Families First employment preparation, placement, and retention services
(WPR) for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), known as Families First in Tennessee, and (2) move Families First clients into employment at the highest wage possible, at the earliest date possible, prior to the client exhausting his or her 60-month lifetime limit for Families First benefits. The State intends to secure one contract per Contractor Zone for each of the five (5) Zones identified within this RFP.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued two sets of TANF regulations; the first following the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), and another in 2006, as required by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA). The law requires that TANF clients be employed or participate for a prescribed number of hours in activities designed to move them into unsubsidized employment. The regulations define what may or may not be counted as allowable activities and describe the requirements for documenting and validating the hours an individual is reported as participating.
Tennessee has operated its TANF program under a waiver from the federal government since September 1996. Waiver authority has provided the state opportunities to meet WPR requirements in unique ways, by offering work activities beyond those recognized by federal statute, and by providing exemptions to individuals for reasons not recognized in federal regulations. With the expiration of the waiver on June 30, 2007, the state is mandated to come into immediate compliance with federal regulations; both continuing TANF legislation and new requirements under the DRA. The major challenge will be ensuring compliance with the mandated WPR and verifying that procedures are in place to document such engagement of individuals in their respective work activity.
