| (a) Good cause applies only to mandatory work registrants
who are required to participate in SNAP E&T services. A Board
shall ensure that all good cause claims are forwarded to HHSC for
determination before SNAP benefits are denied when mandatory work
registrants state that they have a reason for failing to:
(1) respond to the outreach notification; and
(2) participate in SNAP E&T activities.
(b) For purposes of this chapter, the following are
reasons a Board may consider when making a good cause recommendation
to HHSC after a SNAP E&T participant fails to respond to outreach
notifications or fails to participate in SNAP E&T activities:
(1) temporary illness or incapacitation;
(2) court appearance;
(3) caring for a physically or mentally disabled household
member who requires the recipient's presence in the home;
(4) no available transportation and the distance prohibits
walking; or no available job within reasonable commuting distance,
as defined by the Board;
(5) distance from the home of the mandatory work registrant
who participates in SNAP E&T services, to the Workforce Solutions
Office, or employment service provider requires commuting time of
more than two hours a day (not including taking a child to and from
a child care facility), the distance prohibits walking, and there
is no available transportation;
(6) farmworkers who are away from their permanent residence
or home base, who travel to work in an agriculture or related industry
during part of the year, and are under contract or similar agreement
with an employer to begin work within 30 days of the date that the
individual notified the Board of his or her seasonal farmwork assignment;
(7) an inability to obtain needed child care, as defined
by the Board and based on any of the following reasons:
(A) informal child care by a relative or child care
provided under other arrangements is unavailable or unsuitable, and
based on, where applicable, Board policy regarding child care. Informal
child care may also be determined unsuitable by the parent;
(B) eligible formal child care providers, as defined
in Chapter 809 of this title (relating to Child Care Services), are
unavailable;
(C) affordable formal child care arrangements within
maximum rates established by the Board are unavailable; or
(D) formal or informal child care within a reasonable
distance from home or the work site is unavailable;
(8) an absence of other support services necessary
for participation;
(9) receiving a job referral that results in an offer
below the federal minimum wage, except when a lower wage is permissible
under federal minimum wage law;
(10) an individual or family crisis or a family circumstance
that may preclude participation, including substance abuse and mental
health and disability-related issues, provided that the mandatory
work registrant who participates in SNAP E&T services engages
in problem resolution through appropriate referrals for counseling
and support services; or
(11) a individual is a victim of family violence.
(c) A Board shall ensure that good cause is monitored
at least on a monthly basis and results are shared with HHSC if there
is a change in the circumstances surrounding the good cause exception.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §813.13 adopted to be effective March 29, 2005, 30 TexReg 1799; amended to be effective August 17, 2009, 34 TexReg 5589; amended to be effective August 21, 2018, 43 TexReg 5390; amended to be effective October 26, 2020, 45 Texeg 7611 |
