JS and JR 12 Week Qualification

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Office of Family Assistance

States Qualifying for Counting Up To Six Additional Weeks
of Job Search and Job Readiness

“Under Section 407(c)(2) of the Social Security Act and 45 CFR 261.34, an individual's participation in job search and job readiness assistance can count for a maximum of six weeks in a fiscal year (no more than four consecutive weeks). This can be extended to 12 weeks in a fiscal year if a State has an unemployment rate at least 50 percent greater than the unemployment rate of the United States or if the State meets the definition of a “needy State” under the Contingency Fund provisions of the law. There are two ways for a State to qualify as a “needy State,” one based on its unemployment rate, the other based on increases in its Food Stamp caseload. (See section 403(b)(5) of the Act.) Here is a general description of the two triggers:

Unemployment Trigger – the average unemployment rate for the most recent 3-month period is at least 6.5% and at least 110% of the State rate for the corresponding 3-month period in either of the two preceding calendar years.

Food Stamp Trigger (as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture) – the monthly average number of participants for the most recent 3-month period is at least 110% of the State's monthly average caseload for FY 1994 or FY 1995, whichever is less, had the immigrant and Food Stamp provisions of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) been in effect in those years.

The tables below display the official list of States that have qualified for counting up to six additional weeks of job search and job readiness assistance by month.

The full text of the program instruction on this topic, TANF-ACF-PI-2006-04 can be found here: Link to Program Instruction

FY 2008

FY 2007
FY 2007 (pdf document)

FY 2006
FY 2006 (pdf version)

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