441—93.111 (239B) Assessment and assignment to other activities and components. PROMISE JOBS components and FIA options include, but are not limited to, assessment, job-seeking skills training, job search activities, monitored employment, basic education services, PROMISE JOBS OJT, work experience, unpaid community service, parenting skills training, life skills training, postsecondary classroom training including entrepreneurial training, and FaDSS or other family development services.
	 93.111(1) Assessment. The purpose of assessment is to provide for a thorough self-evaluation of the FIP applicant or participant family that furnishes a basis for PROMISE JOBS staff to determine employability potential and to determine the services that will be needed to achieve self-sufficiency through PROMISE JOBS and the FIA. Assessment shall be conducted so as to ensure that participants can make well-informed choices and PROMISE JOBS workers can provide appropriate guidance as they complete the FIA to achieve the earliest possible self-sufficiency for the FIP family. Assessment services shall be provided through coordination among PROMISE JOBS provider agencies.
Assessment services shall be delivered through options known as assessment I, assessment II, and assessment III. These options may be provided as separate services, delivered at appropriate times during the duration of the FIA, or as steps in the FIA up to the level necessary to provide the assessment needed for participant and PROMISE JOBS worker decisions for development or amendment of the FIA.
	  a.   	 Assessment I shall be provided for all referred FIP applicants. PROMISE JOBS staff shall meet individually with FIP applicants or recipients who are referred to PROMISE JOBS and who choose to develop the FIA. This assessment meeting, at a minimum, shall assess the family’s financial situation, family profile and goals, employment background, educational background, housing needs, child care needs, transportation needs, health care needs, family-size assessment and participant wishes regarding referral to family planning counseling, and other barriers which may require referral to entities other than PROMISE JOBS for services.
	 (1) 	 Assessment I may be the level of assessment appropriate for persons for whom: a part-time job has the potential to become full-time; there is an expectation of securing immediate employment; there are obvious literacy or other basic education barriers; family responsibilities limit the time that can be dedicated toward achieving self-sufficiency; there are transportation barriers; or there are multiple barriers which indicate that FaDSS, other family development services, or other social services are appropriate before other significant steps can be taken toward self-sufficiency.
	 (2) 	 Persons in these circumstances may, based on the results of assessment I, complete the FIA to participate in activities such as, but not limited to, monitored part-time or full-time employment, job search, PROMISE JOBS OJT, unpaid community service, parenting skills training, referral for family planning counseling, FaDSS or other family development services, other social services, or basic or remedial education, perhaps in conjunction with other services.
	 (3) 	 The services of assessment I shall be provided in one individual session before the FIA is signed.
	 (4) 	 Applicants and participants shall have the option of substituting for assessment I assessment information which they have completed with another agency or person such as, but not limited to, the department of workforce development, Head Start, public housing authorities, child welfare workers, and family development services. Participants shall authorize PROMISE JOBS to obtain these assessment results by signing Form 470-0429, Consent to Obtain and Release Information. To be used in place of assessment I, the assessment results must contain all or nearly all of the items from paragraph 93.111(1)“a” and must have been completed within the past 12 months.
	 (5) 	 Participants shall have the option to supplement assessment I with information in the manner as described in subparagraph (4) above and to establish communication between PROMISE JOBS staff and other agencies or persons in order to ensure that the family investment agreement activities do not conflict with any case plans which have already been established for the family. Authorizing this communication is not mandatory under the FIA but PROMISE JOBS staff shall have the authority to ask for verification of activities planned under another case plan when the participant reports conflicts.
	  b.   	 Assessment II services shall be provided for those who, during assessment I, have no barriers to limit participation, have no specific career goal or plan, and need further assessment services to complete the FIA; and for those who are ready to advance to other components after completing a PROMISE JOBS activity or other services which were determined after assessment I and are part of the FIA.
	 (1) 	 The services of assessment II may include, but are not limited to, literacy and aptitude testing, educational level and basic skills assessment, self-esteem building, interest assessment, exposure to nontraditional jobs, exposure to job-retention skills, goal setting, motivational exercises, exposure to job-seeking skills, and exposure to role models.
	 (2) 	 Persons who complete assessment II may complete the FIA to participate in FIA activities such as, but not limited to, parenting skills training, referral for family counseling, job club or other job search activities, PROMISE JOBS OJT, work experience placement, or referral for entrepreneurial training.
	 (3) 	 Assessment III services shall be provided for those who, during assessment I or II, request postsecondary classroom training as part of the FIA; or those whose previous participation indicates a need for and a likelihood of success in postsecondary classroom training.
	  c.   	 Services of assessment III shall provide occupational specific assessment or guidance before completing the FIA for postsecondary classroom training. These services may be provided by PROMISE JOBS staff or other entities as arranged locally.
It is expected that assessment II and assessment III activities shall be provided in a maximum of 20 hours per week for each option unless the PROMISE JOBS worker documents a need for additional time.
	  d.   	 FIP participants who previously participated in assessment options and then were canceled from FIP or entered an LBP may be required to participate in any assessment option again when the PROMISE JOBS worker determines that updated assessment is needed for development or amendment of the FIA.
	  e.   	 FaDSS participants who have completed assessment in the past may be required to complete assessment again when the FaDSS grantee approves assignment to other PROMISE JOBS activities if the PROMISE JOBS worker believes that extended assessment is necessary to reassess the participant’s abilities and circumstances.
	  f.   	 Except for assessment activities which occur on the same day as orientation, persons participating in assessment options are eligible for allowances for transportation and child care needed to allow the scheduled participation. Persons who miss any portion of scheduled assessment services may be required to make up the missed portion of the sessions, based on worker judgment and participant needs. When make-up sessions are required, the participant shall not receive an additional transportation allowance, but necessary child care shall be paid.
	  g.   	 A participant who has completed assessment I and who wishes to include postsecondary classroom training in the FIA shall be required to participate in assessment II and assessment III unless the participant is not required to do so because:
	 (1) 	 Rescinded IAB 7/21/04, effective 9/1/04.
	 (2) 	 The person is already involved in approvable self-initiated training at the time of PROMISE JOBS orientation.
	 (3) 	 Participation in assessment II and assessment III would interfere with training initiated by the participant after orientation and the training is approvable under PROMISE JOBS. Participants who initiate training after orientation are not considered self-initiated but are otherwise treated in accordance with rule 441—93.108(239B) or in accordance with 93.111(2).
	 93.111(2) Assessment-related restrictions on expense allowance assistance for self-initiated training. When persons described at 93.111(1)“g” are still within the first quarter or semester of involvement with the training program that they have chosen, expense allowance assistance through PROMISE JOBS cannot be approved, even if the training is otherwise approvable, until the persons have completed the assessment II and assessment III options or have successfully completed the first quarter or semester of the training program in accordance with the requirements of the educational institution being attended. Persons involved in training programs where quarters or semesters are not used must successfully complete four months of the training program before assistance can begin. Assistance shall be approved effective with the second quarter or semester, or with the fifth month of participation in the training program, as applicable to the client’s situation.
	 93.111(3) Requirements for persons aged 19 or younger. Assessment and development of FIA options shall follow these guidelines for persons under the age of 20.
	  a.   	 Parents under the age of 16 who have not completed high school shall be expected to use enrollment or continued attendance in high school completion as a first step in the FIA.
	  b.   	 Persons aged 16 or 17 who have not completed high school shall be expected to participate in educational activities to obtain a high school diploma or the equivalent as a first step in the FIA. Persons deemed incapable of participating in these activities by the local education agency shall choose other FIA options.
	  c.   	 Persons aged 18 or 19 who have not completed high school shall be expected to participate in educational activities to obtain a high school diploma or the equivalent as a first step in the FIA if assessment indicates the person is capable of completing regular high school or an equivalent program. Persons deemed incapable of participating in these activities shall choose other FIA options.
	  d.   	 For parents aged 19 and younger, the FIA shall include parenting skills training as described at rule 441—93.116(239B) or the case file shall include documentation that this requirement has been fulfilled.
	  e.   	 For unmarried parents aged 17 and younger, who do not live with a parent or legal guardian, with good cause as described at 441—subrule 41.22(16), the FIA shall include FaDSS, as described at 441—Chapter 165, or other family development services, as described at rule 441—93.119(239B). The FaDSS or other family development services shall continue after the parent is aged 18 only when both the participant and the family development worker believe that the services are needed for the family to reach self-sufficiency.
	 93.111(4) Participation after completion of appropriate assessment. After completion of the appropriate assessment level, participants shall be referred for the PROMISE JOBS component services or supportive services which are designated in the completed FIA.
	 93.111(5) Retention of a training slot. Once a person has been assigned a PROMISE JOBS training slot, that person retains that training slot until FIP eligibility is lost for more than four consecutive months or an LBP is in effect.