The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

1. (1) Choices--The program formerly known as the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) program.
2. (2) Choices staff--Any personnel assigned to functions responsible for providing direct employment services or support services for applicants and recipients of temporary cash assistance. This term applies to TWC staff, to staff of Local Workforce Development Boards, and to contracted service providers.
3. (3) Commission--The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC).
4. (4) DHS--The Texas Department of Human Services.
5. (5) Employability plan--A plan developed by Choices staff and a participant that is based on an individual and family assessment, that delineates the goal of self-sufficiency through employment, and sets out the steps necessary to achieve the goal. The plan, signed by the participant and the Choices staff member, is the participation agreement for compliance purposes.
6. (6) Employment entry--Entry of a participant into an unsubsidized, paid job or when a participant begins a personal business, a farm, or other self-employment enterprise.
7. (7) Exempt--The status of a recipient of temporary cash assistance who is not required to participate in employment services activities, as determined by DHS staff.
8. (8) Exemptions--Criteria established by DHS that permanently or temporarily excuse a recipient of temporary cash assistance from the employment services participation requirements.
9. (9) GED--Abbreviation for General Educational Development, a trademark for a series of tests measuring skill in writing, social studies, science, reading, and math at the high school level; the initials sometimes refer to the equivalency certificate (formal name in Texas: Certificate of High School Equivalency).
10. (10) Good cause determination--A decision by Choices staff that a participant is not able at the current time to participate in employment services or in ancillary services required as part of the employability plan.
11. (11) Individual development account (IDA)--A state-established account for deposits by a recipient of temporary cash assistance and any matching funds from employers or other community organizations to be used for specific purposes.
12. (12) JTPA--The Job Training Partnership Act and the programs established under such laws to prepare youth and adults facing barriers to employment for participation in the labor force by providing job training and other job services.
13. (13) Job skills training--Training in technical job skills and equivalent knowledge and abilities in a specific occupational area offered by post-secondary institutions, secondary schools, public and private agencies, and other organizations.
14. (14) Local workforce development board--An entity formed under Texas Government Code, Title 10, Subchapter F and as detailed in §801.1(b) of this title (relating to Requirements for Formation of Local Workforce Development Boards).
15. (15) Nonexempt--The status of a recipient of temporary cash assistance who is required to participate in employment services activities, as determined by DHS staff.
16. (16) Participant--A person who is enrolled in Choices services.
17. (17) Penalty--A reduction in a family's temporary cash assistance grant applied by DHS staff when a nonexempt recipient is sanctioned. The financial penalty is equal to the needs amount for one parent each month of the sanction period. In two parent families, if both parents are sanctioned, the penalty is equal to the needs amount for both parents. See definition of sanction.
18. (18) Sanction--Action taken by DHS staff when a nonexempt recipient of temporary cash assistance does not comply with employment services requirements. See definition of penalty.
19. (19) Subsidized employment--A time-limited training position that meets suitability and non-displacement requirements of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act and other federal laws.
20. (20) TAC--Texas Administrative Code.
21. (21) Temporary cash assistance--A cash grant provided through DHS to persons who meet certain residency, income, and resource criteria as provided for under the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant statutes and regulations. The acronym used for this assistance is TANF. The former name was Aid to Families with Dependent Children or AFDC.
22. (22) Vocational education--Courses offered by an institution of higher learning that include organized units of technical or vocational instruction and training which are directly related to the acquisition or updating of occupational skills and for which a certificate or an associate of applied science is awarded.

Source Note:The provisions of this §811.2 adopted to be effective April 15, 1998, 23 TexReg 3700.