Glossary Fiscal Year 2000 - Economic Services Administration
Economic Services Administration (ESA) administers welfare
grants, related employment training, and child care to very low-income persons
in the following groups: disabled and unemployable persons, persons who have
children under age 18, and pregnant women. In addition, ESA administers services
which promote economic independence and self-sufficiency for refugees through
the effective use of financial, medical, and social services. ESA also
administers food Assistance services.
Public
Assistance Recoveries (which offset ESA
expenditures)
Refugee
Health Screening
Consolidated Emergency Assistance Program (CEAP):
ESA provides for specific emergent needs such as food, shelter, clothing,
minor medical, household maintenance, job-related transportation or
clothing, and transportation for foster care-bound children. Payment
is limited to specified maximums for individual emergent need items
or the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Payment Standard,
whichever is lower. Benefit payments are authorized for only 30 days
in any 12 consecutive month period. CEAP is available to the following
persons: (1) pregnant women in any stage of pregnancy or (2) families
with dependent children. Prior to January 2000, clients could be eligible
for CEAP benefits while receiving ongoing cash Assistance. Beginning
January 1, 2000, clients must be ineligible for TANF, State Family Assistance
(SFA), Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA), or Diversion Cash Assistance (DCA)
to receive CEAP benefits. This policy change restricting eligibility
accounts for the significant decline in numbers served between Fiscal Year 99
and Fiscal Year 00.
Diversion Cash Assistance (DCA) Service: ESA
provides one-time DCA grants to low-income families with temporary emergent
needs who are not likely to need continued Assistance if those needs
are met. DCA grants are limited to $1500 once per year. DCA payments
may be used to cover emergent needs for shelter, transportation, child
care, food, medical care, and employment-related expenses. Recipients
must meet TANF or SFA eligibility criteria to receive a DCA grant. If
the family or Assistance unit goes on TANF or SFA Assistance within
12 months of receiving a DCA grant, a proportionate amount of the DCA
payment must be repaid.
Food Stamp (FS) Benefits: Food Stamps
are available to households with income below 130% of the federal poverty
level and resources below federal limits. This service is generally
available to all low-income households regardless of factors such as
age, incapacity, and dependency. Certain Able-Bodied Adults Without
Dependents (ABAWDs) are limited to no more than 3 months of benefits
during a 36-month period unless they either work at least 20 hours a
week or participate in Food Stamp Employment and Training. Recipients
receive coupons or debit cards redeemable for food at participating
food stores.
ORIA Services and CSO Case Management: The Office
of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance (ORIA) provides a variety of services
including English as a Second Language (ESL) Training, Health Screening,
Self-Sufficiency Assessments, Citizenship Training, Planning, Employment
Services, Foster Care, and other Social Services. All ORIA Services
are provided to refugees and immigrants through private non-profit and
government contractors. ESL Training assists refugees and immigrants
to overcome communication problems and to obtain the necessary language
skills to find employment. Employment Services include assessment, job
development, job placement, on-the-job-training, trial employment, and
follow-up to ensure job retention. CSO Case Management includes
an evaluation of health, education, skills, work history, and employment
potential; Assistance in developing a personal employment plan; and
referrals to social and medical services.
Refugee Grants: Refugees who meet
state income and grant standards, but do not qualify for TANF or SSI,
receive federal Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) for their first eight
months in the United States. In general, RCA recipients are single persons
and married couples without children.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) State Supplement
Payments: SSI is a national benefit service for individuals
and couples who are age 65 or older or who are blind or disabled as
determined by the Social Security Administration. SSI state supplement
payments are Washington State funded grants which supplement federal
SSI payments. SSI state supplement payments are made to individuals
and couples who have countable income below a combined state and federal
income standard.
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) /
State Family Assistance (SFA): ESA provides TANF cash grants
to the following financially needy client groups: (1) children under
age 18, (2) children under age 19 attending high school or working towards
a GED full-time, (3) parents or caretaker relatives of these children,
(4) unmarried teen parents under the age of 18, and (5) pregnant women.
Eligibility for TANF cash grants is limited to a 5-year period during
which adult members of the family or Assistance unit are expected to
participate in WorkFirst (see the description below). In addition to
ongoing TANF cash grants, families may receive a special one-time Additional
Requirements for Emergent Needs (AREN) cash payment to meet emergency
housing or utility needs. ESA also provides SFA cash grants to
certain persons meeting Washington State residency requirements who
are not eligible for TANF Assistance and who are (1) qualified aliens
and have been in the United States for less than five years, (2) aliens
who are permanently residing in the US under color of law (PRUCOL),
(3) nineteen or twenty year-old students meeting certain education requirements
(i.e. receiving a special education due to their disability or participating
full-time in secondary education or vocational training), or (4) pregnant
women who have been convicted of either misrepresenting their residence
in order to receive benefits from two or more states at the same time
or of a drug-related felony.
WorkFirst: Persons age 16 or older who
are part of a TANF family or Assistance unit are required to participate
in WorkFirst. WorkFirst services include job search, basic education
(including high school/GED completion, remedial education, and English
language proficiency), jobs skills training, pre-employment training,
subsidized community jobs, one year of post-secondary education (career
counseling as well as limited academic education and vocational instruction),
salaried or non-salaried work experience with a public, private, or
private/nonprofit organization, and on-the-job training.
Working Connections Child Care: ESA
provides child care Assistance to: (1) eligible TANF families who require
child care to participate in approved WorkFirst activities, job search,
employment, or training and (2) non-TANF families who require child
care to maintain employment or to attend approved training. Clients
receiving WC Child Care must pass an economic means test.
Note: CSDB Child Care counts include both the children being
served and their adult, primary caregivers.
Some services are small and unlike other services. Programs may choose to
include these in the program only total, rather than include them with
dissimilar services. Client counts and expenditures for the following services
appear in the program total only:
SSI Facilitation: ESA provides Assistance with the completion
and monitoring of SSA Title II or Title XVI applications to the following
client groups: (1) GA-U recipients, TANF recipients, and ADATSA shelter
residents.
Protective Payee Fees.
Eligibility Determination: ESA staff perform assessment, evaluation, and
documentation of incapacity for applicants or recipients.
General Assistance-Legal Guardian (GH-H) payments: ESA provides cash
grants for the basic needs of children who live with court-appointed legal
guardians or permanent legal custodians. Beginning in July 2000, this service
was integrated with TANF.
Refugee Unaccompanied Minors: ORIA administers foster care contracts for
children who have been identified as Unaccompanied Minors by the Office of
Refugee Resettlement. The contracting agencies provide services that
include recruiting, training and/or licensing foster families, placement,
and casework services. These agencies also provide emancipation training
and cultural preservation activities.
Consolidated Emergency Assistance Service (CEAP) is reported for the first
time in Client Service Database (CSDB) for Fiscal Year 99. This service was reported in the
program total only in
NADB for Fiscal Year 94.
NADB for Fiscal Year 94 reported grants paid through the Aid to Families with
Dependent Children (AFDC). The AFDC has been significantly
re-structured due to federal welfare reform legislation passed in 1996 and
is now referred to as the Temporary Assistance to Need Families (TANF). CSDB for Fiscal Year 99 reports grants paid through the TANF
service.
NADB for Fiscal Year 94 reported services provided through the ESA Child Care. These
services has also been significantly re-structured due to
federal welfare reform legislation passed in 1996 and are now referred to
as the Working Connections Child Care. CSDB for Fiscal Year 99 reports
Assistance provided by the Working Connections Child Care.
NADB for Fiscal Year 94 reported services provided through the Job Opportunities
for Basic Skills (JOBS) training. These services have also been
significantly re-structured due to federal welfare reform legislation
passed in 1996 and are now referred to as the WorkFirst. CSDB for
Fiscal Year 99 reports Assistance provided by the WorkFirst.
The Refugee Unaccompanied Minors services were reported as a separate
service category in NADB for Fiscal Year 94. Due to significant decline in the
numbers served, this service is now reported in the program total only.
Changes from CSDB for Fiscal Year 99
CSDB for Fiscal Year 99 reported General Assistance for Pregnant Women (GA-S).
Through April 1999, ESA provided GA-S cash grants to low-income pregnant
women who were not eligible for TANF because they were in the first two
trimesters of their pregnancy. This service was integrated with TANF in May
of 1999 by expanding TANF eligibility to include pregnant women in the first
two trimesters of pregnancy. CSDB for Fiscal Year 00 reports these grants under the
TANF report group.
For more ways to get in touch with the Department of Social
and Health Services, go to
the DSHS Contact
Information Web page. Technical Site Comments: DSHS Webmaster.
Copyright 2004 Washington State Department of Social and Health Services.
