Immunizations Follow up, Including Sanctions

The client has 60 days to provide the verification that their child is up to date with their immunizations, or proof of good cause for not being up to date. If the client states that the immunizations are up to date they must submit an acceptable verification to confirm that statement. You must explain to the client the ways in which they can verify that their child is up to date with their immunizations. For a list of acceptable verifications see Immunizations and Verification of Good Cause.

If the client states they have no other way to verify their child is up to date with their immunizations, the Certification of Immunization Status (TAFDC-2) must be mailed to the client. The client would then have 60 days from the date the form was mailed to them to submit the completed form.

To send a TAFDC-2 form to the client if you are working remotely, you must send an email to the TAO Management Team and copy your supervisor. The Management Team will determine which in office staff will be responsible for mailing the form to the client.

When the Verification is Not Returned

If immunization verification is not returned within 60 days you must contact the client to determine the reason for the delay and take the following steps:

If the client indicates they have an appointment scheduled,
1. ask the client to confirm the date of the appointment,
2. send a VC-1 explaining the client must submit the verification within 30 days of the appointment,
If the client states they do not have an appointment scheduled and they have not indicated good cause, inform them they must schedule an appointment and follow the steps above.
If the client states they do not have a health care provider for their child you must offer to assist them in finding one. To search for a local Community Health Center based on the client’s address see Find a Health Center.
In each case, remind the client of the acceptable ways they can verify their child/ren’s immunizations are up to date; including accessing the patient portal for their child and taking a screen shot of the appointment.
If you are unable to reach the client, you must document your efforts to engage with the client in the narrative.

When the Verification is Returned

When the acceptable verification is returned to you, review the verification, and take the following action:

If the verification showing that the immunizations are up to date is returned within 60 days, the verification must be indexed as Certificate of Immunization Status in the case record and:

update the Immunization page in the Assessed Person Nonfinancial Statement workflow, and
update the Verification tab section.

No further action is required at this time.

When Immunizations Are Not Up to Date

If the verification states that the immunizations are not up to date, but an appointment has been scheduled with the health care provider, send the client a VC-1 explaining to the client that they must submit verification of the immunizations within 30 days of the scheduled appointment.

When the Child Has Not Been Immunized

If the verification is returned indicating the child has not been immunized and the client has not claimed good cause, the client must schedule an appointment with a health care provider. The acceptable verification must be returned to you within 30 days of the scheduled appointment. If a child has never been immunized, more than one appointment may be necessary. If the client continues to comply with the immunization schedule set forth by the child’s health care provider, then they are meeting the immunization requirement.

When an Appointment Has Been Scheduled

If the verification of immunization is not returned within 30 days of the scheduled appointment due to verified delays of the health care provider, allow the client time to reschedule an appointment to complete the immunization requirement.

If the immunization verification is not returned within 30 days of the scheduled appointment you must contact the client to determine the reason for the delay and take the following steps:

if the client indicates the appointment was kept,
1. ask the client if they received the school/camp form that can verify the appointment was held,
2. remind the client of the other acceptable ways they can verify the immunizations; including accessing the patient portal for their child and taking a screenshot of the appointment, and
3. if none of the above are available, offer to place a three-way collateral contact call to the provider to confirm the appointment was attended.
If the client states they were not able to attend the appointment, you must:
1. explore whether there is a good cause reason for the missed appointment such as an emergency situation or illness, and
2. provide the client time to schedule another appointment to complete the immunization requirement following the above procedures for sending a VC 1.
If you are unable to reach the client, you must document your efforts to engage with the client in the narrative.

Important: No client is ever to be sanctioned prior to following the steps outlined above.

Entering a Sanction

If you are not successful in contacting the client or the client does not indicate a good cause reason or allowable delay such as an emergency situation or delays of the health care provider, and you have followed the steps above; sanction the grantee (or both parents in a two-parent household) by doing the following:

go to the AU Composition Details workflow,
click the AU Composition Results page,
click the check box next to the grantee(s) you want to sanction,
click the Reason category drop-down box and selecting Noncooperation,
clicking the Reason drop-down box and selecting Failed child immunization requirements, and
click Finish to exit the page and go back to the Case maintenance workflow.

Next, go to the Interview Wrap-up and process the sanction.

Removing a Sanction

Sanctions may be removed when the client provides verification that the immunizations are up to date or there is a change in circumstances such as a medical reason for not immunizing the child. To delete an existing sanction request before an Interview Wrapup is processed:

go to the Sanctions page in the AU Composition Details Workflow,
click the check box next to the appropriate reason,
select Cooperating for the Removal reason drop down box (or good cause if appropriate),
click Save, and
click Finish.

After this is completed, the Sanction request should be removed from the AU Composition Results page, and the person who had been sanctioned should be added back to the assistance unit.

If the sanction was authorized through Interview Wrapup, and the verification for immunization has been submitted to add the grantee back into the case, you must start at the AU Mandatory Responsible page and change the Applying field for the grantee from No to Yes. The date in the Application Date field will default to the current date. The page will automatically change the grantee’s Responsibility to “Ineligible Add a Person.”

You must:

go to the Sanction page and remove the sanction,
go to the AU Composition Results page to remove the associated reason,
to save the information and go to the next page in the workflow, click Next, or
to save the information and exit the page and workflow click Finish.

Note: If the grantee has cooperated within thirty days of being removed from the case, the date in the Application Date field should be changed to the day after the closing date. If the grantee did not cooperate within thirty days, but did cooperate subsequently, you must enter the date the verification was provided in the Application Date field.

If there is no other data to change or verify:

go to Interview Wrapup,
go to EBC Results, and
click Selection
check the appropriate items in the Interview Wrapup Selection page, and
check the EBC Results box

If there are no other sanctions in Sanctioned or Pending status, the client will become active.

A notice will be produced that night and displayed in the Client Communication Tab the next day.

Sanctioned clients are still subject to other applicable requirements such as the Pathways to Work Rules or Learnfare, etc.