Will I Have to Work While I Get Reach Up?
Will I Have to Work While I Get
Reach Up?
How Many Hours Will I Have to
Work?
What If I Can't Work?
What If I'm Afraid to Work or Ask
for Child Support Because of Abuse?
What If I Can't Work As Many Hours
as My Worker Wants?
Will Reach up Help Me Find a
Job?
What If I Can't Find a Job?
What If I Want to Go to
School?
What If I Want to Start My
Own Business?
Why Did My Grant Go down
by $75.00? What Can I Do?
My Worker Did Something I
Don't Agree With. What Can I Do?
I Want to Learn More About
Reach Up.
Will I Have to Work While
I Get Reach Up?
Probably yes. Most people who get Reach Up have to look for a job
or get ready to look for a job. There are some people who don't
have to work or don't have to work as many hours. It depends on
your particular situation. We have listed the work requirements
for different kinds of situations below.
How Many Hours Will I
Have to Work?
The amount of time you have to work each week depends on your
situation. We have listed the work requirements for different
kinds of situations below.
I'm a single parent.
Is your youngest child under 6? You will have to work 20 hours each
week. Is your youngest child over 6? You will have to work 30 hours
each week.
I'm a single parent, and I have a disability.
Do you have a disability? You may not have to work as many hours. If
you can't work the hours your worker tells you to, you should ask
your worker to lower your hours. Does your worker say you have to work
the same hours? Call Vermont Legal
Aid at (800) 899-2047 for help.
I'm in a couple.
Your family has to work 40 hours. You can choose for one person to
work all the hours or you can split the hours between you.
My spouse has a disability and can't work.
You will have to work 30 hours. If you both have disabilities, your
hours might be lowered. You should ask your worker to lower your hours.
Does your worker says you have to work the same hours?
Call Vermont Legal Aid at (800) 899-2047 for help.
I'm a parent under 20.
Are you a parent under 20 years old? You can finish high school,
go to GED classes, or do job training instead of getting a job.
What If I Can't
Work?
You will not have to work if you have certain family situations.
Here is a list of reasons you might not have to work:
- Your youngest child is under 2;
- Your child or spouse is disabled;
- No child care;
- No car or way to get to work;
- No car insurance or driver's license;
- Your parent lives with you and is disabled;
- You are over 60;
- Domestic violence or abuse.
What If I'm Afraid to Work
or Ask for Child Support Because of Abuse?
You can ask to not work right now if you are afraid because of abuse.
Your local domestic violence group can help you with the paperwork.
You can find your local domestic violence group on the Vermont Network Against Domestic Violence
and Sexual Assault website. Does your Reach Up worker still say
you have to work? Call Vermont
Legal Aid at (800) 889-2047.
You can also ask DCF not to go after your ex for child support if you
are afraid that this will cause more abuse to you or your child. The Office of
Child Support or your worker can help you with this. Your local
domestic violence group can also help you. You can find your local
domestic violence group on the Vermont
Network Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault website.
Does your Reach Up worker still say you have to let them try to get child
support? Call Vermont Legal Aid at
(800) 889-2047.
Someone in my family is sick or disabled.
Do you need to be at home to take care of a family member? You might
be able to work less hours. This is called a work "deferment."
Your worker should be able to help you do the paperwork. Only some
family members count for this. It has to be your parent, your husband
or wife or your child. The family member must also live with you.
Does your worker say you can't get a deferment? Call Vermont Legal Aid at
(800) 899-2047 for help.
My child is a baby.
Is your child under 2 years old? You may not have to work. You can
only do this for 24 months total, even if you have another child.
You can choose to work before your child is 2 in order to save some
time for another child. Did you already use up your 24 months for
another one of your children? You still don't have to work until
your child is 13 weeks old.
What if I have problems with my child care?
You should be able to get your hours lowered if you don't have child
care. You will need to be able to show what the problems with the
child care are. Here are some examples:
- Unsafe place;
- Child care person quit;
- You can't find child care;
- You can't pay for child care.
Make sure you have the names and telephone numbers of people to back up
the problems. Keep any paperwork that shows you had the problems. Show
this paperwork to your worker.
What if I don't have a car?
Your worker might be able to help you figure out other transportation.
You also can't be made to work far away from your home if you are
unable to get there. You will be asked to look for work within
walking distance of your home.
What if I don't have car insurance or a driver's license?
Your worker should be able to help you get a driver's license. If
you need money for the fee, the worker may be able to pay the fee
for you. You also might be able to get some money from your worker
one time to get car insurance.
What If I Can't Work As Many
Hours as My Worker Wants?
You may be able to get your hours lowered if you have one of the
reasons listed above. This is called a deferment.
Do you need help asking for a deferment? Call Vermont Legal Aid for
information.
Will Reach up Help Me Find a
Job?
Yes. Reach Up will require you to find work. Your worker is
supposed to help you get ready to work. Your worker is also supposed
to help you learn how to find a job. Your worker may tell you to go
to DET (Department of Employment & Training) for help looking for a
job.
How will DCF help me get a job?
It depends on your particular situation. We have listed some common
situations below.
What if I had a job recently?
If you had a job in the last six months, Reach Up will make you look
for a job. DCF will send you to the Department of Employment and
Training (DET) for help. It is important to keep your appointments
at DET. If you don't, Reach Up will not give you help. Call your
Reach Up worker and your DET worker before the appointment if you
have a problem getting there.
What if I haven't worked in a while?
If you haven't had a job in the last six months, you will get an
appointment with a Reach Up worker. The worker will help you pick a
job goal and what you need in order to get a job. Picking a job goal
and figuring out what you need to be able to get to your goal is
called a Family Development Plan (FDP). It's very important to tell
your worker about any problems that might stand in your way of working.
Some common reasons it's hard to get a job are:
- No car;
- No insurance;
- No driver's license;
- No child care;
- Spotty or unreliable child care;
- Sick child;
- Disabled child;
- Disabled family;
- Your own health problems;
- Need help with a resume;
- Need a GED;
- Need job skills;
- Family violence or abuse.
Tell your DCF worker what your problems are that make it hard for
you to work. Your worker should help you solve problems
that stop you from working. If you are having trouble with your
Family Development Plan, call Vermont Legal Aid at (800) 889-2047.
What If I Can't Find a Job?
Your worker should help you find other things to do to meet your
work hours. The worker could put you in a job that the state sets
up or you might be able to volunteer.
What If I Want to Go to
School?
You might be able to go to school and be on Reach Up. You should
talk to your worker about this right away. If you start too late,
you might not be able to finish the school program. Some people
can do a one year vocational program. You have to be:
- under age 20, or
- you worked at a low-wage job, or
- you can't do the job you used to do.
Does school count for my Reach Up work requirement?
If you are over 20, some school counts, but most school doesn't.
You can plan to do one year of vocational school and not have to
work at the same time. If you are getting a GED, you probably
will have to work part-time on top of the classes. College never
counts for the Reach Up work requirement, but there is a separate
program that will help support your family while you go to college.
That program is called the Post Secondary Education program (PSE).
Your worker can help you apply.
What if I don't have high school or my GED?
You can work toward your GED if you start right away. You may have
to work part-time as well.
What if I want to go to college?
You can apply for help through the Post-Secondary Education (PSE)
program. This program gives you money to live on while you are in
college. PSE doesn't pay for school costs like tuition and books.
You will need to apply for financial aid to pay for college. Your
worker can give you information about the PSE program. The PSE
program is separate from Reach Up.
What If I Want to Start My
Own Business?
Starting your own business can count as work for Reach Up. You will
need to have a business plan. You will also have to show that your
business is making a certain amount of money after three months in
order to have the hours count. Your worker can give you information
of how much you would need to earn. The amount of money your business
has to earn goes up every three months until you have been in
business for a year.
Why Did My Grant Go down
by $75.00? What Can I Do?
Did your grant go down? Your worker has probably sanctioned you.
A worker sanctions you when you don't do something you are required
to do. If you have a good reason, you probably can fight the
sanction. Also, sometimes workers make mistakes.
You will lose even more money after a few months, so it is good
to fight the sanction if you can. You can also get your money to go
back up once you do what the worker is asking you to. It takes two
weeks before your money will go back up. You can appeal your
grant going down with this
Form Letter.
To learn more about making a formal disagreement, go to our
Appeals page.
Call Vermont Legal Aid at (800) 889-2047 for help or if you want to
check to see if the sanction is right.
My Worker Did Something I
Don't Agree With. What Can I Do?
Read more on our Appeals page.
I Want to Learn More About
Reach Up.
Do you want to learn more about Reach Up? Go to our
Reach Up Overview page.
Vermont Law Help, 2008.
This is a website about Vermont law. We give this information
as a public service. It is not legal advice. We are not acting as your
lawyer.
Always consult a lawyer, if you can, before taking legal action.
