Matching Grant 101

1. Matching Grant 101 Director’s and Co-sponsorship Developer’s Conference Miami, June 2010

2. Matching Grant What is it ? Where does the Money Come From?

3. A welfare alternative funded by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). • Provides resettlement assistance to refugees, asylees, and other eligible clients • Emphasis on Employment Services • Administered by the national voluntary agencies

4. It is not a housing subsidy!

5. It is an Employment Focusedalternative to Welfare.

6. Public/ Private Partnership Enables affiliates to fund: • additional staff time for expanded case management and employment services • Cash support for eligible clients for an extended period

7. Voluntary agencies receive federal funds in the amount of $2,200 per client. A predetermined amount is passed through to the affiliate agencies, provided that the required match is met. Funds are to be spent providing MG services and cash assistance to MG clients. Funding

8. MG Program Goal To support clients in achieving economic self-sufficiency within 120 to 180 days after the date of eligibility, without accessing public cash assistance.

9. Duration of Services Clients are enrolled in the program for a period of 180 days from the date of eligibility.

10. Self Sufficiency Economic self sufficiency means earning a total family income at a level that enables the family unit to support itself without receipt of a cash assistance grant. Clients receiving food stamps and/ or Medicaid without cash assistance are considered self sufficient.

11. ENROLLMENT CRITERIA AND STRATEGIES

12. Eligible Populations • Refugees • Asylees • Cuban and Haitian Entrants • Certain Amerasians from Viet Nam • Victims of a Severe form of Trafficking • Iraqi and Afghan aliens granted special immigrant status (SIVs)

13. Other Eligibility Requirements • At least one member of the case must be deemed employable and wish to work. • Clients must be enrolled within 31 days of the date of eligibility.

14. Ineligible Populations • Those expected to receive SSI • Clients who are already self-sufficient • Clients receiving ANY form of public cash assistance

15. Dates of Eligibility • Refugees and Amerasians: Date of arrival • Cuban Haitian Entrants or Iraqi/ Afghan SIVs: Date they obtain status • Asylees: date of final grant of asylum **Note that ORR may grant an exception for asylees who receive their letter granting asylum significantly later than the actual date of asylum grant. • Victims of Trafficking: date of certification or eligibility letter

16. 120 and 180 Day Measures are taken from the date of eligibility, NOT the date of enrollment!

17. Employability • Determined by family and agency • Ages 18-64 • At least one client per case must be employable

18. ORR Definition Employable: A person who is between the ages of 18 and 64 and is determined by the family and serving agency as either a needed wage earner or an additional wage earner who desires to work.

19. Enrollment

20. Some Enrollment Strategies • Enrollment into the MG Program must be a choice! • MG is meant to serve the people who need it most, not necessarily those who are seemingly the best candidates for early employment. • Avoid profiling. • Cases who plan to out-migrate should not be enrolled.

21. Refugee clients must enroll with an affiliate of the VOLAG that resettled them.

22. Exceptions • If a case out-migrates within their period of eligibility, and no affiliate of their resettling VOLAG exists in the new location, they may enroll with an affiliate of another VOLAG with • approval of the resettling VOLAG and ORR; • Proof that they did not enroll in MG or any public cash assistance program in the original location.

23. Exceptions, con’t • ORR may authorize cross-enrollment at the end of the year for: • Joint sites where one of the VOLAGs has exhausted its slots. • The affiliate should contact the VOLAG with unused slots. • VOLAGs will coordinate with ORR for approval. • In rare instances, to ensure that all slots are utilized.

24. Budgeting your Slots • Sites are given a finite number of slots to use each program year. • There is competition for slots and they are limited. • Enroll those who need MG, but pace yourself when possible. • Although there have been times where ORR has provided supplemental slots, this is never a guarantee.

25. Budgeting Slots, con’t • If any affiliate leaves slots unused, the entire network suffers. • Strategize carefully – don’t save all your slots for the bulge! • If you have sub-offices, you may reallocate slots among them without prior approval. • Communicate with your national office regularly if concerns arise about too many or too few slots.

26. SPLITTING CASES

27. Cases may be split prior to enrollment. • Each new case must maintain eligibility for the program • Possible reasons for splitting: • Some members of the case are ineligible • Members will live in different households • Some members will be served under different programs

28. Documenting the Split • Rationale • Outcomes • Each separate MG case must have its own section in the file.

29. Splitting a Case After Enrollment Allowable only if: • Part of the case out-migrates • At 120 days, part of the case chooses to stay in the program and part chooses to leave Note that if any member of the case accesses cash assistance at any time during the MG Service period, the entire case is dropped from the MG program.

30. Joining or Merging Cases • Allowable only under rare circumstances-contact your national agency for specific policy. • Must be joined in a way that is in accordance with the household composition of your state • Cases must have the same date of eligibility

31. Matching Grant Orientation All enrolled clients should receive orientation to the MG program. Sanctioning procedures must be presented to clients at the time of enrollment. Clients may be sanctioned from the MG program if they fail to comply with the terms of the MG agreement letter or the resettlement plan. Orientation does not necessarily need to be only one session, but is also often provided on an on-going basis. Translation must be provided if necessary.

32. Matching Grant Orientation:MG Agreement This form must clearly state in both English and the client’s native language:                   a. Services and support the agency will provide to the client                   b. Duration of the MG program                   c. Client’s rights and responsibilities                   d. Agency’s rights and responsibilities                   e. Agency’s sanctioning policy This form/letter is to be signed and dated by each adult enrolled in the MG program as well as the MG case manager A copy should be given to the client

33. Matching Grant Orientation:Development of Resettlement Plan Describes the steps and projected timeframes to be taken by the client and the agency to work towards the earliest possible employment placement. Assesses the client’s individual employment skills and establish with the client both short- and long-term employment goals. Assesses the client’s barriers to employment (e.g. lack of transportation, need for childcare, limited English language skills) and establish with the client a plan to overcome these barriers. Clearly states the amount of earnings necessary to be considered self-sufficient. The resettlement plan should be reviewed with the client regularly to ensure that progress is being made. The short-term employment goal should be achievable during the MG period.

34. Raising Matching Resources

35. Requirements Raising Match is a contractual obligation of the MG program!

36. Requirements ORR awards $2 for every $1 raised by the agency, up to a maximum of $2,200; therefore, the agency is responsible for raising $1,100 per enrolled client. • tabulated as an aggregate for the agency; however, it is important to ensure that each client receives a fair amount of resources • This is also true at the VOLAG level: the network is required to raise an aggregate total of 1,100 X the total number of enrollees. Network agencies raising more than the requirement may compensate for shortfall at another site, but please don’t rely on this!

37. Cash and In Kind Donations At least 20% of Match raised must be cash match; the balance may be in-kind services or donated goods.

38. Agencies may count contributions provided to a particular client up to and including the 180th day as long as the client remains in the program at the time of the contribution.

39. Raising Match All goods and services must relate directly to the client’s Resettlement/ Employment Plan and must be allowable , reasonable, and allocable to the Matching Grant Program.

40. Raising Match To determine the appropriateness of a contribution, consider whether the item or service would have been purchased if it had not been donated.

41. Cash Match Can be from: • Private individual • Corporate donation • Any other non-federal source

42. Cash Match • Contributions of goods and services can be considered “cash” if the item was bought. • The flow of donations does not necessarily have to go directly from the donor to the client. • Original receipts for cash contributions must be maintained in the case files.

43. Examples of Cash Contributions • A volunteer pays for a winter jacket and gives it directly to the client • A church co-sponsor pays rent for a client • A client moves in with a family member and the family’s rent and/ or utility bills increase as a result of their moving in. The amount of the increase can be counted as cash match • A church donates funds to the MG program and they are used to benefit an MG client

44. In- Kind Match is Volunteer services or donated goods provided to MG clients in order to further program objectives

45. In-Kind Match The flow of donations does not necessarily have to go directly to the client.

46. The agency must determine a value for all donations and contributions These websites provide valuation tables: http://www.salvationarmysouth.org/valueguide.htm http://www.goodwillsew.com/text.asp?dbID=295 http://www.idonated.com/charitable-donation-value.shtml

47. Volunteer Rates should be reviewed annually For more information, refer to: http://www.independentsector.org

48. Examples of In-Kind Contributions • A church donates storage space for donations • A volunteer drives a client to the grocery store. You may count: • The hours the volunteer spent with the client • The miles the volunteer drove • An intern for the agency with no salary or stipend provides employment training 16 hour/week to MG clients.

49. Not allowable as Match • Goods and Services not directly related to the self-sufficiency plan • Trips to the park, zoo, movies • Housing provided by anchors in their own residence (unless there is an increase in rent, as noted above) • School tuition (Childcare costs and day camps for children of newly employed parents or those in employment-related training ARE allowable)

50. Not allowable as Match Allocable costs incurred and services provided in accordance with any Cooperative Agreement may not be charged to the Matching Grant Program or counted as a matching contribution. If someone does not have the benefit of services under a cooperative agreement (R&P, C/H), those services are required and can be charged to the MG program.