1. (a) Child support.

   1. (1) Failure to comply with child support requirements will result in a twenty-five percent (25%) reduction in the transitional employment assistance (TEA) payment.

   2. (2) The Office of Child Support Enforcement of the Revenue Division of the Department of Finance and Administration will:

      1. (A) Determine if a parent or other adult caretaker relative has failed to comply with child support requirements;
      2. (B) Determine if the client had a satisfactory reason for the act of noncompliance;
      3. (C) Provide the client an opportunity to appeal the noncompliance decision prior to notifying the Department of Human Services; and
      4. (D)

2. (i) Impose the noncompliance sanction if a parent or other adult relative fails to comply with child support requirements.

   1. (ii) See below.

   2. (3)

      1. (A) Child support sanctions will be processed automatically through ANSWER.
      2. (B) ANSWER will process sanction request files from the Office of Child Support Enforcement each night, then complete a budget to apply the sanction.
      3. (C) WACE will be updated with the new grant amount, and an adequate notice will be system-generated.
      4. (D) The notice will advise the client of his or her right to request an administrative hearing of the payment reduction.

   3. (4)

      1. (A) However, the payment reduction is the only appealable issue to the Department of Human Services.
      2. (B) Since the Office of Child Support Enforcement made the noncompliance decision and has already provided the client an opportunity to appeal it, the noncompliance decision is not an appealable issue with the Department of Human Services.

3. (b) Lifting the child support sanction.

   1. (1) A child support sanction may be lifted at any time a parent or other adult caretaker relative complies with the Office of Child Support Enforcement.

   2. (2) If the parent or other adult caretaker relative wishes to have the sanction lifted by complying with the Office of Child Support Enforcement:

      1. (A) A referral will be made to the Office of Child Support Enforcement; and
      2. (B) Notification from the Office of Child Support Enforcement that he or she has cooperated must be received prior to the assistance being restored to the full amount.

   3. (3)

      1. (A) If a customer whose cash assistance payment was reduced due to noncooperation with the Office of Child Support Enforcement states a willingness to cooperate and appears at the Office of Child Support Enforcement office, but the reason for noncooperation was that the customer had previously failed to appear in court, then he or she must actually appear at the next scheduled court date the Office of Child Support Enforcement arranges in order to be fully cooperating.
      2. (B) In this situation, the payment will remain at the reduced amount until he or she appears at the scheduled court date.

      3. (C) The Office of Child Support Enforcement will:

         1. (i) Notify the county office of this stipulation when the applicant is first referred to them for cooperation; and
         2. (ii) Follow up with a notice to the county office following the customer’s appearance at court.
         3. (c) School attendance.
   4. (1) School attendance is required in order for an eligible child to receive assistance.

   5. (2)

      1. (A) For purposes of this subsection, school attendance relates only to children and not minor parents.
      2. (B) Refer to 20 CAR § 503-135 for minor parent education requirements.

   6. (3)

      1. (A) During the application process, the worker may accept the applicant’s statement that all school-age children are enrolled in and satisfactorily attending school.
      2. (B) Enrollment and satisfactory attendance will be verified with the school, and documented in the case record, in those cases where it is reported that one (1) or more children in the family has failed to enroll or attend school regularly.
      3. (C) Such reports may come from any of several sources, including, but not limited to, the school system locally, courts, system-generated reports supplied by the state Department of Education, etc.

   7. (4)

      1. (A) "Satisfactory attendance" is defined in accordance with the school’s definition of attendance.
      2. (B) During periodic contacts with the parent, a declaration of school attendance will be accepted unless attendance appears questionable, e.g., information received from other sources that the child is not attending.
      3. (C) Form DCO-65 may be completed by the school to verify attendance.
      4. (D) Phone contact or other documentary evidence from the school may also be accepted.
   8. (5) If a child is being homeschooled, verification that there is an approved homeschooling application on file with the school superintendent may be required if the client’s homeschooling allegation appears questionable.

   9. (6) If the child is not enrolled in school:

      1. (A) A ten-day notice will be issued to the casehead stating that the child will be dropped from the TEA case unless verification is received that the child is attending school;
      2. (B) The unearned income and resources of the child will be counted in determining continued eligibility; and

      3. (C) In order to be added back to the case, verification must be received from the school that the child has attended satisfactorily for a period of thirty (30) days.

         1. (d) Immunizations.

   10. (1)

       1. (A) Immunizations of preschool-age children is a requirement for TEA.
       2. (B) Exemptions to this requirement due to religious beliefs or medical problems may be approved as described below.

   11. (2) If a parent was given thirty (30) days to have the children included in the TEA case immunized:

       1. (A) Verification must be provided by the thirtieth day;
       2. (B) If the parent does not bring the verification, the worker will issue a ten-day notice stating that unless verification of the immunizations is received, the TEA cash assistance payment will be reduced; and
       3. (C) The family may provide the child’s immunization (shot) record or verification from the local health department or physician.
   12. (3) See Appendix A for the American Academy of Pediatrics Immunization Schedule, which identifies the age and type of immunization the child should have.

4. (e) Exemptions due to religious beliefs or medical problems.

   1. (1) A parent or caretaker relative who refuses to have a child immunized because of religious beliefs or because of a medical problem, e.g., allergic reaction, must provide verification that an exemption has been granted by the Department of Health.

   2. (2)

      1. (A) To obtain such exemption, the parent must request a Religious Exemption Application or Medical Exemption Application from the Department of Health.
      2. (B) The address is 4815 West Markham, Little Rock, AR 72205.
      3. (C) The toll free telephone number is 1-800-482-5400.
   3. (3) Upon completion, the application must be submitted to the Department of Health at the above address for a decision.
   4. (4) The decision will be sent directly to the parent or parents or caretaker relative.

   5. (5)

      1. (A) The normal processing time is two (2) weeks.
      2. (B) The parent or parents or caretaker relative must provide verification of the decision within thirty (30) days from the date the TEA application is approved or the date in which the child is added to the TEA case, if eligible for payment.
      3. (C) Failure to provide such verification will result in the TEA cash assistance payment being reduced after appropriate notice.
      4. (D) If, however, a decision remains pending from the Department of Health at the end of the thirty (30) days, verification of pending status will be obtained by the applicant from the Department of Health and provided to the case worker.
   6. (6) Note. Requests can be made only to the central office of the Department of Health listed above, not to the local health units.

Codification Notes: This section as promulgated prior to codification into the Code of Arkansas Rules provided as follows at the beginning of the section and at subsections (b), (d), and (e): “07/01/99” This section as promulgated prior to codification into the Code of Arkansas Rules provided as follows at subsections (a) and (c): "12/06/11"