The Work Expense Reimbursement (WER) project is designed to assist Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Extended TANF (ETANF) families with an adult who is working by authorizing $50 per month to help with work expenses. Eligible families will receive $25 each payment date in addition to their cash assistance grant. A family may only receive one $50 WER per month regardless of the number of employed persons. The $50 monthly payment is excluded as income when determining SNAP and Medical Assistance benefits. The WER payment has no impact on the earned income disregard and does not change any process or eligibility determination for a special allowance.
The goal of the WER payment is:
1. To assist employed TANF individuals maintain employment by reimbursing some expenses incurred due to employment.
2. To assist working TANF and ETANF clients achieve their goal of independence from welfare.
TANF and ETANF families with a family member who is working and whose earned income, including income from self-employment, is used to determine the cash grant are eligible for the $50 monthly payment with the following exceptions:
The family may not contain a mandatory member who is sanctioned, disqualified or ineligible (those with an eligibility status of D* or any N* status other than NX). Adjustment will be made to allow for NX members of the cash budget as MEDA requires all household members to have an eligibility status in all budgets.
Families receiving cash assistance that are subject to the five-year bar due to citizenship status, C/U 04.
Families who have applied for and received a 1, 2 or 3 month diversion TANF grant PSC’s 47, 48 and 49.
The budget group must first pass the 50% disregard test and remain eligible for TANF cash assistance to receive the WER. The incentive will be added to the benefit after EDBC has run and determined eligibility for assistance. A TANF family with earned income and receiving no TANF monthly benefit because the issuance is less than $10/month is eligible for the $50 WER. The monthly benefit remains zero.
Eligibility for the WER payment will be indicated by a ‘Y’ in the WER field of the Eligibility Results Screen ineligibility indicated by a "No".
The WER payment will be identifiable in the history menu CQHIMN as benefit code 690 using the Cash Transcript option.
Working TANF adults do not need to be meeting the WPR (Work Participation Rate) weekly hours to receive the WER payment.
A family may be eligible for the $50 monthly payment at application or when earned income is added to an open TANF or ETANF budget. The WER payment is not prorated and the family will receive their first $25 semi-monthly payment on the first recurring payment date after eligibility for the payment is established. The WER will be triggered by the system detecting a dollar amount entry in the earned income field of the Eligibility Screen. Eligibility is determined automatically and will require no intervention by the CAO staff.
If the cash grant is suspended due to failure to comply with SAR requirements, the WER will be reinstated via manual OTI using benefit code 690 when they are in compliance.
A family no longer qualifies for the WER if one of the following occurs:
TANF closes (When TANF closes and TCA requirements are met, the WER payment will stop and TCA will start.).
Earned income ends.
A mandatory budget group member is sanctioned, disqualified, or ineligible.
If an unreported change makes a family totally ineligible for TANF and an overpayment for the TANF grant is completed, the overpayment includes the WER amount.
An eligible notice is sent when eligibility is established. An ineligible notice is sent when the family is no longer eligible for the WER. Examples would be: no longer earned income in the case, no longer eligible for TANF, or TANF child has left the household. In most instances, the appropriate notice text for the WER payment will be added to existing system notices generated for the TANF program.
Refer to reason code 690 in the TENG table for all WER Notices.
Reissued September 21, 2012; replacing January 31, 2012; reviewed December 11, 2017