Program Description

Program/Practice Description: With passage of the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA), States must achieve a 50 percent work participation rate. If they fail to do so, penalties may be imposed; Maryland is at risk of penalties up to $34 million. Under guidance from the executive director of Maryland's Family Investment Administration, staff were designated to focus on the changes created by DRA.

These additional staff were added in October 2006. It is hoped that with improved case management and monitoring, the State can eliminate the lag between noncompliance, conciliation, and sanction. Increasing the number of case workers has been a popular, although low-tech approach, to increasing the work participation rate, especially after years of losing staff due to legislative cuts.

Innovations and Results: Twenty-four new positions were distributed statewide, based on each local department's Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) caseload numbers. The primary function of WPSs is to assist their departments in meeting not only the Federal Work Participation Rate, but also the 100 percent Universal Engagement Rate. Caseworkers monitor and track the performance of vendors and local staff who are responsible for work activities. Through the review of legislation, laws, policy, procedures, and best practices of other jurisdictions, they assist the local department in developing strategies to ensure compliance with Federal requirements.

Additionally, the WPS reviews TCA cases that have a mandatory work requirement, but where there is some issue; for example:

• The customer is not participating for the required number of hours per week;
• The customer is not participating at all; or
• Improper coding within the information system requires correction.

The WPS informs the supervisor and management staff of findings and makes recommendations to correct the problem.

Additional Information: Baltimore City has 10 WPSs who work with eight direct service Family Investment Centers and pay-for-performance employment services vendors. WPSs help their respective Family Investment Centers and pay-for-performance vendors meet the requirements in the vendor contracts.

• The WPS communicates with the vendors weekly to verify they are entering all attendance and referral information into the State's MIS and determine whether customers are in compliance with work activity requirements. If a TCA customer is not in compliance with the work requirement, the WPS will follow up directly with the customer.
• The WPS also meets weekly with staff in the Family Investment Center to ensure 100 percent of the center's mandatory TCA customers are engaged in work activities, either through vendor activities or in State defined activities.

By conducting these weekly meetings, the WPS is able to ensure that both the center and vendors are complying with terms in the vendor contracts, and all relevant data for Federal reporting requirements are updated and current in the MIS. This approach, in conjunction with monthly center and vendor meetings, has been instrumental in helping the city improve its work participation rate; Baltimore City's work participation rate was around 12 percent in 2006 and has subsequently increased to 38 percent.