Hawaii Administrative Rules
Title 17 - DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES
Department of Human Services
Chapter 794.1 - FIRST-TO-WORK PROGRAM
Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 17-794.1-3 - Definitions
For the purposes of this chapter:
"Actual hours" means the number of hours an individual has performed in a work activity that are verified by the department.
"Adult" means a person age eighteen or over who is not a dependent child, or if under age eighteen is an independent minor parent.
"Aid to families with dependent children" or "AFDC" means the financial assistance and non-assistance programs administered by the DHS-BESSD under 42 U.S.C. §§601 - 619, and section 346-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
"Assistance unit" means persons whose needs, income, and assets are considered in determining eligibility for and the amount of financial assistance payment.
"Barrier" means any physical, health, or social conditions, including individual or family circumstances, which interfere with the person's ability to participate in the FTW program.
"Basic literacy level" means a literacy level that allows a person to function at a level equivalent to at least grade 8.9.
"Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division" or "BESSD" means the benefit, employment and support services division of the department.
"Case management" means a process through which individuals are provided with necessary support and opportunities to access needed and appropriate services throughout the period of participation in FTW, and includes monitoring, tracking, and reporting on the participants' progress during participation.
"Child" means any person who has not reached the age of eighteen.
"Child care" or "day care" means those situations in which a caregiver has agreed to assume the responsibility for the child's supervision, apart from and in the absence of the child's parent or guardian, for any part of a twenty-four hour day.
"Community service program" or "CSP" means structured programs in which AFDC recipients perform work for the direct benefit of the community under the auspices of public agencies or private non-profit organizations.
"Community work experience program" or "CWEP" or "work experience" means a work activity, performed in return for AFDC that provides an individual with an opportunity to acquire the general skills, training, knowledge, and work habits necessary to obtain employment.
"Component" means the education, training, and job placement programs and services available under this chapter.
"Core work activities" means the following work activities: unsubsidized employment, subsidized employment, CWEP, OJT, job search and job readiness assistance, CSP, VET, and providing child care services to an individual who is participating in a community service program.
"Custodial parent" means a parent who has the legal right to the physical custody of a child, either under the provisions of a state law granting custody, or under the provisions of a court order granting custody of the child to one of its parents in preference over the other parent.
"Department" or "DHS" means the department of human services. State of Hawaii.
"Departmental designee" means any case manager, social worker, employment counselor, supervisor, or any other person assigned by the department to provide case management services to the FTW participants.
"Employability plan" means a written plan for the FTW participant that sets forth the participant's vocational strengths, and the educational, training, and employment activities to be undertaken by the participant to achieve the goal of financial self-sufficiency.
"Employed" means engaged in an activity in exchange for wages or salary.
"Enrollee" means a person who has been selected for the FTW program and is involved in activities that are preparatory to participation in program components.
"Federal Poverty Limit Guidelines for Hawaii" or "FPL" means the poverty guidelines that are updated periodically in the Federal Register by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the authority of 42 U.S.C. §9902(2).
"First-To-Work" or "FTW" means the education, training, employment, and support services programs administered by the department.
"FTW pool" means individuals who are awaiting selection into the FTW program.
"Full-time employment" means gainful employment of thirty hours or more per week.
"Full-time participation" means participation meeting the work requirements set forth in the employability plan that shall be not less than the mandatory requirements of 42 U.S.C. §607.
"Gainful employment" means work available at the time an individual wants to become employed and pays at least minimum wage.
"Good standing" means satisfactorily meeting all requirements of the FTW program.
"Job skills training", "job skills training directly related to employment", or "JST" means training or education for job skills required by an employer to provide an individual with the ability to obtain employment or to advance or adapt to the changing demands of the workplace.
"Limited English proficiency" or "LEP" means limited ability in speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language by a person whose native language is a language other than English or by a person who lives in a family or community environment where a language other than English is the dominant language.
"Multi-disciplinary assessment" means a multi-faceted approach to assessing health, psychological and social barriers of the individual and the family that may affect the FTW enrollee's readiness and ability to participate in employment training activities.
"Non-work eligible individual" or "NWEI" means an adult receiving assistance under TANF, or a non-recipient parent, who is:
(1) A parent of a household member who also provides care for a disabled family member living in the home, provided that the need for such care is supported by medical documentation. Only one parent in a household may claim this status;
(2) A single custodial parent personally providing care for the parent's child under six months of age who voluntarily requests to claim NWEI status, and has not exhausted their lifetime limit of twelve months to claim such status;
(3) A non-needy caretaker; or
(4) A recipient of Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance as defined in 42 U.S.C. §§1381 - 1383.
"On-the-job-training" or "OJT" means training in the public or private sector that is given to a paid employee while he or she is engaged in productive work and that provides knowledge and skills essential to the full and adequate performance of the job.
"Other approved work activities" means the following work activities: JST, education directly related to employment, and satisfactory attendance at secondary school or in a course of study leading to a certificate of general equivalence.
"Parent" means a person who can establish a parent and child relationship by providing proof of:
(1) having given birth to a child;
(2) marriage to the natural mother when the child was born or within three hundred days after the marriage was terminated;
(3) adoption;
(4) adjudication; or
(5) self-declaration as specified in section 17-656.1-8.
"Participant" means a TANF applicant or a TANF recipient engaged in the FTW program.
"Postsecondary education" or "PSE" means a program of instruction offered by an accredited or certified postsecondary institution and approved by the FTW program for participants.
"Sanction" means an action taken by the AFDC program against an individual, and their assistance unit who, without good cause, fails or refuses to participate in the program or accept employment, or terminates employment or reduces earnings.
"Satisfactory attendance" means regular attendance, in accordance with the requirements of the secondary school or course of study at a secondary school, or in a course of study leading to a certificate of general equivalence, in the case of a recipient who has not completed secondary school or received such a certificate.
"Self-employment" means receiving income directly from one's own business, trade, or profession rather than earning a specified salary or wages from an employer.
"Self-employment hours" means the number of hours derived by dividing the individual's self-employment net income (gross income minus business expenses) by the federal minimum wage.
"Self-sufficient employment" means employment equivalent to or more than one hundred per cent of the FPL for the family size of the custodial parent.
"Subsidized employment" means full- or part-time employment in the public or private sector for which the employer receives a subsidy from AFDC or other public funds to offset some or all of the wages and costs of employing an AFDC recipient.
"Support services" or "supportive services" means crisis intervention, counseling, case management, and support activities, including but not limited to, child care subsidy payments, work related expenses, and transportation expenses provided by the department to enable individuals to participate in the FTW program.
"Temporary Assistance for Needy Families" or "TANF" means the financial assistance and non-assistance programs administered by the DHS-BESSD under 42 U.S.C. §§601 - 619.
"Temporary Assistance for Other Needy Families" or "TAONF" means the financial assistance and non-assistance programs administered by the DHS-BESSD under section 346-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
"Unsubsidized employment" means full- or part-time employment in the public or private sector that is not subsidized by TANF or any other public program. Unsubsidized employment also includes self employment.
"Up-front universal engagement" or "UFUE" means every able-bodied recipient is engaged in efforts toward self-sufficiency and maintains compliance with participation requirements as specified in chapter 17794.1 as a condition of eligibility of TANF.
"Vocational educational training" or "VET" means organized educational programs that are directly related to the preparation of individuals for employment in current or emerging occupations requiring educational training.
