The safety of participants and their children is the primary goal.

Activities that would not be in the participant or children’s best interest or that interfere with their safety cannot be in the employment plan.

Participants with a family violence waiver are part of the Family Stabilizations Services track. See Chapter 17 (Family Stabilization Services).

Develop the employment plan in collaboration with the participant and with a family violence specialist.

· Only approve or revise an employment plan, including setting hourly requirements, after consultation with the family violence specialist and the participant.

· Rely on the expertise of the family violence specialist and the participant to decide if an activity is appropriate and safe.

· Only include the following activities if the family violence specialist and the participant agree that the activity is appropriate:

· Pursuing employment.

· Getting an order of protection.

· Attending counseling.

· Moving away from the abuser.

Revise the employment plan if issues related to family violence prevent the participant from complying.

· Encourage participants to contact their employment counselor and/or family violence specialist immediately if they are having trouble complying with activities in their employment plan.

· Let family violence specialists know to contact the employment counselor if changes are needed in the employment plan.

Review the employment plan at least every 6 months.

The purpose of the review is to determine if:

· The activities are still appropriate.

· The participant is able to safely comply with the plan.

· The family violence waiver should continue or end.

Revise the plan if necessary.

Notify the eligibility worker about whether to continue or close the family violence waiver.

Rewrite the plan at least annually.

The plan may address safety, legal, or emotional issues, and other demands on the family as a result of the family violence. The sort of employment plan activities that might be identified in a meeting with a family violence specialist and the participant might include the following:

To create safety	To access support services	To further the participant’s economic stability
· Check-in with a family violence advocate. · Carry a cell phone. · Change phone numbers. · Change locks and improve security at home. · Investigate the possibility of court action, such as an Order for Protection or criminal prosecution Domestic Assault No Contact Order. · Assure that the children’s school or child care provider is aware of the current situation and that the abuser is not authorized to pick up the children. · Set up code words or arrangements at work to call police if necessary. · Make a police report. · Register with Safe at Home, see 8.36 (Resources for Addressing Family Violence).	· Have children work with a children’s advocate from the community or family violence program. · Attend counseling. · Participate in support groups.	Do independent or group job search activities. Volunteer in the community or at the children’s school. Continue work, if the employer follows safety precautions. Change job sites or duties. Change jobs to a place unknown by the abuser.

Participants with the Family Violence Waiver still qualify for child care assistance to support activities in their employment plans.

· Employment counselors should communicate to child care assistance workers about activities in employment plans, as is done with information about activities in any MFIP employment plan.

· Child care assistance workers do not need to know that a family violence waiver is in place.