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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 5, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
requirements to 7 CFR
273.7c18iA.
With regard to an ABAWD who receives a provider determination, the State agency must notify the ABAWD, at the same time the State agency informs the ABAWD of the information above, that he or she will accrue countable months toward the three-month participation time limit the next full benefit month after the month during which the State agency notifies the ABAWD of the provider determination, unless the ABAWD fulfills the work requirements in accordance with 7 CFR
273.24, or the ABAWD has good cause, lives in a waived area, or is otherwise exempt. The Department has modified the language regarding the accrual of countable months in the final rule to state the ABAWD will accrue countable months the next full benefit month after the month during which the State agency notifies the ABAWD of the provider determination. The Department recognizes that ABAWDs could potentially receive a provider determination during a partial benefit month, which is not to be considered a countable month under 7 CFR
273.24b1. Additionally, for ABAWDs that are notified of a provider determination during the middle of a full benefit month, this provision will not penalize ABAWDs for lost opportunities to meet the ABAWD work requirement that month. The Department does not believe it is appropriate to penalize ABAWDs for being referred to an E&T component for which an ABAWD is determined to be ill-suited, likely due to no fault of their own, nor for the time during which such an ABAWD may not have definitive communication of the provider determination. This change will mean that ABAWDs can only be assigned countable months when the ABAWD
has a full month and a full opportunity to fulfill the work requirement after being notified of a provider determination. As a result, ABAWDs would not accrue a countable month for the month in which they receive notification of a provider determination.
The ABAWD would be expected to fulfill the ABAWD work requirement by working paid or unpaid or participating in a work program or workfare program during the next full benefit month, unless the ABAWD has good cause, lives in a waived area, or is otherwise exempt. The regulations at 7
CFR 273.7c18iA and 7 CFR
273.7c18ii have been modified to reflect this change, and a corresponding change has been made to the definition of countable months at 7 CFR

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273.24b1. The State agency might find it appropriate on these occasions to consider whether the individual should be considered for an exemption or good cause determination and inform the ABAWD of exemption and good cause determination processes.
The Department notes that notifying individuals of the provider determination, in accordance with 7
CFR 273.7c18iA, is necessary even for voluntary E&T participants, as the individual may not understand their participation in that component has ended, and wonder what their next step to receive training and assistance should be. In addition, in some cases, ABAWDs may be voluntary participants and, as discussed above, it is particularly important that ABAWDs receive information about the accrual of countable months in the next full benefit month after the month during which the State agency notifies the ABAWD of the provider determination.
The Department is also making a change to the timing of when the State agency must notify E&T participants of a provider determination. Given how crucial it is for ABAWDs to receive that notification, so that they may begin to identify other opportunities to fulfill the ABAWD work requirement, and for other E&T participants to be notified of the provider determination, so that they are not left wondering what their next step ought to be, the Department is adding a requirement to 7 CFR
273,7c18iA that the State agency must notify E&T participants with a provider determination of that determination within 10 days of receiving the notification from the E&T
provider.
The Department also received comments regarding when the State agency should be required to take one of the actions in 7 CFR
273.7c18iB. One not-for-profit agency recommended that the State agency be required to take one of the four actions at the next recertification because the State agency is already required to contact the participant at that time and will have the opportunity to ask questions related to the provider determination. The same commenter also suggested the participant should be given the opportunity to contact the State agency sooner for help in identifying E&T opportunities. Another commenter believed the final rule should specify steps the State agency can take to ensure that an individual with a provider determination is moved into a more suitable activity as soon as reasonably possible. Some of these steps might include having State agency staff speak with the participant about their
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employment goals and interests, requiring the State agency to maintain an up-to-date database of existing workforce development programming, specifically targeted to jobseekers who face more significant barriers to employment, or having the State agency employ system navigators who can better coordinate options on behalf of a participant. Given the flexibility State agencies have to structure their E&T
programs based on agency priorities and the needs of local providers, the Department is providing State agencies flexibility with regard to when they take one of the actions in 7 CFR
273.7c18iB, so long as the action is taken no later than the individuals recertification. The Department also believes it is important for the State agency to be responsive to individuals with a provider determination who would like to move on to one of the next steps as soon as possible. As a result, if an individual with a provider determinations tells the State agency they would like the State agency to make a decision among the four options and refer, the State agency should do so as soon as possible. The Department believes that the vast majority of E&T
participants will be properly screened and initially assigned to components for which they are a good match and thus expects this provision to only apply to a small subset of the overall E&T
population. The regulation at 7 CFR
273.7c18iB has been updated accordingly.
The Department received a comment from a not-for-profit agency suggesting that, rather than making a re-assessment of general work requirement exemptions, including a re-assessment of mental and physical fitness, one of the four options at 7 CFR
273.7c18iB3, all participants should be reassessed for exemptions at the point that an E&T provider makes a provider determination. The commenter explained that, in their State, many mandatory E&T participants and ABAWDs could end up qualifying for an exemption from mandatory E&T or the ABAWD work requirement after a short period of time. The commenter believed re-assessing exemptions should be the starting point before seeking to refer participants to additional programs or identifying other work opportunities.
Further, the commenter believed the regulation at 7 CFR 273.7c18iB3
should also include an evaluation of exemptions for all the work requirements the participant is subject to, not just the general work requirement. The Department agrees that individuals who should be exempt
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