|
PDF files require
Adobe Acrobat
Reader for viewing.
Food Stamp Employment and Training
(FSE&T)
Goal
The goal of Food Stamp Employment and Training (FSE&T) is to assist food stamp recipients in obtaining
employment — including provision of work opportunities for 18- to 50-year-old Able-Bodied Adults Without
Dependents (ABAWDs) — through participation in work programs and education and training activities.
Sources of Funding
The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) receives a 100 percent federal FSE&T grant from the U.S. Department
of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). Additional expenditures are funded at a 50/50 federal/state
match rate.
Description
Local Workforce Development Boards and their contractors administer services that assist non-public assistance food
stamp recipients in entering employment or participating in education or vocational training activities that promote long-term
self-sufficiency. Services include:
- Directed Job Search
- Vocational Education/Training
- Nonvocational Education/Training
- Work Experience
- Workfare (ABAWDs only)
- Unsubsidized Employment (allowable only if the individual is enrolled in other FSE&T activities)
Food stamp recipients ages 16 to 59 who are not employed, or are employed fewer than 30 hours per week, are considered
FSE&T General Population mandatory work registrants and are required to participate in FSE&T. Food stamp recipients
who are at least 18 — but less than 50 — years of age, not employed, or are employed less than 20 hours per week, are considered
ABAWD mandatory work registrants and are required to participate in FSE&T. Food stamp recipients who meet federally
established exemption criteria are not required to participate in FSE&T, but may voluntarily participate as funding permits.
Both mandatory work registrants and exempt food stamp recipients must participate in assigned FSE&T activities for a minimum
weekly average of at least 30 hours. ABAWDs assigned to workfare must participate based on their Food Stamp allotment (divided by
the number of ABAWDs in the food stamp household when there are multiple ABAWDs), divided by the federal minimum wage. Job search
is not an allowable activity for ABAWDs unless it is done in conjunction with workfare.
Support services for transportation, dependent care expenses, and other expenses that are reasonable, necessary, and directly related
to participation in FSE&T activities are evaluated based on individual need. Payment for General Educational Development
(GED) testing and certificates of high school equivalency also is available.
Administration
Program oversight is the responsibility of TWC's Workforce Development Division. As of Federal Fiscal Year 2007, a total of 175 counties
have been designated as full-service counties in which:
- outreach is conducted for mandatory work registrants;
- mandatory work registrants are sanctioned for failure to cooperate with FSE&T requirements (i.e., Food Stamp benefits are denied); and
- the FSE&T General Population receives services based on available funding.
Legal Base
The Food Stamp Act of 1977, as amended by the Food Security Act of 1985, the Hunger Act of 1988, the Mickey Leland Domestic
Hunger Relief Act of 1990, the Personal Responsibility and Reconciliation Act of 1996, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, the Farm and
Rural Investment Act of 2002, and Code of Federal Regulations 7, Part 273.
Please e-mail questions and comments about FSE&T to sharon.roland@twc.state.tx.us.
Useful Links
|
