NCDHHS/County Memorandum of Agreement : work first performance measures fact sheet [2021-2022]

2021-22 NCDHHS/COUNTY MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT WORK FIRST PERFORMANCE MEASURES FACT SHEET Adult Services WHAT ARE THE PERFORMANCE MEASURES? In 2017, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the Family/Child Accountability and Protection Act/Rylan’s Law - Session Law 2017-41. The law requires all counties to enter into an annual agreement with the NC Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) for all social services programs excluding medical assistance (NC Medicaid). The goal of the annual agreements is to support the provision of consistent, quality child welfare and social services that ensure the safety, health and well-being of children, adults and families served across North Carolina. The law requires the agreement to contain performance requirements and administrative responsibilities. This fact sheet is one of six fact sheets describing the 21 performance measures in the 2021-22 Memorandum of Agreement. The six fact sheets address: 1) Adult Services, 2) Child Support Services, 3) Child Welfare Services, 4) Energy Programs, 5) Food and Nutrition Services, and 6) Work First Services. Work First Services Why Were These Work First Measures Selected? The NCDHHS-County Memorandum of Agreement includes two Work First performance measures. Together, the two measures assist families in receiving timely benefits to help with reaching their goals of self-sufficiency and reduce the need for public assistance programs. Providing timely assistance to eligible county residents is a provision of the federal block grant funding. BASIS Title IV-A of the Social Security Act (SSA) and The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) provide the foundational guidance for the government’s accountability in assisting needy families with children. Title IV-A addresses the required submission of a State Plan in which the State program defines timelines for the determination of assistance. FEDERAL COMPLIANCE INSTRUMENT The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) assesses states for compliance with federal. Title IV-A of the SSA requires that eligibility determination must be provided in a reasonable and prompt manner (timely). The North Carolina TANF State Plan defines reasonable and prompt manner or timeliness for applications as 45 calendar days from the application date. The timeliness for the recertification for a cash assistance is no later than the last day of the current certification period. A Closer Look: Work First Services Performance Measures 1. The County will process 95% of Work First applications within 45 days of receipt. RATIONALE The intent of this measure is to ensure that families receive the Work First benefits for which they are eligible in a timely manner. Families that participate in the Work First Program rely on this service for cash assistance, job placement, training and education. Timely processing of applications ensures that applicants can access these services quickly and begin to receive services that lead to self-sufficiency. BASIS This performance measure determines the state’s conformity with Title IV-A of the Social Security Act to provide eligibility determination in a reasonable and prompt manner. NC General Statute and the NC State Plan provides the basis for program policy. • North Carolina General Statute: NC GS 108A-31 • State Plan: TANF State Plan FFY 2019-2022 NC DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 1 OF 3