The Family Support Division (FSD) refers Temporary Assistance (TA) recipients to the Missouri Work Assistance (MWA) program who are mandatory work eligible individuals, but are unable to immediately participate in work or work activities due to the inability to find childcare or transportation.
Because these recipients are mandatory work participants, but have a temporary reason that they are unable to participate, they may be eligible for the temporary waiver status of “Unable to find child care or transportation” while attempting to locate appropriate childcare or transportation.
It becomes the recipient’s full-time task, with the assistance of the MWA case manager, to find childcare or transportation that enables him/her to participate in the required work activities. The recipient’s months of participation continue to count against their 60-month lifetime limit of TA; therefore, it is important to obtain the necessary supportive service as quickly as possible.
A recipient meets the criteria for a temporary waiver due to lack of child care or transportation when:
- The recipient has had a breakdown of current childcare or transportation that is of a permanent nature. (Daycare facility closes, current vehicle is damaged beyond repair, etc.); and
- The recipient has explored all possible resources in the immediate area, with no success.
Recipients do not meet the criteria for a waiver due to lack of child care or transportation when:
- The absence of appropriate childcare or transportation is due to a short-term (two weeks or less) breakdown in current transportation or childcare;
Example: Jenny works part-time and takes her daughter to a neighbor who operates a licensed daycare in her home. The neighbor informs Jenny that she will be out of town for about 10 days, and Jenny needs to make other childcare arrangements for her daughter during that time. Jenny will be able to return her daughter to the neighbor’s daycare when she returns.
- The recipient has not exhausted all resources (with the assistance of the MWA case manager) to find childcare or transportation alternatives;
- The recipient, with the assistance of the MWA case manager, has not explored alternative work activities that would preclude the need for childcare or transportation; and
- These efforts by the recipient have been communicated to the MWA case manager and documented in the MWA System.
Included in the Teaching Work Habits and Attitudes guide below are guidelines for the MWA case manager and recipient to assist in the exploration of available resources for child care and transportation. Together, the MWA case manager and the recipient review and discuss the questions and responses found in the guidelines as part of the effort to secure appropriate supportive services.
Before placing a recipient in a waiver for lack of child care or transportation, the circumstances must be reviewed by a designated MWA service provider supervisor for appropriateness. If the designated MWA supervisor approves the placement, record the approval as a case note in the MWA System and place the recipient in the waiver for a maximum of 30 days. At the end of 30 days, re-evaluate the situation with the recipient, review the available options, and if the lack of child care or transportation still exists, obtain approval again from the designated MWA supervisor to extend the waiver another 30 days. These waived recipients remain subject to the 60-month life-time limit of TA; therefore, it is important to resolve this barrier as soon as possible.
Continue to assist the recipient to locate childcare or obtain transportation while they are in the temporary waiver status. Record in the MWA System all applicable information related to the recipient’s efforts to obtain the necessary childcare or transportation.