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Work First Family Assistance (WFFA)
Purpose
WORK FIRST or WFFA
is an employment program for families with children under the age of 18
living in the home that assists with locating and maintaining employment,
plus pursuing child support. It is our goal to help the
applicants/recipients become gainfully employed in as short a time as
possible. A cash benefit and other services are provided to meet a
client’s basic needs while the client is seeking employment.
The Governor of North Carolina has mandated that all recipients that are
able bodied be employed or in short term job training within 12 weeks of
entering the work component of the program. He has also set a requirement
that 90% of people who come off the WFFA program keep their jobs, so we
work with our clients in retention services, helping to alleviate a
variety of crises that may cause someone to lose their job.
Eligibility
In order to possibly qualify for Work First Family Assistance, you must:
-
Have a child living in your home under the age of 18.
-
Be a U.S. Citizen or qualified alien.
-
Have a certain degree of kinship to the child, or have legal custody or guardianship of a child.
-
Cooperate with Child Support enforcement.
-
Cooperate with us in the employment piece of the program.
-
Have net countable income (take home pay) below the need standard chart below. To figure your net countable income, add your check stubs for the month together (use gross wages – the figure before taxes, etc. are taken out). From that total figure, multiply by .275% (that is a deduction). Then subtract the last figure (the deduction) you came up with from the first figure (gross wages). Next add any unearned income your family has such as Social Security, Unemployment Insurance Benefits, Child support, etc. If this total is less than the chart below, you may be eligible.
Number in Family
Need Standard (Monthly)
1
$362.00
2
$472.00
3
$544.00
4
$594.00
5
$648.00
6
$698.00
7
$746.00
8
$772.00
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Have no more than one vehicle per adult in the household.
-
Have up to but not more than $3,000.00 in resources. Resources include cash, savings, cash value of whole life insurance policies, etc.
Any person meeting the above financial guidelines who has a child under 18 who has not exhausted the 60-month federal time limit for receiving assistance may be eligible for WFFA. There are also some cases that are "child only," in which the adult is not eligible for benefits.
Application Procedure
Work First Family Assistance is not an entitlement program like Medicaid and Food Stamps. Therefore, we developed the appointment system to better serve the public and eliminate the long wait time. A person interested in Work First may call or drop by the agency for an appointment. Normally, we can see an applicant that day or the following and the intake process takes an average of two hours. (You may apply for Food Stamps and Medicaid at anytime, without an appointment) If you are eligible for Work First, you are automatically eligible for Medicaid. We have received high praise from applicants, as their appointment time has been set aside just for them, with no interruptions.
Call us at 828-426-8200 to set up an appointment.
Special Information
Our program has been very successful in putting families back on the road to self-sufficiency. We have several supportive services that other Work First Programs across the state do not have. We have a Job Search Coach that uses a van to take applicants/recipients to seven places of employment a day looking for work. We consider looking for a job to be their “job” until they become employed. We also have a Job Developer that helps with generic job applications, assists with resume writing, gives job leads, and teaches a three-hour Economic Literacy class. Parenting classes are also required for all caretakers and their children.
We are proud that since July of 1999, more than 130 families have left the welfare population and are enjoying the stability of financial independence. For State fiscal year July 2003 – June 2004 we placed 82 adults in employment. Our state goal was 22. For this same period of time 96% remained off Work First for Employment. Our state goal was 90%.
Work First requires all families to sign a binding contract, Mutual Responsibility Agreement (MRA), that details their plans for getting off welfare and commits them to taking care of their family. Work First sets strict time limits and supplies tough sanctions on those families who refuse to meet their responsibility.
For information about aspects of Work First specific to Caldwell County, click here.
For more, read the Caldwell County Work First Block Grant Plan (in Adobe PDF format) or visit the NC Division of Social Services page on Work First.
There will be a Public Comment period from October 17 - 24, 2006 on this new Work First Block Grant Plan.
