(a) Any eligible Indian tribe, Alaska Native organization, or intertribal consortium that wishes to administer a Tribal TANF program must submit a three-year TFAP to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. The original must be submitted to the appropriate ACF Regional Office with a copy to the ACF Central Office.

(b) A Tribe currently operating a Tribal TANF program must submit to the appropriate ACF Regional Office, with a copy to the ACF Central Office, no later than 120 days prior to the end of the three-year grant period, either—

(1) A letter of intent, with a copy to the affected State or States, which specifies they do not intend to continue operating the program beyond the end of the three-year grant period; or

(2) A letter of intent, with a copy to the affected State or States, which specifies they intend to continue program operations with no changes to the geographic service area or service population; or

(3) A new three-year plan which indicates a change in either the geographic service area or service population.

(c) For Tribes choosing option (b)(2) above, a new three-year plan must be submitted to the appropriate ACF Regional Office, with a copy to the ACF Central Office, no later than 60 days before the end of the current three-year grant period.

(a) A TFAP must be submitted by the chief executive officer of the Indian tribe and be accompanied by a Tribal resolution supporting the TFAP.

(b) A TFAP from a consortium must be forwarded under the signature of the chief executive officer of the consortium and be accompanied by Tribal resolutions from all participating Tribes that demonstrate each individual Tribe's support of the consortium, the delegation of decision-making authority to the consortium's governing board, and the Tribe's recognition that matters involving operation of the Tribal TANF consortium are the express responsibility of the consortium's governing board.

(c) When one of the participating Tribes in a consortium wishes to withdraw from the consortium, the Tribe needs to both notify the consortium and the Secretary of this fact.

(1) This notification must be made at least 120 days prior to the effective date of the withdrawal.

(2) The time frame in paragraph (c)(i) of this section is applicable only if the Tribe's withdrawal will cause a change to the service area or population of the consortium.

(d) When one of the participating Tribes in a consortium wishes to withdraw from the consortium in order to operate its own Tribal TANF program, the Tribe needs to submit a Tribal TANF plan that follows the requirements at § 286.75 and § 286.165.

(a) The TFAP must outline the Tribe's approach to providing welfare-related services for the three-year period covered by the plan, including:

(1) Information on the general eligibility criteria the Tribe has established, which includes a definition of “needy family,” including income and resource limits and the Tribe's definition of “Tribal member family” or “Indian family.”

(2) A description of the assistance, services, and activities to be offered, and the means by which they will be offered. The description of the services, assistance, and activities to be provided includes whether the Tribe will provide cash assistance, and what other assistance, services, and activities will be provided.

(3) If the Tribe will not provide the same services, assistance, and activities in all parts of the service area, the TFAP must indicate any variations.

(4) If the Tribe opts to provide different services to specific populations, including teen parents and individuals who are transitioning off TANF assistance, the TFAP must indicate whether any of these services will be provided and, if so, what services will be provided.

(5) The Tribe's goals for its TANF program and the means of measuring progress towards those goals;

(6) Assurance that a 45-day public comment period on the Tribal TANF plan concluded prior to the submission of the TFAP.

(7) Assurance that the Tribe has developed a dispute resolution process to be used when individuals or families want to challenge the Tribe's decision to deny, reduce, suspend, sanction or terminate assistance.

(8) Tribes may require cooperation with child support enforcement agencies as a condition of eligibility for TANF assistance. Good cause and other exceptions to cooperation shall be defined by the Tribal TANF program.

(b) The TFAP must identify which Tribal agency is designated by the Tribe as the lead agency for the overall administration of the Tribal TANF program along with a description of the administrative structure for supervision of the TANF program.

(c) The TFAP must indicate whether the services, assistance and activities will be provided by the Tribe itself or through grants, contracts or compacts with inter-Tribal consortia, States, or other entities.

(d) The TFAP must identify the population to be served by the Tribal TANF program.

(1) The TFAP must identify whether it will serve Tribal member families only, or whether it will serve all Indian families residing in the Tribal TANF service area.

(2) If the Tribe wishes to serve any non-Indian families (and thus include non-Indians in its service population), an agreement with the State TANF agency must be included in the TFAP. This agreement must provide that, where non-Indians are to be served by Tribal TANF, these families are subject to Tribal TANF program rules.

(e) The TFAP must include a description of the geographic area to be served by the Tribal TANF program, including a specific description of any “near reservation” areas, as defined at 45 CFR 20.1(r), or any areas beyond “near reservation” to be included in the Tribal TANF service area.

(1) In areas beyond those defined as “near reservation”, the TFAP must demonstrate the Tribe's administrative capacity to serve such areas and the State(s)', and if applicable, other Tribe(s)' concurrence with the proposed defined boundaries.

(2) A Tribe cannot extend its service area boundaries beyond the boundaries of the State(s) in which the reservation and BIA near-reservation designations are located.

(3) For Tribes in Oklahoma, if the Tribe defines its service area as other than its “tribal jurisdiction statistical area” (TJSA), the Tribe must include an agreement with the other Tribe(s) reflecting agreement to the service area. TJSAs are areas delineated by the Census Bureau for each federally-recognized Tribe in Oklahoma without a reservation.

(f) The TFAP must provide that a family receiving assistance under the plan may not receive duplicative assistance from other State or Tribal TANF programs and must include a description of the means by which the Tribe will ensure duplication does not occur.

(g) The TFAP must identify the employment opportunities in and near the service area and the manner in which the Tribe will cooperate and participate in enhancing such opportunities for recipients of assistance under the plan, consistent with any applicable State standards. This should include:

(1) A description of the employment opportunities available, in both the public and private sector, within and near the Tribal service area; and

(2) A description of how the Tribe will work with public and private sector employers to enhance the opportunities available for Tribal TANF recipients.

(h) The TFAP must provide an assurance that the Tribe applies the fiscal accountability provisions of section 5(f)(1) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450c(f)(1)), relating to the submission of a single-agency audit report required by chapter 75 of title 31, United States Code.

(a) To assess a Tribe's level of success in meeting its TANF work objectives, a Tribe that submits a TFAP must negotiate with the Secretary minimum work participation requirements that will apply to families that receive Tribal TANF assistance that includes an adult or minor head of household receiving such assistance.

(b) A Tribe that submits a TFAP must include in the plan the Tribe's proposal for minimum work participation requirements, which includes the following:

(1) For each fiscal year covered by the plan, the Tribe's proposed participation rate(s) for all families, for all families and two-parent families, or for one-parent families and two-parent families;

(2) For each fiscal year covered by the plan, the Tribe's proposed minimum number of hours per week that adults and minor heads of household will be required to participate in work activities;

(i) If the Tribe elects to include reasonable transportation time to and from the site of work activities in determining the hours of work participation, it must so indicate in its TFAP along with a definition of “reasonable” for purposes of this subsection, along with:

(A) An explanation of how the economic conditions and/or resources available to the Tribe justify inclusion of transportation time in determining work participation hours; and

(B) An explanation of how counting reasonable transportation time is consistent with the purposes of TANF;

(3) The work activities that count towards these work requirements;

(4) Any exemptions, limitations and special rules being established in relation to work requirements; and

(5) The Tribe must provide rationale for the above, explaining how the proposed work requirements relate to and are justified based on the Tribe's needs and conditions.

(i) The rationale must address how the proposed work requirements are consistent with the purposes of TANF and with the economic conditions and resources of the Tribe.

(ii) Examples of the information that could be included to illustrate the Tribe's proposal include, but are not limited to: poverty, unemployment, jobless and job surplus rates; education levels of adults in the service area; availability of and/or accessibility to resources (educational facilities, transportation) to help families become employable and find employment; and employment opportunities on and near the service area.

(a) Work participation rate(s) will be the percentage of families with an adult or minor head-of-household receiving TANF assistance from the Tribe who are participating in a work activity approved in the TFAP for at least the minimum number of hours approved in the TFAP.

(b) The participation rate for a fiscal year is the average of the Tribe's participation rate for each month in the fiscal year.

(c) A Tribe's participation rate for a month is expressed as the following ratio:

(1) The number of families receiving TANF assistance that include an adult or a minor head-of-household who is participating in activities for the month (numerator), divided by

(2) The number of families that include an adult or a minor head-of-household receiving TANF assistance during the month excluding:

(i) Families that were penalized for non-compliance with the work requirements in that month as long as they have not been sanctioned for more than three months (whether or not consecutively) out of the last 12 months; and

(ii) Families with children under age one, if the Tribe chooses to exempt these families from participation requirements.

(d) If a family receives assistance for only part of a month or begins participating in activities during the month, the Tribe may count it as a month of participation if an adult or minor head-of-household in the family is participating for the minimum average number of hours in each full week that the family receives assistance or participates in that month.

(e) Two-parent families in which one of the parents is disabled are considered one-parent families for the purpose of calculating a Tribe's participation rate.

During the month, an adult or minor head-of-household must participate in work activities for at least the minimum average number of hours per week specified in the Tribe's approved Tribal Family Assistance Plan.

Parents in a two-parent family may share the number of hours required to be considered as engaged in work.

(a) Activities that count toward a Tribe's participation rate may include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) Unsubsidized employment;

(2) Subsidized private sector employment;

(3) Subsidized public sector employment;

(4) Work experience;

(5) On-the-job training (OJT);

(6) Job search and job readiness assistance; (see § 286.105)

(7) Community service programs;

(8) Vocational educational training; (see § 286.105)

(9) Job skills training directly related to employment;

(10) Education directly related to employment, in the case of a recipient who has not received a high school diploma or a certificate of high school equivalency;

(11) Satisfactory attendance at secondary school or in a course of study leading to a certificate of general equivalence, if a recipient has not completed secondary school or received such a certificate;

(12) Providing child care services to an individual who is participating in a community service program; and

(13) Other activities that will help families achieve self-sufficiency.

(b) [Reserved]

(a) Tribes are not required to limit vocational education for any one individual to a period of 12 months.

(b) There are two limitations concerning job search and job readiness:

(1) Job search and job readiness assistance only count for 6 weeks in any fiscal year.

(2) If the Tribe's unemployment rate in the Tribal TANF service area is at least 50 percent greater than the United States' total unemployment rate for that fiscal year, then an individual's participation in job search or job readiness assistance counts for up to 12 weeks in that fiscal year.

(c) If job search or job readiness is an ancillary part of another activity, then there is no limitation on counting the time spent in job search/job readiness.

(a) An adult or minor head-of-household taking part in a work activity outlined in § 286.100 cannot fill a vacant employment position if:

(1) Any other individual is on layoff from the same or any substantially equivalent job; or

(2) The employer has terminated the employment of any regular employee or otherwise caused an involuntary reduction in its work force in order to fill the vacancy with the TANF participant.

(b) A Tribe must establish and maintain a grievance procedure to resolve complaints of alleged violations of this displacement rule.

(c) This regulation does not preempt or supersede Tribal laws providing greater protection for employees from displacement.

(a) The TFAP must include the Tribe's proposal for:

(1) Time limits for the receipt of Tribal TANF assistance;

(2) Any exceptions to these time limits; and

(3) The percentage of the caseload to be exempted from the time limit due to hardship or if the family includes an individual who has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty.

(b) The Tribe must also include the rationale for its proposal in the plan. The rationale must address how the proposed time limits are consistent with the purposes of TANF and with the economic conditions and resources of the Tribe.

(1) Examples of the information that could be included to illustrate the Tribe's proposal include, but are not limited to: Poverty, unemployment, jobless and job surplus rates; education levels of adults in the service area; availability of and/or accessibility to resources (educational facilities, transportation) to help families become employable and find employment; and employment opportunities on and near the service area.

(c) We may require that the Tribe submit additional information about the rationale before we approve the proposed time limits.

(d) Tribes must not count towards the time limit:

(1) Any month of receipt of assistance to a family that does not include an adult head-of-household;

(2) A family that does not include a pregnant minor head-of-household, minor parent head-of-household, or spouse of such a head-of-household; and

(3) Any month of receipt of assistance by an adult during which the adult lived in Indian country or in an Alaskan Native Village in which at least 50 percent of the adults were not employed.

(e) A Tribe must not use any of its TFAG to provide assistance (as defined in § 286.10) to a family that includes an adult or minor head-of-household who has received assistance beyond the number of months (whether or not consecutive) that is negotiated with the Tribe.

(a) Tribes have the option to exempt families from the established time limits for:

(1) Hardship, as defined by the Tribe, or

(2) The family includes someone who has been battered or has been subject to extreme cruelty.

(b) If a Tribe elects the hardship option, the Tribe must specify in its TFAP the maximum percent of its average monthly caseload of families on assistance that will be exempt from the established time limit under paragraph (a) of this section.

(c) If the Tribe proposes to exempt more than 20 percent of the caseload under paragraph (a) of this section, the Tribe must include a rationale in the plan.

Yes, the Tribe must count prior months of TANF assistance funded with TANF block grant funds, except for any month that was exempt or disregarded by statute, regulation, or under any experimental, pilot, or demonstration project approved under section 1115 of the Act.

(a) For purposes of an individual's time limit for receipt of TANF assistance as well as the penalty provision at § 286.195(a)(1), WtW cash assistance counts towards a Tribe's TANF time limit only if:

(1) Such assistance satisfies the definition at § 286.10; and

(2) Is directed at ongoing basic needs.

(b) Only cash assistance provided in the form of cash payments, checks, reimbursements, electronic funds transfers, or any other form that can legally be converted to currency is subject to paragraph (a) of this section.

(a) The TFAP must include the Tribe's proposal for penalties against individuals who refuse to engage in work activities. The Tribe's proposal must address the following:

(1) Will the Tribe impose a pro rata reduction, or more at Tribal option, or will it terminate assistance to a family?

(2) After consideration of the provision specified at § 286.150, what will be the proposed Tribal policies related to a single custodial parent, with a child under the age of 6, who refuses to engage in work activities because of a demonstrated inability to obtain needed child care?

(3) What good cause exceptions, if any, does the Tribe propose that will allow individuals to avoid penalties for failure to engage in work?

(4) What other rules governing penalties does the Tribe propose?

(5) What, if any, will be the Tribe's policies related to victims of domestic violence consistent with § 286.140?

(b) The Tribe's rationale for its proposal must also be included in the TFAP.

(1) The rationale must address how the proposed penalties against individuals are consistent with the purposes of TANF, consistent with the economic conditions and resources of the Tribe, and how they relate to the requirements of section 407(e) of the Act.

(2) Examples of the information that could be included to illustrate the Tribe's proposal include, but are not limited to; poverty, unemployment, jobless and job surplus rates; education levels of adults in the service area; availability of and/or accessibility to resources (educational facilities, transportation) to help families become employable and find employment; and employment opportunities on and near the service area.

(c) We may require a Tribe to submit additional information about the rationale before we approve the proposed penalties against individuals.

(a) Tribes electing the Family Violence Option (FVO) must certify that they have established and are enforcing standards and procedures to:

(1) Screen and identify individuals receiving TANF assistance with a history of domestic violence, while maintaining the confidentiality of such individuals;

(2) Refer such individuals to counseling and supportive services; and

(3) Provide waivers, pursuant to a determination of good cause, of TANF program requirements to such individuals for so long as necessary in cases where compliance would make it more difficult for such individuals to escape domestic violence or unfairly penalize those who are or have been victimized by such violence or who are at risk of further domestic violence.

(b) Tribes have broad flexibility to grant waivers of TANF program requirements, but such waivers must:

(1) Identify the specific program requirement being waived;

(2) Be granted based on need as determined by an individualized assessment by a person trained in domestic violence and redeterminations no less than every six months;

(3) Be accompanied by an appropriate services plan that:

(i) Is developed in coordination with a person trained in domestic violence;

(ii) Reflects the individualized assessment and any revisions indicated by any redetermination; and

(iii) To the extent consistent with paragraph (a)(3) of this section, is designed to lead to work.

(c) If a Tribe wants us to take waivers that it grants under this section into account in deciding if it has reasonable cause for failing to meet its work participation rates or comply with the established time limit on TANF assistance, has achieved compliance or made significant progress towards achieving compliance with such requirements during a corrective compliance period, the waivers must comply with paragraph (b) of this section.

(d) We will determine that a Tribe has reasonable cause for failing to meet its work participation rates or to comply with established time limits on assistance if—

(1) Such failures were attributable to good cause domestic violence waivers granted to victims of domestic violence;

(2) In the case of work participation rates, the Tribe provides evidence that it achieved the applicable rates except with respect to any individuals who received a domestic violence waiver of work participation requirements. In other words, the Tribe must demonstrate that it met the applicable rates when such waiver cases are removed from the calculation of work participation rate;

(3) In the case of established time limits on assistance, the Tribe provides evidence that it granted good cause domestic violence waivers to extend time limits based on the need for continued assistance due to current or past domestic violence or the risk of further domestic violence, and individuals and their families receiving assistance beyond the established time limit under such waivers do not exceed 20 percent of the total number of families receiving assistance.

(e) We may take good cause domestic violence waivers of work participation or waivers which extend the established time limits for assistance into consideration in deciding whether a Tribe has achieved compliance or made significant progress toward achieving compliance during a corrective compliance period.

(f) Tribes electing the FVO must submit the information specified at § 286.275(b)(7).

If an individual refuses to engage in work activities in accordance with the minimum work participation requirements specified in the approved TFAP, the Tribe must apply to the individual the penalties against individuals that were established in the approved TFAP.

(a) If the individual is a single custodial parent caring for a child under age six, the Tribe may not reduce or terminate assistance based on the parent's refusal to engage in required work if he or she demonstrates an inability to obtain needed child care for one or more of the following reasons:

(1) Appropriate child care within a reasonable distance from the home or work site is unavailable;

(2) Informal child care by a relative or under other arrangements is unavailable or unsuitable; or

(3) Appropriate and affordable formal child care arrangements are unavailable.

(b) Refusal to work when an acceptable form of child care is available is not protected from sanctioning.

(c) The Tribe will determine when the individual has demonstrated that he or she cannot find child care, in accordance with criteria established by the Tribe. These criteria must:

(1) Address the procedures that the Tribe uses to determine if the parent has a demonstrated inability to obtain needed child care;

(2) Include definitions of the terms “appropriate child care,” “reasonable distance,” “unsuitability of informal care,” and “affordable child care arrangements”; and

(3) Be submitted to us.

(d) The Tribal TANF agency must inform parents about:

(1) The penalty exception to the Tribal TANF work requirement, including the criteria and applicable definitions for determining whether an individual has demonstrated an inability to obtain needed child care;

(2) The Tribe's procedures (including definitions) for determining a family's inability to obtain needed child care, and any other requirements or procedures, such as fair hearings, associated with this provision; and

(3) The fact that the exception does not extend the time limit for receiving Federal assistance.

(a) Tribes have the option to condition eligibility for Tribal TANF assistance on assignment of child support to the Tribe consistent with paragraph (b) of this section.

(b) For Tribes choosing to condition eligibility for Tribal TANF assistance on assignment of child support to the Tribe, the TFAP must address the following—

(1) Procedures for ensuring that assigned child support collections in excess of the amount of Tribal TANF assistance received by the family will not be retained by the Tribe; and

(2) How any amounts generated under an assignment and retained by the Tribe will be used to further the Tribe's TANF program, consistent with § 286.45(f).

(a) A Tribe must submit a Tribal TANF letter of intent and/or a TFAP to the Secretary according to the following time frames:

(b) A Tribe that has requested and received data from the State and has resolved any issues concerning the data more than six months before its proposed implementation date is not required to submit a letter of intent.

(c) The effective date of the TFAP must be the first day of any month.

(d) The original TFAP must be sent to the appropriate ACF Regional Administrator, with a copy sent to the Division of Tribal Services, Office of Community Services, Administration for Children and Families.

(e) A Tribe that submits a TFAP or an amendment to an existing plan that cannot be approved by the Secretary will be given the opportunity to make revisions in order to make the TFAP, or an amendment, approvable.

(f) Tribes operating a consolidated Public Law 102-477 program must submit a TFAP plan to the Secretary for review and approval prior to the consolidation of the TANF program into the Public Law 102-477 plan.

(a) An amendment to a TFAP is necessary if the Tribe makes any substantial changes to the plan, including those which impact an individual's eligibility for Tribal TANF services or participation requirements, or any other program design changes which alter the nature of the program.

(b) A Tribe must submit a plan amendment(s) to the Secretary no later than 30 days prior to the proposed implementation date. Proposed implementation dates shall be the first day of any month.

(c) We will promptly review and either approve or disapprove the plan amendment(s).

(d) Approved plan amendments are effective no sooner than 30 days after date of submission.

(e) A Tribe whose plan amendment is disapproved may petition for an administrative review of such disapproval under § 286.170 and may appeal our final written decision to the Departmental Appeals Board no later than 30 days from the date of the disapproval. This appeal to the Board should follow the provisions of the rules under this subpart and those at 45 CFR part 16, where applicable.

(a) If, after a Tribe has been provided the opportunity to make revisions to its TFAP or amendment, the Secretary determines that the TFAP or amendment cannot be approved, a written Notice of Disapproval will be sent to the Tribe. The Notice of Disapproval will indicate the specific grounds for disapproval.

(b) A Tribe may request reconsideration of a disapproval determination by filing a written Request for Reconsideration to the Secretary within 60 days of receipt of the Notice of Disapproval. If reconsideration is not requested, the disapproval is final and the procedures under paragraph (f) of this section must be followed.

(1) The Request for Reconsideration must include—

(i) All documentation that the Tribe believes is relevant and supportive of its TFAP or amendment; and

(ii) A written response to each ground for disapproval identified in the Notice of Disapproval indicating why the Tribe believes that its TFAP or amendment conforms to the statutory and regulatory requirements for approval.

(c) Within 30 days after receipt of a Request for Reconsideration, the Secretary or designee will notify the Tribe of the date and time a hearing for the purpose of reconsideration of the Notice of Disapproval will be held. Such a hearing may be conducted by telephone conference call.

(d) A hearing conducted under § 286.170(c) must be held not less than 30 days nor more than 60 days after the date of the notice of such hearing is furnished to the Tribe, unless the Tribe agrees in writing to an extension.

(e) The Secretary or designee will make a written determination affirming, modifying, or reversing disapproval of the TFAP or amendment within 60 days after the conclusion of the hearing.

(f) If a TFAP or amendment is disapproved, the Tribe may appeal this final written decision to the Departmental Appeals Board (the Board) within 30 days after such party receives notice of determination. The party's appeal to the Board should follow the provisions of the rules under this section and those at 45 CFR part 16, where applicable.

A Tribe in the State of Alaska that receives a TFAG must use the grant to operate a program in accordance with program requirements comparable to the requirements applicable to the State of Alaska's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Comparability of programs must be established on the basis of program criteria developed by the Secretary in consultation with the State of Alaska and the Tribes in Alaska. The State of Alaska has authority to waive the program comparability requirement based on a request by an Indian tribe in the State.

We will work with the Tribes in Alaska and the State of Alaska to develop an appropriate process for the development and amendment of the comparability criteria.

(a) If a dispute arises between the State of Alaska and the Tribes in the State on any part of the comparability criteria, we will be responsible for making a final determination and notifying the State of Alaska and the Tribes in the State of the decision.

(b) Any of the parties involved may appeal our decision, in whole or in part, to the HHS Departmental Appeals Board (the Board) within 60 days after such party receives notice of determination. The party's appeal to the Board should follow the provisions of the rules under this section and those at 45 CFR part 16, where applicable.

(a) At such time that any of the above parties wish to amend the comparability document, the requesting party should submit a request to us, with a copy to the other parties, explaining the requested change(s) and supplying background information in support of the change(s).

(b) After review of the request, we will make a determination on whether or not to accept the proposed change(s).

(c) If any party wishes to appeal the decision regarding the adoption of the proposed amendment, they may appeal using the appeals process pursuant to § 286.165.