10-020-B. GOOD CAUSE FOR NOT
PARTICIPATING
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Table
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10-020.B.1
Background
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A participant may be excused from WTW participation by the Employment
Case Manager (ECM) for Good Cause on a case-by-case basis when the ECM determines that there is a condition or
other circumstance that temporarily
prevents or significantly impairs the participant’s ability to be regularly
employed or participate in Welfare to Work (WTW) activities. Good Cause is intended to address the reason(s) for non-compliance and
resolve barriers preventing the participant to be successful in their
activities and become self-sufficient For this reason, Good Cause should not be used excessively, or be
used for participants that continually fail to meet requirements. In this
case, participants may need to be scheduled for Reassessment or referred to
different or additional activity(ies). See CPG 10-020.B.2.
and CPG 10-025.C. for Good Cause determination. |
10-020.B.2 Good Cause
Determination
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The following actions must be completed by the ECM to
determine if Good Cause exists:
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10-020.B.3 Good Cause
Criteria
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The following is a list of criteria that MAY be considered, but are not
limited to, when determining Good Cause:
ECMs may request
documentation/verification from the participant for any Good Cause
situations. Important:
Documentation/verification of any Good Cause reason is required if the situation lasts
for more than 3 consecutive days (i.e., note from the doctor
or form CW61), official notification to appear in court, etc.). |
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10-020.B.4 Additional Good
Cause Criteria
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In addition to the Good Cause criteria listed above, the
ECM may consider the following Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Domestic
Violence indicators when determining Good Cause and make referral(s) to
appropriate services as needed:
The ECM will document in Case Comments: ·
Participant’s circumstances which are
impairing participation ·
Verification/documentation provided by
participant or third party ·
Result of Good Cause determination ·
Service referrals ·
Action taken to reassess the situation and
modify participant’s WTW/RES plan, if applicable |
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10-020.B.5
Temporary Good Cause
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To verify a disability, medical verification is needed
from a U.S. licensed doctor that states that, for 30 days or less, the
participant: ·
Is physically, mentally, or emotionally unable to
participate in activities for the
required weekly hours; or ·
Is needed in the home for a specified length of time to
take care of an incapacitated family member If at
the end of the 30 days the restriction on participation is extended beyond
the original 30 days, the participant is required to provide a w medical verification form CW 61. See CPG
10-020.A.6. If applicable, the ECM will refer the participant to the
HSS for an exemption determination. |
10-020.B.6
Supportive
Services
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Even though lack of necessary supportive services may
be Good
Cause for a
participant’s failure to fulfill his/her participation requirement, there may
be instances in which the lack of such services is self-imposed by the
participant, and therefore may not be considered as Good Cause. Examples:
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10-020.B.8
Examples of Good Cause
Determination and Case Comments
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Example
#1 A
participant did not attend a scheduled Orientation appointment due to
childcare issues. The ECM
determined the client has Good Cause and can be excused for not attending the
scheduled Orientation appointment. The Orientation appointment can be
rescheduled due to the ECM’s Good Cause determination Upon
determination of Good Cause, the ECM must enter Case Comments to include: ·
Good
Cause reason (childcare issues) ·
Good
Cause determination made by ECM (approval); ·
The
date the Good Cause situation occurred; ·
Number
of Good Cause Hours (2 hours); and ·
Report
Month Case Comment Example:
Client failed to attend Orientation on 7/15 due to no available child
care; Good Cause determined; Client rescheduled to attend Orientation on 7/24 Example
#2 A
participant did not attend a scheduled Orientation appointment because he/she
overslept. The ECM determined the
client does not have Good Cause for not attending the scheduled Orientation
appointment. The
Noncompliance process may be initiated and the Orientation appointment can be
rescheduled as the non-compliance determination appointment. Upon
determination of no Good Cause, the ECM must enter Case Comments to include: ·
No
Good Cause reason (overslept); ·
The
date the situation occurred; ·
No
Good Cause determination made by ECM (denial); ·
Case
action taken for no Good Cause determination (initiation of Non-compliance
process) Case
Comment Example:
Client failed to attend Orientation on 7/15/XX due over sleeping; Good Cause not determined;
Initiation of noncompliance completed; Noncompliance appointment scheduled
7/24/XX. Example #3 A
participant did not attend her Vocational Education Activity (VTR) for 1 week
(06/09/XX – 06/13/XX) due to the institution’s Semester Break. The ECM
determined the client has Good Cause
for not attending VTR, based on the allowed 10 State Holidays and 10 Excused
Absences, and documents
Good Cause hours in CalWIN. Upon
determination of Good Cause,
the ECM must enter Case Comments to include: ·
Good
Cause reason (Semester Break.); ·
Good
Cause determination made by ECM (approval); ·
The date the Good Cause situation occurred; ·
Number
of Good Cause Hours (16 hours); and ·
Report
Month Case Comment Example:
Client did not attend VTR from 06/09/XX – 06/13/XX due to Semester
Break; Good
Cause determined; 16
hours of Good Cause entered for the report month of June 20XX. Example
#4 A
participant did not attend her Vocational Education Activity (VTR) for 2
weeks (06/09/XX – 06/20/XX) due to the institution’s Semester Break. The ECM determined the client has Good
Cause for not attending VTR, based on the allowed 10 State Holidays and 10
Excused Absences, and documents Good Cause hours in CalWIN. Upon
determination of Good Cause, the ECM must enter Case Comments to include: ·
Good
Cause reason (Semester Break.); ·
Good
Cause determination made by ECM (approval); ·
The
date the Good Cause situation occurred; ·
Number
of Good Cause Hours (16 hours); ·
Report
Month Case Comment Example:
Client did not attend VTR from 06/09/XX – 06/20/XX due to Semester
Break; Good Cause determined; 16 hours of Good Cause entered for the report
month of June 20 Note:
Although the client was unable to participate for 2
weeks due to a Semester Break, 16 hours are the maximum number of good cause
hours allowed per calendar month. Example
#5 A participant did not attend her Part Time
Employment Activity (PTE) for 2 days (06/09/XX, 6/10/XX) due to child’s
illness. Client’s PTE activity is scheduled 5 hours per day. The ECM
determined the client has Good Cause for not attending PTE, based on the
allowed 10 State Holidays and 10 Excused Absences, and documents Good Cause
hours in CalWIN. Upon determination
of Good Cause, the ECM must enter Case Comments to include: ·
Good
Cause reason (child illness); ·
Good
Cause determination made by ECM (approval); ·
The
date(s) the Good Cause situation occurred; ·
Number
of Good Cause Hours, to correspond with the scheduled activity (10 hours); ·
Report
Month. Case Comment Example:
Client did not attend PTE on 06/09/XX and 06/10/XX due to child’s
illness; Good Cause determined; 10 hours of Good Cause entered for the report
month of June 20XX; 10 hours determined based on activity schedule, client
scheduled to work 5 hours on the days the child was ill Note: Good Cause hours entered cannot
exceed the number of scheduled hours in an activity. In this example, 8 hours of Good Cause per
day (16 total hours) would not be valid. |
10-020.B.9
Excused Absence
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Excused absences mean specific circumstances when hours
in unpaid work activities may be counted as actual hours even though
the participant was not able to participate. In order to count an excused absence as actual
countable hours of participation, the
individual must have been scheduled to participate in a countable work
activity for the period of the absence that is reported as participation.
Based on the federal Work Participation
Rate (WPR) requirements, all WTW participants who are
assigned to un-paid activites are allowed excused absences, which may
include: ·
Ten state holidays ·
80 hours of additional
excused absences, no more than 16 hours per month, during the preceding 12 month period. Summary
*
See CPG 10-020.B.3 section for the remaining Good Cause
criteria. In the circumstance where an employed participant (FTE/PTE) is paid for the hours
of an absence from that activity (such as a paid holiday or paid vacation),
the actual paid hours are countable as participation. These paid absences are in addition to the 16 hours
excused absences allowed monthly (maximum of 80 hours per year). Documentation and verification of all excused absences
must be maintained in the case file. See CPG 10-003.B
and CPG
11-001.B
for
Good Cause impact on the participant’s WTW 24 Month Time Clock. Example #1 A participant, who is scheduled to work 8 hours a day,
5 days a week, is paid in July for Independence Day and for 4 days of paid
vacation. In the same month, the
participant is absent due to illness for 2 days (16 hours). Due to the fact that the participant is assigned to a
paid activity, the ECM considers State holiday and paid vacation hours as
regular participation hours and allows for July 16 hours of Good Cause due to
illness. Example #2 A participant is assigned to Vocational Training (VTR)
8 hours a day, 5 days a week. In July the participant is absent for a total
of 40 hours (5 days) due to illness. Due to the fact that the participant is assigned to an
unpaid activity, the ECM allows a total of 24 excused hours for July (8 hours
for a State holiday and additional 16 hours of Good Cause due to illness). Note: Due to meeting Good Cause criteria (illness), the participant is considered in compliance with WTW requirements, although the remaining 24 hours are not counted in CalWIN as “excused hours”. |
10-020.B.10
Allowable Good Cause Hours and AMPR
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10-020.B.11
Documenting
Good Cause hours
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Example # 1: A participant fails to participate in Job Club for
1-day due to a child’s illness. The ECM determines the participant has Good Cause and
documents 8 hours of Good Cause in CalWIN.
Example # 2: A participant is required to participate for 30 hours
weekly (5 hours of employment and 10 hours of ESL classes, 4 days a week).
He/she does not work for 1 week due to ilness. Although he/she has good cause for not working the
scheduled 30 hours, only 16 good cause hours may be documented in CalWIN. Example # 3: Same scenario as in # 2, but the participant has
already reached his/her total 80 hours of good cause in the preceding
12-month period. No good cause hours can be documented in CalWIN, although the participant may be considered in compliance if the reason for missing work meets any of the good cause criteria listed in CPG 10-020.B.3 and CPG 10-020.B.4. |