§ 1102. Purpose

(a) The purpose of the Reach Up program is:

(1) to assist families, recognizing individual and unique characteristics, to obtain the opportunities and skills necessary for self-sufficiency;

(2) to encourage economic independence by removing barriers and disincentives to work and providing positive incentives to work;

(3) to support parental nurturing;

(4) to support parental responsibility and positive parental role models, both custodial and noncustodial;

(5) to measure the success of the system by what is best for children;

(6) to improve the well-being of children by providing for their immediate basic needs, including food, housing, and clothing;

(7) to respect the dignity of individuals and families receiving assistance by providing employment, education, and other services through social service delivery systems available to all Vermont residents and by encouraging the private sector to integrate families receiving assistance into the mainstream of the employment market;

(8) to recognize the challenges facing many families receiving assistance by minimizing structural financial disincentives to increased earnings and the abrupt termination of assistance before parents are fully integrated into the employment market;

(9) to conserve State public financial resources by operating the system of aid in a manner that is efficient and avoids federal fiscal sanctions; and

(10) to conform to the federal TANF law.

(b) The critical elements of developing a program that assists families to attain self-sufficiency are:

(1) the opportunity and obligation to work for those parents who are physically, emotionally, and otherwise able to do so;

(2) cooperative and realistic goal-setting, coupled with individualized case management that addresses each individual's situation and barriers to self-sufficiency;

(3) rigorous child support collection from noncustodial parents; and

(4) a full range of supportive modalities, including appropriate training, education, financial assistance, child care, counseling, and transportation. (Added 1993, No. 106 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. Jan. 12, 1994; amended 1999, No. 147 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 2001; 2007, No. 30, § 3, eff. May 17, 2007.)