GEORGIA DIVISION OF FAMILY AND CHILDREN SERVICES

TANF POLICY MANUAL

Chapter: 1800
Effective January 2020
Policy Date:
Title: Subsidized Employment
Grant Diversion
Section Previous
1826 MT 30
Number: Policy #:

SUBSIDIZED EMPLOYMENT GRANT DIVERSION

REQUIREMENTS

The Georgia Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) will divert the
TANF assistance unit's cash benefits to a public or private sector employer for
employing a work eligible TANF recipient.

BASIC CONSIDERATIONS

Subsidized employment (SE) is a countable (core) work activity in which the employer
receives a subsidy from TANF or other public funds as an incentive to hire and train TANF
recipients or TANF-eligible individuals. SE participants will receive wages from employers
for all hours of participation.

SE-Grant Diversion

Subsidized employment-grant diversion means that the AU 's cash assistance benefit is
diverted (paid) to the employer to offset some or all of the wages and costs of
employing a TANF individual.

A third-party vendor may be used to place participants and to reimburse the

employers.

Participants in the SE grant diversion program are regular employees and are
subject to minimum wage and other Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) protections.

An SE grant d iversion placement may begin at any time during the month. If a
client begins participation before the 12th calendar day of a month, the cash
assistance of the participating client's AU is to be diverted to the employer in the
following calendar month.

If a client begins participation on or after the 12th calendar day of a month, the
cash assistance must be diverted to the employer no later than the second month

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after employment begins.

Diversion of the cash assistance grant is possible only when the earnings from a
job are enough to reduce the TANF grant to zero. If the wages received for a job
will not reduce the grant to zero, no subsidy can be paid.

Prior to the client beginning employment, a trial budget must be computed that
includes only the subsidized earnings to determine the AU's eligibility for cash
assistance.

If the earnings from a job are enough to reduce the grant to zero, the entire amount
of the grant will be paid to the employer.

Premature Termination of Subsidized Employment

Once the initial determination of eligibility to participate in subsidized employment

is made, the amount of the grant that is diverted to the employer remains the
same throughout the duration of the client's participation period.

If the subsidized employment placement ends prior to the date agreed upon in the
Form 200, Subsidized Employment Agreement (SEA), the employer will be paid for the
days worked by the client during the last calendar month of employment.

The amount of reimbursement due to the employer is determined by dividing the

grant amount by thirty days, arriving at a daily rate, and multiplying the daily rate by
the number of days worked by the client in the final month of employment.

An AU is subject to sanction if the AU member participating in subsidized

employment fails to participate after having been referred to an employer.

Note: The voluntary quit policy and ineligibility period must be reviewed before the AU is
approved for TANF.

Fixed TANF Benefit Amount

The amount of the TANF benefit diverted to the employer is fixed beginning with the
month of placement in subsidized employment. The amount remains unchanged
for the duration of the client's participation in the activity.

The TANF benefit amount diverted to the employer is the TANF benefit amount the
AU receives in the month of placement.

EXCEPTION: If the ongoing benefit amount changes because of a change in the

AU's size and the change is known prior to the subsidized employment contract
being finalized, then the new cash assistance amount is the amount to be diverted
to the employer.

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Participants in the grant diversion program are regular employees and are subject to
minimum wage and other Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) protections.

Program Requirements

The subsidized job must be full-time (minimum 30 hours weekly) and pay at least
minimum wage. The maximum length of the grant diversion program is six months.

A Form 200, Subsidized Employment Agreement (SEA) must be completed for each
participant.

At the end of the subsidy period, the employer is expected to retain the participant as a
regular employee without receiving a subsidy.

Participants eligible for this program are considered " Near Job­ Ready." That is, the
participants who have:

• no high school diploma/GED and limited work experience

• a high school diploma/GED and limited work experience
• received TANF for more than 12 months
• low-functioning tendencies.

To learn more about general requirements of subsidized employment, please refer to

section 1825, Subsidized Employment General Requirements of the policy manual.

Determination of Eligibility for Participation

Follow the steps below to determine the client's eligibility for participation in subsidized
employment:
Step 1: Obtain a copy of the Form 200, SEA. The agreement includes the beginning
date of employment, the salary the employee will receive, and the duration of the
training period.

Step 2: Determine the gross earned income the client will receive from subsidized
employment earnings.

Step 3: Subtract $90.00 from the gross earned income in Step 2 to determine the net
earned income. Compare the net earned income to the standard of need (SON) for
the appropriate AU size.

Proceed to Step 4 if the income equals or exceeds the SON. If it does, the client is
eligible for participation and the employer is eligible to receive the grant amount the
AU was receiving prior to subsidized employment participation.

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Step 4: Complete the Form 200, SEA indicating the grant diversion amount and the
reimbursement dates based on the training period.

Step 5: Scan a copy of the completed Form 200, SEA in the case record to serve as
verification of wages and employment.

Step 6: Make the necessary changes on the system to begin the grant diversion.

PROCEDURES

Other Required Actions for SE-Grant Diversion

Complete the following after eligibility for participation in subsidized employment is

established:

Do not add the subsidized employment wages to the TANF case budget. Create a
task as a reminder to review the case in the client's last month of participation in the
subsidized employment.

Send a notice informing the AU of the termination of cash assistance and the months
of participation in the program.

NOTE: In order to allow only adequate notice prior to terminating cash assistance to
the AU, the client must complete Form 102, Waiver of Timely Notice Period

Suspend any scheduled and/or existing claims for the subsidized employment period.

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 Follow the procedures below for clients participating in subsidized employment
grant diversion program:
CHART 1826.1 - SUBSIDIZED EMPLOYMENT PROCESSING PROCEDURES
IF
the client begins participation on
or after the 12th of the month
participation terminates prior to
the scheduled ending date
VOLUME I– MT- 53 - 01/20
THEN
the first reimbursement payment must be made to
the employer in the second month following the
month
in which subsidized employment began.
To determine the actual months of participation
in the activity, consider the first month of
participation as the month after the individual
begins work.
Make the necessary changes on the system. Mail a
copy of Form 200 to the AU and employer.
remove the subsidized employment grant diversion
coding information case for the ongoing month to
ensure that the cash assistance is not diverted to
the employer.
Determine the reimbursement amount, if any, and
issue the payment from employment services funds.
Reimburse the employer on a prorated basis for the
month of change. Reimburse the employer based
on the number of days the client worked in the final
month.
Complete a review as soon as possible, but no later
than the month following the final month of
participation, to determine ongoing eligibility.
PAGE 1826-5
 participation terminates prior to
the scheduled ending date
(cont'd)
notice of the termination of
subsidized employment grant
diversion is received too late to
make the necessary system
changes to avoid the payment to
the employer
participation in the subsidized
employment grant diversion
activity ends as scheduled
VOLUME I– MT- 53 - 01/20
Determine the cash assistance amount to which the
AU is entitled to receive for the month of change by
completing the following:
• recalculate the budget for the month based
on the AU's current situation, i.e.,
subsidized employment wages, other
income, AU size, etc.,
• allow all appropriate earned income deductions
Determine if good cause exists and, if applicable,
review continued eligibility.
If eligible, issue a manual corrective for the new
cash assistance amount calculated for the month of
change.
contact and notify the employer that the cash
assistance issued for that month must not be
accessed.
Notify the employer that a prorated share, based on
the number of days worked by the client, will be paid
to the employer.
complete a review in the final month of participation
to determine ongoing eligibility for cash assistance.
Remove the subsidized employment coding
information from the TANF case.
PAGE 1826-6