Revised Guidance for Electronically mailing (E-mailing) the Agreement of Mutual Responsibility (AMR) (PA 1661) for Signature, PCA-21619-107, EPP-21619-135 (Revised February 28, 2024)
Employment and Training (E&T) Special Allowances: School Supplies, Clothing, and Mileage, ESA-21598-135 (Published January 8, 2024)
Can the County Assistance Office (CAO) refer an individual to KEYS if individual is enrolled in or has an interest in enrolling at the community college that is not located in that CAO’s county?, EPP-20908-135 (Published May 26, 2022)
The Road to Economic Self-Sufficiency through Employment and Training (RESET) is designed to engage individuals in activities that prepare them for employment.
REMINDER: Diversion should be offered to all applicants who meet TANF and Diversion criteria before authorization of ongoing TANF cash assistance. This discussion and outcome should be narrated. See Section 137.5, Diversion.
RESET includes, but is not limited to:
Employment (unsubsidized and subsidized)
Work Experience (unpaid)
Job Search and Job Readiness Assistance
Community Service Programs
Vocational Education
Other job-related activities
For more in-depth information on Employment and Training Activities see Section 135.2, Employment and Training Activities
The goal of RESET is to enable individuals to receive education and/or work-related services to ultimately obtain economic independence for themselves and their families. Eligibility for RESET is only available to cash assistance recipients.
Under federal regulations, each state is required to meet an all family Work Participation Rate (WPR) of 50% and a two-parent WPR of 90%. Individuals participating in RESET are required to engage in specific core and non-core activity requirements along with hourly participation requirements that assist the state in meeting the WPR. See Section 135.2, Employment and Training Activities.
NOTE: An individual who receives only Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits may participate in SNAP Employment and Training activities. See SNAP Handbook Chapter 535, Employment and Training Requirements.
The CAO and the individual will complete a job readiness assessment and Agreement of Mutual Responsibility (AMR), discussing the individual’s skills, prior work experience, goals, interests, potential barriers, plans to address those barriers, and employability during the interview process to determine if they are:
Mandatory to participate in RESET. See Section 135.2, Employment and Training Activities; or
Mandatory to participate in RESET with Good Cause. See Section 135.4, Good Cause; or
Exempt from participation in RESET. See Section 135.3, Exemptions from RESET enrollment.
NOTE: An informational flyer, Applying for Cash (PA 1909), has been developed to provide an applicant with information on the requirements they can expect when applying for cash assistance. PA 1909 is available on Docushare as a handout for the applicant at interviews, and can also be sent systematically with a PA 253 from eCIS.
The CAO should enter the RESET enrollment status into the electronic Client Information System (eCIS) as an Employment and Training Program (ETP) status code. See ETP Codes Desk Reference for appropriate codes.
Individuals are required to notify the CAO of changes that affect their enrollment and eligibility status by the 10th day of the month following the month of the change. The CAO may also utilize contracted employment and training (E&T) providers and the Commonwealth Workforce Development System (CWDS) to obtain information regarding the enrollment status and progression of individuals.
NOTE: Any changes that affect referrals and enrollments should be discussed between the CAO and providers at least at local Direct Service Team (DST) meetings.
As a best practice, the CAO should inform individuals that they may register with the local CareerLink through the PACareerLink®
The CAO will complete a job readiness assessment, in conjunction with the AMR, to identify criteria to determine the RESET participation requirement and E&T program referral. The completion of the job readiness assessment should be a discussion between the participant and the CAO. Details of the discussion must be entered into case comments. The job readiness assessment should include the questions listed below and will be an aid to guide the discussion. Responses will be used to aid the CAO to determine enrollment status, participation requirements, and deciding what program referral is necessary.
The Job Readiness Assessment includes initial questions and potential follow-up questions (italicized) the CAO may wish to ask based on how the initial question is answered.
A fillable version of the Job Readiness Assessment desk guide is available in both English and Spanish.
Based on the information provided to the CAO during the job readiness assessment, the following referral policy should apply:
Program Referral Chart |
|
IF |
THEN |
• enrolled in a post-secondary education or high school equivalency program at one of Pennsylvania’s 14 community colleges; or
• expressed an interest to enroll in a post-secondary education or high school equivalency (HSE) program at one of Pennsylvania’s 14 colleges within 60 days of the next available semester
|
KEYS |
• less
than 1830 TANF days; or • 1830 TANF days or more if there is no Work Ready in the county
• has
a PA 635 indicating “limited employability” for the number
of hours the individual can participate; • enrolled
in an approved self-initiated education or career training
other than one of Pennsylvania’s 14 community colleges at
the time of referral; • is
under age 22 pursuing or interested in pursuing a high school
diploma or HSE and the individual is not enrolled in a high
school or HSE program served by the Education Leading to Employment
and Career Training (ELECT) program; • is
in the third trimester of pregnancy when the PA 635 indicates
employable; • is Extended TANF (ETANF) Track 2 eligible if there is no Work Ready in the County |
EARN |
• has reached 1830 or more TANF Days Additional referral circumstances may include, the individual: • has
a PA 635 indicating “limited employability” for the number
of hours the individual can participate; • enrolled
in an approved self-initiated education or career training
other than one of Pennsylvania’s 14 community colleges at
the time of referral; • is
pregnant or parenting, under age 22 pursuing or interested
in pursuing a high school diploma or HSE and the individual
is not enrolled in a high school or HSE program served by
the Education Leading to Employment and Career Training (ELECT)
program; • is
in the third trimester of pregnancy when the PA 635 indicates
employable; • Extended TANF (ETANF) Track 2 eligible |
WORK READY |
• pregnant
or parenting, under age 22 pursuing a high school diploma
or HSE and the individual is enrolled in a high school or
HSE program served by the Education Leading to Employment
and Career Training (ELECT) program |
ELECT |
• is
pregnant or parenting, under age 22 pursuing a high school
diploma HSE and the individual is not enrolled in a high school
or HSE program served by the Education Leading to Employment
and Career Training (ELECT) provider IF they opt out of an
EARN and/or Work Ready referral; • is
meeting all hourly requirements in unsubsidized employment
and are not interested in case management services; or • if there is no core activity available (this activity requires BEP approval. See Section 135.2, Employment and Training Activities) |
CAO-DIRECTED |
Individual is determined mandatory (ETP Code 60), they are a refugee TANF household recently resettled, and the individual has extreme barriers that require remediation before entering a mainstream program. Extreme barriers include: • illiterate in their own language • severe trauma survivor (victim of torture, human trafficking victim, prisoner of war) • has no functional English Learner level; or • in the first year of resettlement 45
CFR §400.146 A refugee TANF recipient may volunteer to participate in EARN, Work Ready, ELECT, and/or KEYS if they meet other referral criteria in lieu of a referral to a refugee contracted employment program. If a refugee is exempt but volunteers, they may not be referred to a refugee employment provider at present, even if they have the barriers listed above. |
CONTRACTED REFUGEE EMPLOYMENT PROVIDER
*See Supplemental Handbook, Chapter 730: Refugee Assistance Program
*If no refugee program exists in the county, please utilize the “Refugee Contractor Stop Gap” procedure. This procedure involves opening the refugee in a CAO-directed Activity and manually referring them to the local EARN until the refugee receives a Social Security Number. Once the SSN is received, an electronic referral to EARN may be processed.
The CAO must contact the Pennsylvania Refugee Resettlement Program and advise them of the situation so that they may contact the nearest contracted refugee employment program and they will provide job development and refugee-related case management services for the client while they physically attend the EARN. |
CAOs and contractors will continue to provide equal access to all E&T programs and services to individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP), including providing information on non-core ESL services that may be available in the community. All RESET rules apply to LEP individuals.
Updated September 21, 2021, replacing May 11, 2018