§9-9-9. Personal responsibility contract.
441 words·~2 min read·
/wv/chapter-9-human-services/article-9-wv-works-act/9-9-9·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
(a)(1) Every eligible adult beneficiary and work eligible individual shall participate in a program orientation, family assessments and in the development, and subsequent revisions, of a personal responsibility contract. The contract shall be defined based on the program time limits, support services available, work requirements and family assessments.
(2)The participant's contract shall include the following requirements:
(A)That the participant develop and maintain, with the appropriate health care provider, a schedule of preventive care for his or her dependent child or children, including routine examinations and immunizations;
(B)Assurance of school attendance for school-age children under his or her care;
(C)Assurance of properly supervised child care, including after-school care;
(D)Establishment of paternity or active pursuit of child support, or both, if applicable and if considered necessary; and
(E)Nutrition or other counseling, parenting or family-planning classes.
(3)If the participant is a teenage parent, he or she may work, but the contract shall include the requirements that the participant:
(A)Remain in an educational activity to complete high school, obtain a general equivalency diploma or obtain vocational training and make satisfactory scholastic progress;
(B)Attend parenting classes or participate in a mentorship program, or both, if appropriate; and
(C)Live at home with his or her parent or guardian or in some other adult-supervised arrangements if he or she is an unemancipated minor.
(4)If the participant is under the age of twenty years and does not have a high school diploma or its equivalent, the contract shall include requirements to participate in mandatory education or training which, if the participant is unemployed, may include a return to high school, with satisfactory scholastic progress required.
(b)In order to receive cash assistance, the participant shall enter into a personal responsibility contract. If the participant refuses to sign the personal responsibility contract, the participant and family members are ineligible to receive cash assistance: Provided, That a participant who alleges that the terms of a personal responsibility contract are inappropriate based on his or her individual circumstances may request and shall be provided a fair and impartial hearing in accordance with administrative procedures established by the department and due process of law. A participant who signs a personal responsibility contract or complies with a personal responsibility contract does not waive his or her right to request and receive a hearing under this subsection.
(c)Personal responsibility contracts shall be drafted by the department on a case-by-case basis; take into consideration the individual circumstances of each beneficiary; reviewed and reevaluated periodically, but not less than on an annual basis; and, in the discretion of the department, amended on a periodic basis.