<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<regulation prefix="Regulation" num=".07-1" citation="COMAR 07.03.03.07-1" title_num="07" subtitle_num="03" chapter_num="03" heading="Employment and Education Requirements.">
  <paragraph num="A.">
    <text>Each adult in the assistance unit, and each child age 16 years old or older in the assistance unit who is not enrolled full-time in school or pursuing a diploma or the equivalent, shall participate in a work activity which is:</text>
    <paragraph num="(1)">
      <text>Approved by the local department;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(2)">
      <text>Likely to result in unsubsidized employment; and</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(3)">
      <text>Scheduled up to 40 hours per week.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="B.">
    <text>Failure of an adult to cooperate in a work requirement without good cause, including failure to accept offered employment or quitting a job, shall result in ineligibility of the entire assistance unit as described in Regulation .19A(1) of this chapter.</text>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="C.">
    <text>Failure of a child 16 years of age or older not in school to cooperate in a work requirement without good cause, including failure to accept employment or quitting a job, shall result in deduction of the child's incremental portion of the grant from the family's TCA grant as described in Regulation .19A(2) of this chapter.</text>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="D.">
    <text>The following individuals are exempt from the work activity requirements:</text>
    <paragraph num="(1)">
      <text>For a maximum of 12 months in the adult's lifetime, adults who are required to care for a child younger than 1 year old, who is a member of the assistance unit;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(2)">
      <text>Adults and children in the assistance unit who are severely disabled;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(3)">
      <text>Children younger than 16 years old;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(4)">
      <text>Adults caring for a disabled family member living in the home;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(5)">
      <text>Adults in the assistance unit, and children age 16 years old or older in the assistance unit, who are victims of domestic or family violence and actively receiving family violence services; and</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(6)">
      <text>Non-parent caretaker relatives who have no children of their own in the assistance unit.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="E.">
    <text>An individual is not exempt as disabled for more than 12 months unless the:</text>
    <paragraph num="(1)">
      <text>Individual has applied for Supplemental Security Income (SSI); and</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(2)">
      <text>SSI application is approved, pending, or in the appeal stage.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="F.">
    <text>A minor parent who has not finished secondary school or obtained a high school diploma or the equivalent is not exempt to care for a child younger than 1 year old.</text>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="G.">
    <text>A minor parent with a child 12 weeks old or older who has not finished secondary school or obtained a high school diploma or the equivalent is not exempt and shall be enrolled in, attending 80 percent of the time, and making satisfactory progress in:</text>
    <paragraph num="(1)">
      <text>Educational activities leading to a diploma; or</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(2)">
      <text>An alternative education or training program approved by the State.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="H.">
    <text>Voluntary Quit and Reduction in Work Hours.</text>
    <paragraph num="(1)">
      <text>TCA may not be paid to an assistance unit in which a parent voluntarily quit a job or voluntarily reduced the hours of employment without good cause.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(2)">
      <text>At application the assistance unit is ineligible for TCA for 30 days from the date of the quit or reduction of work hours if:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>The voluntary quit was from employment that:</text>
        <paragraph num="(i)">
          <text>Was at least 30 hours per week; or</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(ii)">
          <text>Paid at least 30 times the State or federal minimum hourly wage per week, whichever is higher; or</text>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>Hours were reduced:</text>
        <paragraph num="(i)">
          <text>To less than 30 hours per week; or</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(ii)">
          <text>So that the individual was paid less than the equivalent of 30 times the State or federal minimum hourly wage per week, whichever is higher.</text>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(3)">
      <text>At recertification or interim change, the local department shall follow conciliation and sanction procedures as described in Regulation .19 of this chapter when an individual voluntarily quits a job or reduces work hours without good cause during the certification period, except for an individual who is not required to participate in a work activity, as described in §§D and E of this regulation.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(4)">
      <text>The local department shall follow the good cause reasons listed in §§I and J of this regulation to determine acceptable good cause for:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>Refusing or failing to cooperate with work requirements;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>Quitting a job; or</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(c)">
        <text>Reducing work hours.</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="I.">
    <text>Good cause for refusing or failing to cooperate with work requirements or for refusing or quitting a job includes one or more of the following:</text>
    <paragraph num="(1)">
      <text>Illness or incapacity of the individual required to be in a work activity or job, with documentation specifying the:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>Ill or disabled individual's prognosis;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>Doctor's expectation for the length of the illness or disability;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(c)">
        <text>Activities the individual may engage in; and</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(d)">
        <text>Activities the individual may not engage in;</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(2)">
      <text>Verified, court-required appearance or temporary incarceration;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(3)">
      <text>Domestic violence or other family crisis that threatens normal family functioning;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(4)">
      <text>A breakdown in transportation arrangements when there is no accessible means of transportation;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(5)">
      <text>A breakdown in child care arrangements or lack of child care resources for a child or children who are 12 years old or younger for a period not to exceed 30 days;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(6)">
      <text>A single parent caring for a child younger than 6 years old who is unable to obtain child care for one or more of the following reasons:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>Unavailability of appropriate child care within a reasonable distance from the parent's home or work site;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>Unavailability or unsuitability of informal child care by a relative or others; or</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(c)">
        <text>Unavailability or unsuitability of appropriate and affordable formal child care arrangements;</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(7)">
      <text>Lack of supportive services identified in the Family Independence Plan and agreed upon by the recipient and the local department;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(8)">
      <text>Other circumstances determined to be good cause by the local department.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="J.">
    <text>Good cause for quitting a job or reducing work hours includes the reasons stated in §I of this regulation or one or more of the following reasons:</text>
    <paragraph num="(1)">
      <text>Taking a new job with another employer;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(2)">
      <text>Discrimination based on age, race, gender, religious or political belief, sexual orientation, marital status, mental or physical disability, or national origin;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(3)">
      <text>Hazardous working conditions;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(4)">
      <text>Resignation at employer's request.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="K.">
    <text>Participation in a work activity includes, but is not limited to:</text>
    <paragraph num="(1)">
      <text>Unsubsidized employment;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(2)">
      <text>Subsidized employment;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(3)">
      <text>Work experience;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(4)">
      <text>On the job training;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(5)">
      <text>Job search;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(6)">
      <text>Community service programs;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(7)">
      <text>Vocational educational training; or</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(8)">
      <text>Job skills directly related to employment.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="L.">
    <text>The local department shall follow conciliation and sanction procedures as described in Regulation .19 of this chapter for all individuals who are not in compliance with work activity requirements.</text>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="M.">
    <text>If resources are available, a noncustodial parent or a stepparent may be included in work activities but are not subject to conciliation and sanction procedures as described in Regulation .19 of this chapter.</text>
  </paragraph>
</regulation>