1.  the Missouri Employment and Training Program; and

 
2.  work or participate in an approved training program 20 hours per week.

Recognizing that the 20-hour per week work requirement creates a hardship for individuals who live in areas with high unemployment and without enough approved training slots; Congress allows waiver of this requirement in some areas.  Economic factors qualifying areas of a state for a waiver are:

1.  the unemployment rate is over 10 percent; or

 
2.  there are an insufficient number of jobs to provide employment for individuals residing in the area (labor surplus).

Missouri's waiver request of the 18 to 50 year old work requirement is approved effective March 1, 2000, through February 28, 2001, for the following counties:
 

Benton	Linn	St. Francois
Bollinger	Madison	Stoddard
Caldwell	Miller	Stone
Clark	Mississippi	Taney
Crawford	Montgomery	Texas
Douglas	New Madrid	Washington
Dunklin	Ozark	Wayne
Hickory	Pemiscot	Wright
Iron	Shannon	St. Louis City

Counties meeting the waiver criteria and added to the list of counties in which the waiver applies are Benton, Clark, and Montgomery.  NOTE:  Buchanan, Camden, Carter, Laclede and Ripley Counties do not meet the waiver criteria this year.

Since all counties with an unemployment rate over 10% also have an insufficient number of jobs to provide employment, Missouri applied for only a waiver due to an insufficient number of jobs to provide employment for individuals residing in the area (labor surplus).  Waiver code 41 continues to be the only valid entry for waived counties.

Impact on Non-Waived Counties

Effective March 1, 2000, Buchanan, Camden, Carter, Laclede, and Ripley Counties no longer meet the waiver criteria.  Evaluate the continued eligibility of participants subject to the 18 to 50 year old work requirement at recertification.  Evaluate new applicants for the 18 to 50 year old work requirement at application.

A non-work month is a month in which the individual receives food stamps while not meeting the 18 to 50 year old work requirement.  Continue to show the non-work months accumulated while an individual lived in a non-waived county in FTWR.  Any month in which an individual lived in a non-waived county continues to count as a non-work month.  Refer to the table attached to determine the waiver status of waived counties since implementation of the work requirement.

FTWR will not allow a waiver code for Buchanan, Camden, Carter, Laclede and Ripley Counties.

Impact on Newly Waived Counties

Individuals residing in the newly waived counties who were denied food stamp benefits because they did not meet the 18 to 50 year old work requirement are eligible as of March 1, 2000.  At any contact with a household that has a member subject to the 18 to 50 year old work requirement, redetermine the eligibility of that member and take appropriate action.  Take action at recertification to determine if members denied benefits due to the 18 to 50 year old work requirement are now eligible.  Individuals rejected due to not meeting the 18 to 50 year old work requirement can receive food stamps if they meet all other eligibility requirements.

FTWR Entries

Remove March 2000 and later months from FTWR if entered as non-
work months for individuals who resided in a waived county during these months.  When making entries into FTWR, do not enter non-
work months for any month in which an individual subject to the 18 to 50 year old work requirement resided in a waived area.

FTWR will allow waiver code 41 for Benton, Clark, and Montgomery Counties as of March 2000.  Entry of code 41 will allow an individual to receive food stamp benefits even though FTWR shows 5 non-work months.

18 to 50 Year Old Work Requirement Flyer

Attached to the hard copy of this memorandum is a flyer listing this year's newly waived counties.  Make this flyer available to community groups, local food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, etc. for distribution to individuals that may be affected by the waiver.

Review this memorandum with appropriate staff.

 

Provide the flyer to community groups in the area, local food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, etc.