OFFICE OF COMMUNITY SERVICES

DIVISION OF TRIBAL SERVICES

TANF Guidance

PART C: PROGRAM INFORMATION AND CONSIDERATIONS


We encourage Tribes to use the TANF planning process to consider and address important questions in consultation with members of the Indian tribe, other interested parties including the business and social services community in and near the Tribal service area, and representatives from appropriate Federal and State agencies.  These discussions and consultations should cover both the areas the statute specifies to be included in the Tribal TANF plan as well as various significant issues and concerns that are closely related to creating and operating a temporary assistance program whose primary goals include helping families achieve economic independence.  In this Part we offer suggestions that are not intended to be inclusive, but which may serve as a useful guide in the Tribe's planning and decision-making activities.

TRIBAL TANF FUNDING

Section 412(a)(1)(B) describes the data that will be used to determine the amount of a Tribal TANF grant.  The statute provides that for each fiscal year 1997 - 2002, an Indian tribe that has an approved TANF plan will receive an amount equal to the Federal share (including administration expenditures, which may include systems costs) of all expenditures (other than child care expenditures) by the State or States under the AFDC (title IV-A) and JOBS (title IV-F) programs for fiscal year (FY) 1994 for Indian families residing in the service area(s) identified in the Tribal TANF plan.  For Tribes which operated a Tribal JOBS program in FY 1994, the State title IV-F expenditures used in the calculation would be for expenditures made on behalf of non-member Indians living in the designated TANF service area(s). Any expenditures by the State for Tribal members who were served by the State JOBS program will also be included in the determination.  The data used to make the determination of a Tribal TANF grant amount will be submitted by the State.

Under the AFDC, JOBS, and EA programs, States were generally required to use State dollars to match Federal dollars at a rate of 50%.  As noted above, the formula used to determine Tribal TANF grants includes only Federal payments; State matching payments are not used.

It may be useful for an Indian tribe considering the implementation of a TANF program to request data from the State in advance in order to:

>     determine the estimated amount of the grant the Indian tribe would receive to operate its own TANF program;

>     help the Tribe determine the potential costs of operating its own TANF program; and

>     help the Tribe evaluate its interest in and capacity to operate its own tribal program from the administrative and operational perspectives.

Once a letter of intent that contains the proposed service area and population to be served or Tribal TANF plan is received, ACF will officially request from the State the data needed to determine the amount of the Tribal TANF grant.  The letter to the State requesting the data will ask that the State send a copy of the response to the Tribe as well as to ACF.  If the Indian tribe has already requested and received the necessary data from the State and agrees with the data, the Tribe can submit the State data with the Tribal TANF plan.  The Tribe should also include a certification that it agrees with the State submitted data.

Under 412(a)(1)(B)(ii)(II) of the Act if a Tribe believes that the data submitted by the State is not correct, the Tribe may submit additional information that may be relevant to the determination of the grant amount along with a letter asking the Secretary to review its determination.  This letter should be sent to your ACF Regional Office and to ACF's Division of Tribal Services (see Attachment 1 and page 10 for the addresses).

DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

Pursuant to section 412(g) of the Act, Indian tribes that operate a TANF program will have to meet the data collection and reporting requirements as specified in section 411 of title IV-A, as amended.  Section 411(a)(1)(A) contains a list of the items that must be reported to the Secretary on a quarterly basis.  One of the uses of the data submitted on the reports is the determination as to whether a Tribe has met its required work participation requirement.

ACF will be issuing regulations in the area of data collection and reporting.  The regulations will address data elements; data sampling methodology and plans; and methods for submitting data. Although data can be reported manually, the preferred method will be electronic transmission.

Some of the questions that a Tribe needs to address as part of its planning process are as follows:

>    Will it submit data manually or electronically?  If electronically, does the Tribe currently have a mechanism in place for electronic reporting?  Is it feasible for the Tribal TANF program to tie into the State's reporting mechanisms for TANF?

>   Will sampling of the caseload be a viable approach for the Tribe, if the Tribal TANF caseload qualifies for sampling?

INCOME SUPPORT PROGRAM

Adoption of a Tribal TANF Program means that the Indian tribe assumes the role of providing temporary assistance to needy families in lieu of the State.  The State will no longer have responsibility for the provision of assistance to needy families covered by a Tribal TANF program.


Issues related to the operation and maintenance of a cash assistance program are varied.  For example, staff must be available to assist Tribal TANF recipients with issues arising from receipt of assistance.  Another area of administration that is important for the operation of a TANF program is the development and maintenance of procedural manuals and documents outlining the structure, procedures and policies to be used to determine initial eligibility for TANF, as well as continued eligibility once the household has been determined eligible for TANF.

There are various Federal statutes that contain provisions for the exclusion of certain income when determining eligibility for and the amount of assistance for need based programs.  ACF will provide at a later date a non-exhaustive listing of major Federal statutes containing provisions excluding certain income from eligibility determinations.  The development of administrative systems - either by the Tribe itself or through any agreements, contracts, or compacts the Tribe may enter into - that provide for effective implementation of welfare-related services and tracking of program requirements, such as issuance of benefits, time on assistance, and work requirements is also an important part of the operation of a Tribal TANF program.

In addition, there are other issues involved in operating a cash assistance program. These considerations include:

·   Size of the population to be served by the Tribal TANF program, and the amount of funds available to serve that population.

·   Will TANF services be provided to both single and two parent households?

·   Amount of any TANF cash assistance to be provided to needy families.  Will payment amounts be a flat TANF amount or be based on the size of the household?

·   How will income and earnings be regarded? Will allowable per capita distributions be considered as income counted against the TANF grant? Will child support payments received by the TANF household be counted against the TANF grant? How will education loans for students in the household attending school be treated?

·   How will resources/assets (other than income) be regarded? Will a resource limit be considered as part of the eligibility determination process. What resources will be counted and which will be excluded? Resources include such items as receipt of a lump sum, disposable income in savings or checking accounts, and equity in vehicles.

·   Some items must be disregarded in the calculation of cash assistance grants. These are generally the result of treaties entered into between the United States and individual Indian tribes, or the result of other statutes enacted into law. How will the Tribe deal with "legal disregards of income and resources" in the calculation of the benefit level?

·   Associated with the above issues is the verification of income and resources. Will a self declaration of income and resources be adequate, or will you need to establish a system to verify income and resources that involves contacting other organizations, including:  the State Unemployment/Employment Program, the Social Security Administration, employers, local banks and credit unions, State lottery boards, the Internal Revenue Service, the State Department of Taxation and/or other sources of income and financial information?

·   How will interaction with the State or Tribal agency responsible for child support enforcement be accomplished?

·   How will the Tribal TANF program fulfill its responsibilities to provide client information to other sources (for example State agencies and other Tribes with TANF programs) on matters related to time limits and work history?

·   How will overpayments and underpayments be managed? When an overpayment occurs will an account receivable be established and tracked and a recovery pursued?

·   How will TANF complement the Tribe's BIA General Assistance (GA) system?

·   How will the reporting and cash management requirements of TANF be met?



COORDINATION WITH THE STATE AND OTHER INDIAN TRIBES

We strongly encourage coordination with the State and with other Indian tribes. Coordination can take many forms; some (not all) of these are listed below:

->   The Tribe's decision as to whether: (a) to operate its own TANF program; (b) not to operate its own TANF Program and be served by the State's TANF program; (c) not to operate its own TANF Program, but be served by another Tribe's TANF program; or (d) to operate its own Tribal JOBS Program (for those operating the program in FY 1994), and be served by either the State or other Tribal TANF program.

   o   If (a), the request to the State needs to be made for client data and expenditures in FY 1994 for the Tribal service population and the Tribal service area (see below).

   o   If (d), assuring coordination between the work requirements of the State TANF program and the goals and objectives of the Tribal JOBS program.

->   Assuring continued Medicaid and Food Stamp services to Tribal members from the State Agency administering these programs.

->   Arranging for information exchange on Tribal TANF members moving into the State's TANF service area or into another Tribal TANF service area and vice versa.

->   Assuring a means of exchanging information on the individual's duration of TANF assistance in either the State or Tribal TANF area.

->   Assuring a means of exchanging information on issues related to child support enforcement.

->   Developing the scope of memoranda of agreement as to various issues of mutual interest to the State and the Tribe in the operation of TANF programs.

PENALTIES

Tribes with approved Tribal TANF plans are subject to certain penalties.  A Tribe who uses the TANF grant in violation of the purposes of the TANF program is subject to a penalty in an amount equal to the amount misused.  There is also an enhanced penalty if the Tribe can not show that the violation was unintentional. A Tribe that fails to meet its established work participation rates is subject to a penalty in an amount equal to a percentage of its Tribal Family Assistance grant.

NONDISCRIMINATION PROVISIONS

Section 408(d) of the Act states that the following provisions of law apply to any program or activity funded with Federal TANF funds:

   o   The Age Discrimination Act of 1975
   o   Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
   o   The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
   o   Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

TRIBAL TANF PROGRAM TIMELINE

As mentioned earlier, Indian tribes wanting to implement TANF need to submit letters of intent and formal plans according to the table in Part C under "Plan Process". The following provides some guidance on scheduling that may be of use in facilitating the planning process for Tribal TANF programs and ensure that necessary actions are taken on a timely basis.

Using X as the date of Tribal TANF implementation:

o   X - 90-180 days =   Date of ACF notification to State of reduction in State TANF amount due to a Tribal TANF program.

o   X - 120 days =   Date of Tribal TANF plan submittal to ACF for review, negotiation, and approval.

o   X - 165 days =   Date of TANF plan release to the public for review and comment.

o   X - 180 days =   Letter of intent sent to ACF Regional Office.

o   X - 210 days =   ;Planning period begins for Tribal TANF plan.
      State submitted data requested by Tribe in next step should be available.

o   X - 240 days = Tribal request to State for following data:

   1.   FY 1994 AFDC, EA, and State JOBS cases for the population to be served in the projected Tribal TANF service area.

   2.   FY 1994 AFDC cash assistance payments for cases in # 1.

   3.   FY 1994 AFDC, JOBS and EA administration expenditures for cases in # 1.

   4.   FY 1994 EA expenditures for cases in # 1.

   5.   FY 1994 State JOBS expenditures for cases in # 1.

   6.   FYs 1994 - present AFDC caseload counts for cases in # 1 to determine estimate for Tribal TANF caseload.

PART A: INTRODUCTION

Background
TANF Program
Tribal TANF Eligibility

PART B: TRIBAL TANF PLAN CONTENT AND PROCESS

Plan Content
Plan Process
Inquiries
Paperwork Reduction Act

PART D: DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

ATTACHMENT 1

ACF Regional Officials: Names and Addresses

ATTACHMENT 2

Section 412: Direct Funding and Administration by Indian Tribes
Section 419(a): Definitions

ATTACHMENT 3 - Certifications

Certifications

For further information, write:

Feedback: Jbushman@acf.dhhs.gov

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