Adults getting financial assistance must work 30 hours a week or do 20 hours a week of approved employment activity, unless an exemption applies.
Sec. 31.012. MANDATORY WORK OR PARTICIPATION IN EMPLOYMENT ACTIVITIES THROUGH TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM. (a) The Health and Human Services Commission shall require that, during any one-month period in which an adult is receiving financial assistance under this chapter, the adult shall during that period: (1) work not less than 30 hours a week; or (2) participate for not less than 20 hours a week in an activity established under a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families employment program established under Part A, Subchapter IV, Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 601 et seq.). (b) The Texas Workforce Commission by rule shall establish criteria for good cause failure to cooperate and for notification procedures regarding participation in work or employment activities under this section. (c) A person who is the caretaker of a child with a physical disability or mental, intellectual, or developmental disability who requires the caretaker's presence is not required to participate in a program under this section. A single person who is the caretaker of a child is exempt until the caretaker's youngest child at the time the caretaker first became eligible for assistance reaches the age of one. Notwithstanding Sections 31.0035(b) and 32.0255(b), the Health and Human Services Commission shall provide to a person who is exempt under this subsection and who voluntarily participates in a program under Subsection (a)(2) six months of transitional benefits in addition to the applicable limit prescribed by Section 31.0065. (d) A state program operated under this section shall be administered by the division of workforce development of the Texas Workforce Commission. (e) The Texas Workforce Commission shall allow a person who is participating in work or employment activities under this section to complete those activities if the person becomes ineligible to receive financial assistance under this chapter because the person receives child support in an amount that makes the person ineligible for that assistance. The Texas Workforce Commission shall provide to the person necessary child care services until the date on which the person completes work or employment activities under this section. (f) In this section, "caretaker of a child" means the parent or relative of a dependent child with whom the child primarily resides, including a parent or relative who has been appointed under a court order as sole managing conservator or joint managing conservator of the child. Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 15, Sec. 5.23, eff. Sept. 1, 1991. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 655, Sec. 4.01(a), 11.63, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 602, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 681, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1224, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 198, Sec. 2.90, eff. Sept. 1, 2003. Amended by: Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 4.055, eff. April 2, 2015. Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 4.056, eff. April 2, 2015.