Grant Diversion
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This section identifies the purpose of Grant Diversion and all eligibility criteria.
Policy
Grant Diversion (GD) is one nonrecurring payment of three months of CA. The GD benefit is equal to three times the maximum monthly CA payment for which the budgetary unit would be eligible. The purpose of the GD payment is to divert the CA participant from ongoing CA when the participant is likely to gain full time employment within 90 calendar days.
Participants may be eligible to receive GD when the participant has not received GD in the 12 months before the application month.
When CA participants have the potential to become self-supporting with a onetime payment, GD is offered as an option.
The GD period covers the first eligible month and the following two months. CA budgetary units are potentially eligible for GD when all of the following are met:
●An adult participant in the budgetary unit is immediately available for full time employment and any of the following requirements is confirmed by the Primary Informant(g) (PI):
Has employment or self-employment income history in the application month or within the 12 months prior to the application month and reasonably anticipates being gainfully employed.
NOTE A participant statement is acceptable verification when the participant is self-employed or when all other means of verification for employment have been exhausted.
Has successfully completed an educational, vocational, or job training program in the application month or within the six months before the application month
Has a job offer for full time employment that begins within the three calendar months of the GD approval period.
NOTE When a participant meets any of the three criteria above, they are considered likely to gain full time employment within 90 calendar days of the application.
●They are eligible for at least $1 of CA in the application month or the following month.
NOTE A new CA application may be prorated into the second or third month when the budgetary unit received CA in the month of application or the following month.
●An adult is included in the benefit amount.
●The budgetary unit has not received GD in the 12 months prior to the application month. Month one is the first month of the new GD payment period.
NOTE The participant may not be eligible in the month of application due to receiving GD in one of the prior 12 months. When prorating the application to a future month allows for potential GD eligibility, the application may be prorated. The application cannot be prorated past the 45th calendar day from the original date of application.
All of the following apply to the GD option:
●The purpose is to divert the CA participant from ongoing CA when the participant is likely to gain full-time employment within 90 calendar days.
●The payment is not countable unearned income for NA.
●When all NA budgetary unit members are included in the GD budgetary unit, they are an NA basic categorically eligible budgetary unit during the GD approval period.
NOTE When the three-month GD approval period ends, the budgetary unit is no longer a basic categorically eligible budgetary unit. When the budgetary unit is determined to be eligible for ongoing NA benefits, expanded categorical eligibility may apply.
●All CA budgetary units that are eligible for at least $1 and identified as a TPEP budgetary unit are processed as potentially eligible for GD.
●GD months are not countable towards the Lifetime Benefit Limit. (See Lifetime Benefit Limit (LIBL))
●GD participants are exempt from all of the following:
DCSS cooperation
Jobs Program Preliminary Orientation (JPPO)
The three-day TPEP Jobs participation
Completing the Recent Employment/Training Background form and the Determination of Primary Wage Earner form
Signing the Cash Program Personal Responsibility Agreement form
GD participants are required to meet all of the following:
●Accept the GD option requirements and conditions.
●Complete and sign one of the following to be retained in the case file(g):
Grant Diversion Script and Applicant agreement form
GD Applicant Agreement and Script notice
OnBase DBME Grant Diversion Unity form
A CA participant is not eligible for the GD option when any of the following apply:
●The budgetary unit is potentially eligible to receive Tribal TANF from any Arizona Tribal TANF Program.
●The budgetary unit received CA from any state, including Arizona in the application month. (The application may be prorated to the second or third month to meet this eligibility requirement.)
●The budgetary unit received a GD payment in any of the 12 months prior to the application month. (The application may be prorated to the second or third month to meet this eligibility requirement.)
●There is not an adult participant in the budgetary unit who is immediately available for full time employment. (Full time employment is defined by the employer.)
●The budgetary unit has a current CA sanction.
●The budgetary unit has ongoing employment that would cause the budgetary unit to be over income, but the CA participant is on a leave of absence. This includes, and is not limited to all of the following:
Employed by a school district but does not have employment during the summer break and plans to return to the school district in the fall.
On maternity leave
On leave of absence and returning to the same employer following the leave of absence
●The budgetary unit fails the CA payment standard.
●Mandatory verification was not provided.
●The participant has received 12 months of regular CA.
NOTE A participant may still be eligible for GD when they have received 12 months of regular CA and are requesting a hardship extension.
Verification
The participant has the primary responsibility for providing verification. (See Participant Responsibilities – Providing Verification for additional policy.)
NOTE A participant statement is acceptable verification for employment when the participant is self-employed or when all other means of verification for employment have been exhausted.
Legal Authorities
7 CFR 273.9(c)(19)
7 CFR 273.9(d)(4)
AAC R6-12-1402
AAC R6-12-1403
AAC R6-12-1404
ARS 46-211
ARS 46-292
TANF State Plan
last revised 03/27/2023