NEVADA STATE DIVISION OF WELFARE & SUPPORTIVE SERVICES PUBLIC HEARING TO ADOPT STATE PLANS The Public Hearing to Adopt State Plans and Regulations was brought to order by Nancy Ford, Division of Welfare and Supportive Services Administrator, at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, September 20, 2006. This meeting was teleconferenced between the Nevada Legislature Building, 401 South Carson Street, Room 2134, Carson City, and the Grant Sawyer Building, 555 East Washington Street, Room 4412, Las Vegas, Nevada. STAFF PRESENT Nancy Ford, Administrator Gary Stagliano, Deputy Administrator Laura King, Chief, Program Review & Evaluation Brenda Burch, Chief, Investigations & Recovery Barb Darsow, Child Care Program Specialist Sherry Allsip, Child Care Program Specialist Lori Wilson, Employment & Training Program Specialist Betsy Ransdell, Employment & Training Program Specialist Vicki Kemp, TANF Program Specialist Cheryl Mitchell, Quality Control Supervisor Barbara Clark, Reno District Office manager Lauri Combs-Walton, Social Worker, Reno Tracy Palmer, Family Services Specialist III, Reno Terese Jay, Family Services Specialist II, Reno Bruce McDaniel, Family Services Specialist II, Reno Leslie Ford, Family Services Specialist II, Reno Alfiea Porter, Family Services Specialist II, Reno Nicole Barcelo, Family Services Specialist II, Reno Miki Allard, Staff Specialist Lynette Giles, Executive Assistant Joyce Ramos, Deputy Attorney General GUESTS PRESENT Cy Ryan, Las Vegas Sun Pat Baldwin, Washoe Native TANF Program Matt Szudaishi, Legislative Counsel Bureau Joe McCoy, Legislative Counsel Bureau Jan Gilbert, Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada
Jenny Brenn, Step 2 Diaz Dixon, Step 2 Elizabeth Stoffel, Nevada Network Against Domestic Violence Jon Sasser, Washoe Legal Services Anna Clark, Boys & Girls Clubs of Henderson Kim Colagioia, Boys & Girls Clubs of Henderson Barbara Adams, Boys & Girls Clubs of Henderson Angela Ybarra, University Medical Center Jennifer Butler, Clark County Child Care Assistance Division Diba Azizi-Hadi, Clark County Child Care Assistance Division Jim Hartzell, Clark County Child Care Assistance Division Daniel Voges, Clark County Child Care Assistance Division Willia Chaney, Smart Start Brenda Chaney, Smart Start Ms. Ford opened the Public Hearing at 9:30 a.m. She explained this hearing was posted in accordance with the Open Meeting Law and is being video-conferenced between Carson City and Las Vegas. It is also being broadcast on the Internet. She asked people to sign in so they can be included on the mailing list and the meeting record is accurate. Ms. Ford explained the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005 reauthorized TANF Block Grants to the states. The additional changes made by this federal regulation are effective October 1, 2006. There will be future Public Hearings held on more upcoming changes to the TANF Program as the deadlines for program changes approach. She mentioned a Work Verification Plan is due to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) on September 30, 2006 and if it is not submitted timely, they will assess a 5% reduction to the TANF Block Grant. I. TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES (TANF) STATE PLAN: A. Vicki Kemp stated each of the proposed changes to the TANF State Plan can be found in Exhibit A and the TANF Program policy changes associated with the proposed changes are contained in Exhibit F. She stated Nevada s need standard is updated every year on July 1 st and is based on the federal poverty level. The proposed amendment will update the need standard every October to coincide with the Food Stamp Program. Families applying for the state-funded TANF Program, such as two-parent families, those with mental health issues, etc. will no longer be allowed to be in a state-funded TANF Program. These families will now count toward the work participation rate and will be required to participate in employment activities. 2
The only exception to the new federal regulation are the families covered by the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Adjustments have been made to the definition of a TANF family. The DRA also provided a new term for a work-eligible individual. Ms. Kemp anticipated the changes to the need standard and disregards to be in effect by October 1, 2006. However, due to the complexity of the system changes, they will not go into effect until January or February of 2007. Ms. Ford stated some changes from the DRA are positive and she wants to implement the changes as quickly as possible, but program staff must work with Information Systems to implement the changes through the system. Jon Sasser commented several of the advocates for the program have been working with DWSS with informal discussions and meetings about the changes to the disregards, needs standards and VAWA Program changes. He thanked staff for working so closely with them. Director of the Department of Health and Human Services, effective as soon as administratively possible. B. Lori Wilson said she will review Exhibit B, which begins on page 10 of the agenda. The proposed change to Section 3.4 change updates the Personal Responsibility Plan (PRP) to include language in concurrence with the Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) and will be updated every six months. Section 5.4 proposes reducing job training exemptions. The Federal rule intends for clients with multiple barriers to participate in work activities. Ms. Wilson listed the definitions and exemptions left from this section. Section 5.5 proposes to expand the job training definition and all-inclusive wording will be added. An addition to support employed TANF recipients by removing the limit on transportation assistance from 30 days to as long as they are eligible for TANF. Ms. Ford clarified the first paragraph lined out in Section 5.7 speaks to child care, is not meant to be lined out and will be included in the state plan change. Jan Gilbert thanked staff for explaining the program changes due to DRA and the impacts they will have. She explained she would like to go on record as being against the changes to countable work activities for those with barriers to employment. She also noted Section 5.4 needs to include record keeping of 3
what a hardship is and she would like to see accurate records on the good cause exemptions and hardships for future reference. She realizes nothing can be done at the state level, as the state has to follow federal rules. However, she wanted her comments to be incorporated into the hearing record. Director of the Department of Health and Human Services, effective October 1, 2006. She stated the bolded text in Sections 5.3 and 5.5 and 5.7 will be included with these changes. C. Ms. Wilson stated the change to Eligibility & Payments Manual, Employment and Training section, due to the Final Interim Rule of the DRA, will update identifying work eligible clients, even those in state MOE; adding those from MOE with hardships; the changes to countable activities; the number of Community Work Experience (CWEP) hours can be combined as they relate to fair labor standards act, provisions for excused absence times; and the determination of countable hours for self-employment. The 77 page exhibit was published and is available as a handout. Jon Sasser complimented staff on the exemption for a parent with small child at home. He stated the exemption is very appropriate. He has concerns about the documentation for verifying work hours, as the documentation will have to be closely monitored to ensure clients do not lose their benefits due to verification of documents. Ms. Ford explained the TANF Program will be broken into five (5) different components in the future. One will be the New Employees of Nevada (NEON) Program, which gives work-eligible people TANF if they are working and documenting it. All countable activities must be verified by the Employment and Training Program workers. The state s work verification plan must be submitted to federal government by September 30 th as a draft and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) will review, edit and return the plan for modification. This gives states the chance to make the necessary changes and staff will work closely with advocates to ensure their concerns are addressed. Director of the Department of Health and Human Services effective 10-1-06. D. Ms. Wilson stated the basic content of the Work Verification Plan to be submitted to ACF is available as a handout. The draft copy will be sent to ACF for their comment and will be sent back and forth for modification during the next federal fiscal year. She then read the area stating what the Work Verification Plan 4
contains. This document is about 20 pages long and contains all the core information and is still going through the internal review process. Ms. Ford commented the excused absence policy was put into the federal regulations and she is pleased they included it in the Work Verification Plans. Director of the Department of Health and Human Services, effective September 30, 2006 to be in compliance with the federal regulation. II. CHILD CARE PROGRAM POLICY DEVELOPMENT: A. Barb Darsow stated the Child Care Program is proposing to use the federal poverty level and 130% of the TANF Need Standard figures for setting the Income Sliding Fee Scale to the appropriate 2006 levels. These figures are consistent with the TANF Program s eligibility criteria. The changes will be effective October 1, 2006. Ms. Ford explained this change will sync the Child Care and TANF Program eligibility criteria to lessen confusion. Ms. Willia Chaney did not understand the sliding scale fee and wanted details of the changes. Mr. Stagliano explained the change is similar to the eligibility criteria for the TANF Program and is connected to policy. He gave an example of a three-person household and what the eligibility criteria would be. Ms. Chaney explained she is worried the increase to the sliding fee scale will trickle down and less people will be able to qualify for Child Care Assistance. She also said it is very confusing and some people do not understand the change. She asked for clarification and what the impact on the recipients will be. Ms. Ford suggested she was referring to the household size chart attached to the agenda, which is the same as DWSS has always used and the change is moving the eligibility criteria to 130% of poverty instead of 185% of need to properly align with the TANF Program s eligibility criteria. The sliding fee scale will not be changed. Ms. Chaney then asked the poverty level to be explained. Ms. Ford said the federal Department of Health and Human Services issues the federal poverty level yearly and asked Mr. Sasser to explain how the needs standard is calculated. Mr. Sasser stated each state estimates what it would cost various families throughout their state to purchase necessities. The data is then calculated to formulate the federal need standard. He said the new formula will allow more people to participate in the program and, while the change is not a huge amount, it will help more people. Ms. Chaney said her question was not answered. She would like to know if the poverty levels are determined by areas 5
of the state, allowing the northern providers to receive more funding than the southern providers. Ms. Ford said her question is about Child Care provider rates and will be discussed at a later date, but the sliding fee scale and the federal need standard have nothing to do with provider rates. Ms. Ford suggested Ms. Chaney discuss her issue with Mr. Allen at the Child Care Advisory Council meeting scheduled for September 21, 2006. Ms. Ford reiterated there is no correlation between the proposed regulation and provider rates. The proposed regulation is to determine eligibility of clients for the Child Care Program. Director of the Department of Health and Human Services effective October 1, 2006. III. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENTS None received. Ms. Ford thanked everyone for attending the Public Hearing and for providing their comments. If there are other questions regarding any of the policy heard today, she encouraged the attendees to contact the division directly, as comments are helpful and welcome. Hearing no further comments, Ms. Ford closed the public hearing at 10:11 a.m. 6