Entering Participation Hours

FEWs and SSSs are the primary staff who will have a monthly touchpoint for any participant assigned to work with them and engaged in Pathways to Work activities, including those subject to work and school rules.

For any client who is engaged in a Pathways to Work program, a participation record will be created any month that the client has a Pathways to Work Plan, and confirmation of their engagement must be entered in the Pathways Participation workflow. FEWs and SSSs will also work closely with providers to ensure ongoing progress and retention for participants.

Some clients must have their participation verified and recorded in the Participation Hours page. This includes:

  • parents under 20 who need to meet the school rules
  • clients participating in TAFDC Community Service
  • clients who are working
  • dependent children age 16 or 17 who are enrolled in a Pathways to Work education or training activity to meet the school rules

Client Reporting

By the 10th of every month, participation hours for clients enrolled in a Pathways to Work activity must be provided to DTA, including clients who are subject to work or school rules.

For clients who are subject to school rules (parents under 20 and dependents who are School Required), participation hours will be verified with:

  • TAFDC School Participation form, where program staff will verify the participant’s hours
  • For those enrolled with funded and contracted providers, a Provider may also verify a client’s status through the monthly participation report through their required co-case management

For clients who are participating in Community Service will have their weekly hours verified with:

For clients who are working will have their employment hours verified by:

  • an active record on the Earned Income page which will be reviewed each month by BEACON on the 18th of each month

Note: Clients who are working will have their employment record shown as view-only in the Participation Hours page, but no further action is required if there is their only activity. If the client has multiple activities, employment and the Pathways to Work activity will be calculated together to determine if the client met the requirements of their Plan.  

Staff Reporting

FEWs and SSSs must enter participation information upon receipt, with a staff reporting due date of the 18th of the month.

This information must be entered to avoid a system-initiated sanction for Needs to Meet Work or School Rules. If proof of participation is not received or entered, a pending system-initiated sanction will be created.

Upon receiving proof of participation, you must:

  1. go to the Participation Hours page in the Pathways Participation workflow
  2. select the prior month’s activity record that is being entered
  3. enter the actual hours reported for each day reported
  4. enter any additional information that may be helpful to know about that month’s engagement by selecting the Comments tab and opening the Comments textbox.
  5. click Save
  6. click Next
  7. proceed to the Calculate Participation page

Calculate Participation

This page will calculate the entries on the Monthly Engagement and/or Participation Hours pages to determine whether the client met the requirements of their Plan, and the work or school rules, if applicable.

Staff will click the Calculate button. If the client met the monthly engagement/participation expectations of their Plan, the Meets field will display Yes. No additional action is required.

If a client is required to meet the work or school rules, and the Meets field displays No, the appropriate Sanction type will display. FEWs and SSSs must attempt to reengage with the client, if contact not already been made to determine if good cause or a challenge to participating exists (See Reengagement Expectations for FEWs and SSSs).

If it is determined that the pending sanction will be removed this will be completed on the Sanctions page. If a client did not meet the work or school rules, and reengagement or determining a good cause reason is not successful, the pending sanction must be authorized. To authorize or remove a sanction, an Interview Wrap-up must be completed in this workflow.

Last Update:  August 9, 2023