Documentation Requirements

1. Documentation Requirements Agency for Workforce Innovation Spring Training 2006

2. Document Your Work • Actions must be documented • OSST should tell a story (monitor, audit, other case managers) • What story does OSST tell? • Can your case be followed from reopen through post-employment services or closure?

3. Document Your Work • Will a review show • The initial assessment (date and results) • The goals, activities, hours required to participate • The next appointment scheduled • The date hours of participation are due • Accountability • Did the individual attend the appointment • Did the individual provide documentation of hours

4. Document Your Work • In short, will OSST demonstrate • Compliance with federal laws? • Compliance with the State Plan? • Compliance with guidance?

5. Documentation Requirements • Federal requirements • The Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) requires that HHS develop documentation requirements • Guidance will be issued after federal regulations are received in late June, 2006 • Elements expected • Report actual completed hours • Document completed hours

6. Documentation Requirements • Time sheets • Document actual completed hours • OSST should be updated after documentation is received • 19% of all JPR entries greater than zero were reduced or changed to zero after reports were compiled • System hours greater than zero must have verification in the hard copy file and a case note detailing information

7. Documentation Requirements • Time Sheets • Class timesheets • Lab or library timesheets • Pay stubs • Worksite timesheets

8. Documentation Requirements • Time sheets • Job search form • Ensure the document is complete and reflects actual activity engagement • Did the individual create a resume? • Did the individual meet with any employers? • Were any follow-up calls conducted? • Did the individual just send in a generic document on-line to 20 employers?

9. Documentation Requirements • Documents that are not useful • Actual class work • Workbook pages • Homework • Create a time sheet attributing hours of participation to work completed

10. Documentation Requirements • Documentation of participation key elements • Time and date stamp • A contact name and number • The ability to correlate the hours with a JPR entry

11. Documentation Requirements • Other federal requirements include • Penalty process must be initiated if the individual fails to comply with the IRP or refuses to participate without good cause • IRP must include all appropriate elements and must be signed by the participant • Sanction procedures for failure to participate must be recorded in the system and documented in the case file

12. Documentation Requirements • What is the big deal? • As a result of passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act in 1996, failure to initiate the penalty process on individuals who fail to comply with the signed IRP or refuse to participate without good cause may lead to a penalty against the State of Florida

13. Documentation Requirements • What is the big deal? • Effective October 1, 2006, failure to secure verification of hours reported for participation purposes may lead to a penalty against the State of Florida

14. Documentation Requirements • A useful exercise • Select a case from another case manager’s caseload in a quarter when the case was open and mandatory • Can you determine what actions took place during the three month period? • How long did it take to engage the participant? • What activity was assigned? • Was the activity appropriate? • Was the individual held accountable? • Did the individual know when to return?

15. Documentation Requirements • Next, select a case that is open, mandatory and engaged in an activity • Can you find documentation to support the entries for every week on the JPR screen? • If the JPR entries include zeros, were penalty processes initiated if good cause did not exist? • If the penalty process was initiated, was the process completed timely?

16. Documentation Requirements • Final exercise: sanctioned cases • You receive a call from the RWB or the Governor’s Office • Participant A is very upset because (s)he was sanctioned by the Welfare Transition program • The RWB or Governor’s Office has requested a case review and a response

17. Documentation Requirements • Case review • Do the case notes, activity screens and the IRP meet all requirements? • Do case notes reflect appointment dates, documentation due dates, anticipated begin dates, actual begin dates, etc.? • Does the IRP reflect engagement in activities that correlated with goals?

18. Documentation Requirements • The State depends on you to enter data correctly and timely in OSST and to retain documentation in the case file