Annual

A period of twelve months prior to the date of eligibility determination.

Applicant

An individual applying for services in TJ or TMJ.

BadgerCare Plus

A health care coverage program for low-income Wisconsin residents including children, pregnant women, and adults.

Bureau of Child Support (BCS)

The bureau under DFES that oversees local county child support agencies and the distribution of child support payments through the state distribution unit. Local child support agencies provide case management (child support) services to families in W-2, Wisconsin Shares, SSI Caretaker Supplement, and Kinship Care. Families in federally- financed foster care programs may automatically be referred for child support services.

Bureau of Working Families (BWF)

The bureau under DFES that provides employment preparation services, case management, and cash assistance to eligible families through the W- 2 program. Related programs include Emergency Assistance, Job Access Loan, Refugee Cash Assistance and Refuge Medical Assistance, TJ, TMJ, and Community Services Block Grant.

Calendar days

All days in a month, including weekends and holidays.

CARES

The eligibility determination system used to track activities and case management in TJ and TMJ.

Children First

The program that provides case management and employment services for eligible noncustodial parents.

Contractor

The entities under contract with DCF to administer the TJ and TMJ contracts.

Custodial Parent

With respect to a dependent child, a parent (see definition of parent) who resides with that child and, if there has been a determination of legal custody with respect to the dependent child, has legal custody of that child

Department of Children and Families (DCF)

The state agency which oversees the TJ and TMJ programs.

Department of Health Services (DHS)

The state agency that oversees Wisconsin’s income maintenance programs including Medicaid, BadgerCare Plus, and FoodShare.

Dependent Child

A biological, adoptive, or relative child under the age of 18 who resides with a parent or a relative and primary caregiver.

Division of Family and Economic Security (DFES)

The division under DCF consisting of BCS and BWF.

Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR)

The program that assists eligible individuals with a disability or who need an accommodation to find or keep a job.

Electronic Case File (ECF)

A paperless case file system used by DCF and DHS contract agencies in Wisconsin to store case file materials in an electronic format.

Emergency Assistance (EA)

Provides funding to families with child(ren) who experience an emergency due to impending homelessness, homelessness, energy crisis, fire, flood, or natural disaster and meets eligibility requirements.

Employability Plan (EP)

A written agreement developed jointly by the Contractor and individual that provides an outline of how the individual will achieve a specific employment goal and how the Contractor will assist.

Ex-Offender

An individual with a prior felony or misdemeanor conviction who served their sentence in a federal or state prison or a county or local jail.

Federal Poverty Level (FPL)

The federal government’s statistical poverty threshold used in the gross income test to determine financial eligibility for public assistance programs.

FoodShare

The food and nutrition program for eligible Wisconsin residents (formerly the Food Stamp program), sometimes referred to as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

FoodShare Employment and Training (FSET)

The employment and training program for Wisconsin FoodShare recipients.

Household

A cohabiting group that includes applicants, their biological, adoptive, or relative children and any children of the biological, adoptive, or relative children; the household also includes any non-martial co-parent or any spouse of the individual who resides in the same household as the individual and any biological, adoptive, or relative children with respect to whom the spouse or non-marital co-parent is a parent or a relative and primary caregiver.

Income

Money, wages or salary, adjusted income from self-employment, Social Security, dividends, interest on savings or bonds, income from estates or trusts, net rental income or royalties, public assistance, SSI, pensions and annuities, unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation, alimony and other maintenance payments, and veteran pensions.

Independent living

Services designed to meet the needs of individuals in out-of-home care who are aging out of care at age 18 or older and up to age 21.

Intermediary

A third party that facilitates a contract between two other parties.

Job Access Loan (JAL)

A short-term interest-free loan that is intended to meet immediate and discrete expenses that are related to obtaining or maintaining employment.

Job Transition Stipend

A Stipend paid to an individual who is placed into unsubsidized employment to assist with the transition to work.

Minimum wage

The State or Federal minimum hourly wage.

Older youth

Young adults at least 18 years of age and less than 25 years of age.

Orientation Stipend

A Stipend paid to an individual while participating in orientation activities.

Out-of-home care

Any out-of-home placement (e.g., foster care, kinship care, independent living facilities, residential care centers, group homes) under a Chapter 48 or Chapter 938 court order (Child in Need of Protection or Services orders (CHIPS) , Juvenile in need of Protection or Services orders (JIPS), or Juvenile Delinquency orders).

Parent

The biological parent, a person who has consented to the artificial insemination of his wife under s. 891.40, a parent by adoption, a man adjudged in a judicial proceeding to be the biological father of a child if the child is a non-marital child who is not adopted or whose parents do not subsequently intermarry under s. 767.803, or a man who has signed and filed with the state registrar under s. 6915(3)(b)3. a statement acknowledging paternity.

Payroll taxes and insurance

Federal Social Security and Medicare taxes, and worker’s compensation premiums that employers are required to withhold from employees’ paychecks.

Personal Identification Number (PIN)

The unique personal identification number assigned to individuals in WWP.

Primary caregiver

A person who is responsible for the direct care, protection, and supervision of a child when the parent’s parental rights have been terminated.

Relative

Immediate family is defined as and limited to the child’s parents, step-parents, foster parents, kinship care caretaker, appointed guardian, first cousins, or grandparents; the parents’ children, step-children, grandchildren, foster children, adopted children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, uncles, and aunts.

State

The State of Wisconsin.

Stipend

A regular payment made to an individual enrolled in TJ or TMJ to encourage him or her to participate in certain activities.

Subsidized job (SJ)

A job under TJ or TMJ in which the wages are subsidized.

Subsidized Worker (SW)

An individual enrolled in TJ or TMJ and working in an SJ.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

A payment program administered by the Social Security Administration and available to low-income disabled individuals who may not have earned enough coverage through work, but have limited income and resources.

System for Payments and Reports of Contracts (SPARC)

The DCF system for monitoring and paying grant contracts to DCF sub-recipients.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

A federal assistance program that provides cash assistance and other services to low-income families with dependent children through the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

TJ

The Transitional Jobs program in Adams, Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Brown, Burnett, Chippewa, Clark, Douglas, Dunn, Florence, Forest, Iron, Jackson, Juneau, Kenosha, Langlade, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto, Outagamie, Pierce, Polk, Price, Racine, Rock, Rusk, Sawyer, St. Croix, Taylor, Walworth, Washburn, and Winnebago counties.

TMJ

The Transform Milwaukee Jobs program in Milwaukee County.

Unsubsidized employment

Employment for which an agency provides no subsidy to the employer.

Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA)

An independent authority providing low-cost mortgage loans to low- to moderate-income individuals and families and offering a number of programs and services in support of business development within the State of Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Shares

Wisconsin’s child care subsidy program that helps eligible families pay for child care.

Wisconsin Work Programs (WWP)

A modern web application that supports applicant processing, enrollment, and disenrollment in work programs.

Wisconsin Works

Wisconsin’s TANF program that provides employment preparation services, case management, and cash assistance to eligible families.

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)

2014 federal legislation that establishes the role of the job center systems in the delivery of employment and training programs, including the TANF and FSET programs.

Working day

Any day of the week except Saturday, Sunday, and state holidays.

Worksite

The entity providing an SJ and day-to-day supervision of SWs.