19.1  Emergency Payments

W-2 agencies must determine eligibility for an emergency payment for a participant who has an emergency need and is awaiting a first W-2 payment. Participants in a CSJ placement, CMC placement, and W-2 T placement, are eligible in the period prior to their first W-2 payment.

Emergency payments are one-time payments designed to meet an emergency need at the beginning of a W-2 episode. They are not an additional W-2 benefit. Emergency payments do not use a month of TANF assistance because they qualify as non-recurrent, short-term benefits under the TANF definition of assistance.

Emergency payments may be used for needs such as shelter, food and work-related expenses, etc. They should be used in conjunction with other supports available to participants including EA.

There is no limit on the emergency payment amount; each W-2 agency may choose to establish a range of payments (e.g., between $25 and $750). The W-2 agency may also choose to limit the payment to no more than once every 12 months. Participants are not required to repay emergency payments.

Emergency payments are not tracked through the CARES system, though workers should enter information about the payment in the PIN comments if a participant has received this payment.

 

 

History: Release 20-03; Release 13-03.