1.  Notice of program assistance.  The department shall provide written notice to all applicants for and recipients of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program of the range of education, employment and training opportunities, and the types of support services, including transitional support services and medical assistance, available under the ASPIRE-TANF program, together with a statement that all participants may apply for those opportunities and services.  

1-A.  Information about and application for Parents as Scholars Program.  When there are fewer than 2,000 enrollees in the Parents as Scholars Program under chapter 1054‑B, the department shall inform all persons applying for ASPIRE-TANF and all ASPIRE-TANF participants reviewing or requesting to amend their education, training or employment program under ASPIRE-TANF of the Parents as Scholars Program and shall offer them the opportunity to apply for the program. The department shall assist persons who apply for ASPIRE-TANF and participants seeking to matriculate for postsecondary education, including through appropriate referrals for remedial services or financial aid assistance, and shall assist persons with the provision of ASPIRE-TANF services for which they are eligible.  

2.  Application; decision.  As part of the orientation process for ASPIRE-TANF, all participants must be given the opportunity to apply for any education, training and employment and support services at the office of the program serving the area in which the individual lives. At orientation, each participant shall receive a complete list of all support services and education, training and employment services available under the ASPIRE-TANF program so that the individual may identify the services that the individual considers necessary to participate in the program. A written copy of each amendment to the family contract must be given to the participant, together with a complete list of all support services and education, training and employment services available under the program and notice of the participant's right to request a conciliation meeting and a fair hearing. A participant may request an amendment to the participant's family contract at any time. If the participant's request is denied, the participant must be notified in writing of the reason for the denial and must be given notice of right to a fair hearing.  

3.  Assessment.  Each participant's case manager shall conduct an initial assessment to determine that individual's education, training and employment needs based on available program resources, the participant's skills and aptitudes, the participant's need for supportive services, local employment opportunities, the existence of any good cause circumstances under section 3785 and, to the maximum extent possible, the preferences of the participant. The department shall document findings in the participant's case record indicating any barriers to participation, including, but not limited to, any physical or mental health problems, including learning disabilities or cognitive impairments, or other good cause circumstances specified in section 3785.  

3-A.  Comprehensive screening and assessment.  If upon an initial screening or at a later date it is determined that a participant has physical or mental health impairments, learning disabilities, cognitive impairments or limitations related to providing care for a household member with a disability or serious illness or a child with a serious behavioral condition, the participant must be offered the opportunity for a comprehensive assessment that may result in referral for alternative services, supports and income benefits. If the participant chooses to have a comprehensive assessment, the participant must be referred to a qualified professional to identify the strengths and needs of and barriers faced by that participant. The participant's case manager shall ensure that any accommodation or support services necessary for the participant to participate in the assessment are made available to the participant. The participant may supplement this assessment with medical records or any other credible information related to the participant's ability to participate in program activities. An assessment under this subsection may also be initiated at the choice of the participant at any time. The individual performing this assessment shall recommend to the case manager any services, supports and programs needed to improve the economic self-sufficiency and well-being of the participant and the participant's family based on the assessment.  

4.  Employability plan. 

4-A.  Family contract amendment.  To the extent that sufficient funds, training sites and employment opportunities are reasonably available, the department and a participant in the program shall enter into an amended family contract that must include both the department's and the participant's activities and the support services necessary for the individual to participate in accordance with the assessment, the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Public Law 104-193, 110 Stat. 2105 and the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, Public Law 109-171, 120 Stat. 4.  

5.  Provision of support services.  Payment for support services must be furnished promptly in accordance with rules adopted by the department to, or on behalf of, eligible individuals as agreed to in the family contract. The rules must provide for an expedited procedure for payment for support services when those services are immediately necessary to enable the participant to participate in an approved education, training or employment plan.  

6.  Education, training and employment services.  The ASPIRE-TANF program must make available a broad range of education, training and employment services in accordance with section 3781‑A, subsection 3 and the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Public Law 104-193, 110 Stat. 2105 and the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, Public Law 109-171, 120 Stat. 4. These services and activities must include all of those services and activities offered by the Additional Support for People in Retraining and Employment Program on October 1, 1989, except in 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education and except as provided in chapter 1054‑B. This section does not prohibit the department from purchasing equivalent services from providers other than those from whom those services were purchased on October 1, 1989. When a particular approved education or training service is available at comparable quality and cost, including the cost of support services, and the implementation of the family contract would not be unreasonably delayed, the program participant may choose to enroll for that service with the provider of that person's preference. If this decision is not mutually agreed to by the participant and the case manager, the decision must be reviewed by the case manager's supervisor. These services must include reimbursement for the cost of tuition, mandatory fees and the cost of transcripts or transferring credits for postsecondary education when the participant has exhausted any available educational funding to complete the participant's family contract, in accordance with department rules.  

6-A.  Parents as Scholars Program prematriculation services.  The department shall assist ASPIRE-TANF participants interested in applying for the Parents as Scholars Program under chapter 1054‑B to prepare to matriculate, including enrolling participants or preparing participants for enrollment in a program providing remedial services necessary for matriculation; identifying the strengths, needs and barriers faced by participants; and making referrals to programs qualified to assist participants with the services, supports, education, training and accommodations needed to reduce or overcome barriers to enrollment in the Parents as Scholars Program. The department shall cover the cost of support services in accordance with this section needed for any activity under this subsection included in the family contract. Any hours spent preparing for matriculation under this subsection, including, but not limited to, exploring educational opportunities and financial aid options and applying for educational programs or financial aid, must be considered hours of participation in ASPIRE-TANF for the purposes of participation under chapter 1053‑B. These hours may also be counted for federal participation as allowable by federal law.  

7.  Readability. 

7-A.  Basic skills education.  The department shall make available to individuals participating in the ASPIRE-TANF program basic skills education, including programs that assist individuals in obtaining a high school diploma or its equivalent or comparable credential. The time spent by an ASPIRE-TANF participant in basic skills education must be counted toward the first 20 hours of the participant's required weekly work participation, except that this subsection is suspended for any period for which it would cause the State to fail to meet the work participation rate requirements pursuant to 42 United States Code, Section 607, subsection (a). The department shall ensure that the State's work verification plan required under federal law for validating work participation activities of ASPIRE-TANF participants includes basic skills education in the definition of vocational educational training when it is a necessary part of a participant's vocational educational training plan.  

8.  Annual report. 

9.  Rules.  The department shall adopt rules in accordance with the Maine Administrative Procedure Act to implement this section.  

10.  Program design.  The department shall operate the ASPIRE-TANF program in accordance with the requirements of the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, Public Law 109-171, 120 Stat. 4.  

11.  Individual participation requirements.  Participation in the program components is governed by subsection 10 and this subsection.  

12.  Developing resources.  To assist the department in its efforts to encourage job placement opportunities and provide the services necessary to ensure self-support to recipients of TANF assistance, the department may contract with public and private agencies to establish job placement opportunities.  

13.  Determination of types of opportunities. 

14.  Family planning services.