relative" means the natural or adoptive parent
					 or other relative, as specified in
					 45 CFR
					 233.90(c)(1)(v), who is
					 responsible for supervision and care of the needy child.
"Case management" means the process of assessing,
					 coordinating, monitoring, delivering, or brokering activities and services
					 necessary for VIEW participants to enter employment or employment-related
					 activities as quickly as possible.
"Case management services" means services that include, but
					 are not limited to, job development and job placement, community work
					 experience, education, skills training, and support services.
"Case manager" means the worker designated by the local
					 department of social services, a private-sector contractor or a private
					 community-based organization including nonprofit entities, churches, or
					 voluntary organizations that provide case management services.
"Child care" means those services for which a participant
					 is eligible pursuant to child care services policy.
"Child care services/program" means a regularly operating
					 service arrangement for children where, during the absence of a parent or
					 guardian, a person or organization has agreed to assume responsibility for the
					 supervision, protection, and well-being of children under the age of 13 (or
					 children up to 18 years of age if they are physically or mentally incapable of
					 caring for themselves or subject to court supervision) for less than a 24-hour
					 period.
"Community work experience" means work for benefits in a
					 public or private organization that serves a community/public function.
"Department" means the Virginia Department of Social
					 Services.
"Diversionary cash assistance" means a one-time lump sum
					 payment to an individual or third-party vendor to prevent long-term receipt of
					 TANF.
"Division of Child Support Enforcement" or "DCSE" means
					 that division of the Virginia Department of Social Services that is responsible
					 under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act ( 42 USC §§ 651 - 669 )
					 to locate noncustodial parents, establish paternity, establish child support
					 and health care orders, enforce payment of delinquent support, and collect and
					 distribute support payments.
"Employer tax credit" means a tax credit available to an
					 employer pursuant to § 58.1-439.9 of the Code of Virginia.
"Family" means a TANF assistance unit.
"Full Employment Program" or "FEP" means subsidized,
					 training-oriented, employment that replaces the TANF benefits of a participant.
					 This component of VIEW is designed to train the recipient for a specific job,
					 increase his self-sufficiency, and improve his competitiveness in the labor
					 market.
"Grant" means the monthly TANF benefit payment.
"Hardship exceptions" means prescribed reasons that, if
					 applicable, would allow an extension of receipt of TANF benefits.
"He" means a male or female, as applicable.
"Hiring authority" means an individual with the authority
					 to hire employees for a business.
"In loco parentis" means an adult relative or other adult
					 who is acting in place of a parent.
"Incapacitated" means a medically verified condition which
					 renders an individual unable to work.
"Job placement" means placing a participant in an
					 unsubsidized or subsidized job.
"Job search" means a structured, time-limited period in
					 which the participant is required to search for employment. The participant
					 must complete a set number of hours searching for employment.
"Job skills training" means training in technical job
					 skills or required knowledge in a specific occupational area in the labor
					 market.
"Local agency" or "local department" means any one of the
					 local social services or welfare agencies throughout the Commonwealth that
					 administers the VIP program.
"Minor parent" means any parent under 18 years of
					 age.
"On-the-job training" means training that is provided by an
					 employer during routine performance of a job.
"Parent" means a mother or father, married or unmarried,
					 natural, or adoptive following entry of an interlocutory order. The parent may
					 be a minor parent.
"Participant" means a TANF or TANF-UP recipient who is
					 participating in the VIEW program.
"Participating family" means an assistance unit including a
					 parent who participates in the Virginia Initiative for Employment not Welfare
					 (VIEW) Program.
"Part-time unsubsidized employment" means employment of at
					 least 10 hours but less than 30 hours per week and for which no VIEW or TANF
					 funds are used to pay the individual's salary.
"Post-secondary education" means formal instruction at an
					 institution of higher education or vocational school leading to the attainment
					 of a certificate, an associate degree, or a baccalaureate degree.
"Recipient" means an individual who is presently receiving
					 a TANF assistance payment or whose eligibility exists even though the
					 assistance payment is zero.
"Recipient family" means an assistance unit in which the
					 caretaker-relative is a parent of the eligible child and the parent's needs may
					 or may not be included on the grant.
"Relative" means spouse, child, grandchild, parent, or
					 sibling of an applicant or recipient.
"Sanction" means to reduce or suspend a participant's TANF
					 grant , where applicable, for noncompliance with these regulations or the
					 statute.
"School" means
(i)
				  any public school from kindergarten through grade 12 operated under the
				  authority of any locality within this Commonwealth or
(ii) any private or parochial school that
				  offers instruction at any level or grade from kindergarten through grade 12.
"Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program" or "SNAP" means
					 the program administered through the Virginia Department of Social Services
					 through which a household receives assistance to purchase food.
"Support services" means services such as child care or
					 transportation provided to program participants to enable the participant to
					 work or to receive training or education that are intended to lead to
					 employment.
"Temporary Assistance for Needy Families" or "TANF" means
					 the program authorized in § 406 of the Social Security Act ( 42 USC §
					 606 ) and administered by the Virginia Department of Social Services, through
					 which a relative can receive monthly cash assistance for the support of his
					 eligible children.
"Temporary Assistance for Needy Families-Unemployed Parent"
					 or "TANF-UP" means the program authorized in § 63.2-602 of the Code of
					 Virginia and administered by the Virginia Department of Social Services, which
					 provides aid to two-parent families with dependent children who are in
					 financial need.
"Time limitations" means a specified period of time, under
					 the statute, to receive TANF.
"Transitional support services" means child care,
					 transportation, medical assistance or employment and training services provided
					 to working participants whose TANF has been terminated either voluntarily,
					 although still eligible for TANF, or involuntarily, due to time
					 limitations.
"Truant" means a child who (i) fails to report to school
					 for three consecutive school days, or for a total of five scheduled school days
					 per month or an aggregate of seven scheduled school days per school calendar
					 quarter, whichever occurs sooner, and no indication has been received by school
					 personnel that the child's parent or guardian is aware of the child's absence,
					 and a reasonable effort by school personnel to notify the parent or guardian
					 has failed; or (ii) is not enrolled in school at any time during the
					 month.
"Underemployed" means working at a job for less than the
					 federal hourly minimum wage.
"Unsubsidized employment" means employment in which no
					 government funds are used to subsidize directly the wages earned by a
					 participant.
"Virginia Independence Program" or "VIP" means the program
					 in the Commonwealth of Virginia that is made up of the TANF Program and the
					 Virginia Initiative for Employment not Welfare.
"Virginia Initiative for Employment not Welfare" or "VIEW"
					 means the employment program for TANF recipients.
"Work activity" means participation in unsubsidized
					 employment, FEP, part-time work, community work experience, on-the-job
					 training, job search, job readiness, community service, job skills training
					 directly related to employment, satisfactory attendance at secondary school, or
					 in a course of study leading to a certificate of general
					 equivalence.
Statutory Authority: § 63.2-217 of the Code of
						Virginia; 45 CFR
						261.22.