286.80—What information on minimum work participation requirements must a Tribe include in its Tribal Family Assistance Plan?
(a)
To assess a Tribe's level of success in meeting its TANF work objectives, a Tribe that submits a TFAP must negotiate with the Secretary minimum work participation requirements that will apply to families that receive Tribal TANF assistance that includes an adult or minor head of household receiving such assistance.
(b)
A Tribe that submits a TFAP must include in the plan the Tribe's proposal for minimum work participation requirements, which includes the following:
(1)
For each fiscal year covered by the plan, the Tribe's proposed participation rate(s) for all families, for all families and two-parent families, or for one-parent families and two-parent families;
(2)
For each fiscal year covered by the plan, the Tribe's proposed minimum number of hours per week that adults and minor heads of household will be required to participate in work activities;
(i)
If the Tribe elects to include reasonable transportation time to and from the site of work activities in determining the hours of work participation, it must so indicate in its TFAP along with a definition of “reasonable” for purposes of this subsection, along with:
(A)
An explanation of how the economic conditions and/or resources available to the Tribe justify inclusion of transportation time in determining work participation hours; and
(B)
An explanation of how counting reasonable transportation time is consistent with the purposes of TANF;
(4)
Any exemptions, limitations and special rules being established in relation to work requirements; and
(5)
The Tribe must provide rationale for the above, explaining how the proposed work requirements relate to and are justified based on the Tribe's needs and conditions.
(i)
The rationale must address how the proposed work requirements are consistent with the purposes of TANF and with the economic conditions and resources of the Tribe.
(ii)
Examples of the information that could be included to illustrate the Tribe's proposal include, but are not limited to: poverty, unemployment, jobless and job surplus rates; education levels of adults in the service area; availability of and/or accessibility to resources (educational facilities, transportation) to help families become employable and find employment; and employment opportunities on and near the service area.