Library: Policy
340:10-2-6.1. Educational services
Revised 9-17-18
Educational services are made available to enhance the participant's potential for employment. Assignment is based on the criteria listed in (1) through (6) of this Section.
(1) Custodial parent participants under 20 years of age without a high school diploma are required to participate in educational activities directed toward the attainment of a high school diploma or its equivalent. • 1 Participants may be excused from high school attendance or courses designed to lead to a high school equivalency certificate when the employability plan includes an alternative, such as basic education or English as a second language (ESL). • 2
(2) Participants 20 years of age and older that have not completed high school may participate in a basic or remedial education program.
(3) Assignment to remedial education services is appropriate for participants who read and write below high school level, even when they have a high school diploma or high school equivalency certificate. Basic and remedial education includes:
(A) Adult Basic Education (ABE) classes;
(B) high school equivalency classes;
(C) literacy classes;
(D) tutoring; or
(E) remedial reading classes.
(4) Participants lacking proficiency in understanding, speaking, reading, or writing the English language are assigned to ESL classes.
(5) Participants already in attendance at an institution of higher education are considered appropriately assigned when the participant cooperates in the assessment process and development of an appropriate employability plan.
(A) When the institution of higher education has a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)-funded contract, the participant must attend through the contracted provider.
(B) The participant is required to participate the minimum number of hours in an activity per Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:10-2-1(2) or as mandated by the TANF-contracted provider. • 3
(C) The participant must maintain satisfactory academic progress with a minimum grade point average of 2.0 and verify progress at mid-term, when possible, and at the end of the semester. Progress may be verified by a grade report, transcript, or a statement from the contracted provider or other school official. • 4
(D) When satisfactory progress is not met, the worker submits Form 08TW008E, Higher Education Probationary Approval Request, to Adult and Family Services TANF program field representative staff to request a probationary approval period. When the probationary approval period is not approved, the participant is placed in another TANF Work activity.
INSTRUCTIONS TO STAFF 340:10-2-6.1
Revised 9-17-18
1. (a) These participants are required to work on a high school diploma or high school equivalency certificate and cannot be required to participate in any other Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Work activity. High school participants may count homework or study time up to one hour for each class hour, when at the beginning of each new class or semester; he or she provides a statement from the instructor stating the additional time is:
(1) a class requirement;
(2) above and beyond work normally completed during class hours; and
(3) not being used to make up missed class hours.
(b) The participant documents on Form 08TW013E, Time and Progress Report, the hours spent in class. The worker records homework or study time hours only on days the participant attended class on Form 08TW013E and in the system after ensuring that documentation required to count these hours is in the case record.
(c) Participants may volunteer to participate in a TANF Work activity that is scheduled, structured, and supervised when school or high school equivalency classes are not in session. Voluntary participants are not sanctioned for failure to participate.
(d) All TANF Work activities must be:
(1) coded in the Family Assistance Client Services (FACS) Eligibility Notebook Auth ET&E tab; and
(2) documented in Case Notes.
2. For a teen parent who is a child in the TANF assistance unit, refer to Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:10-13-1 for school attendance requirements.
3. (a) Persons participating in a vocational certificate, associate's degree, bachelor's degree, or advanced degree program as part of the employability plan may count homework or study time up to one hour for each class hour when the participant, at the beginning of each new class or semester, provides a class syllabus or a statement from the instructor, professor, or advisor stating the additional time is:
(1) a class requirement;
(2) above and beyond work normally completed during class hours; and
(3) not being used to make up missed class hours.
(b) Time spent in vocational training in excess of 12 months that is an approved part of the participant's employability plan may be counted toward the required work activity hours when the participant is also participating in a different approved core activity for a minimum of 20 hours per week.
(c) The participant documents the hours spent in class on Form 08TW013E, Time and Progress Report. The worker records homework or study time hours only on the days the participant attended class on Form 08TW013E and in the system after ensuring that documentation required to count these hours is in the case record.
(d) All TANF Work activities must be:
(1) coded in the Family Assistance Client Services (FACS) Eligibility Notebook Auth ET&E tab; and
(2) documented in Case Notes.
4. The worker reviews the document provided by the participant to determine if the participant is maintaining satisfactory progress and documents the progress in FACS case notes.
