DSS partners with employers to hire TANF clients through a state-contracted temporary agency and to subsidize their wages for a specified time. To participate in the program, employers must have the capacity to hire. The goal is that the employer partner will hire the TANF client after the subsidized period.

Details of the subsidized-wage program:

Employer Pay Rate - up to $10.99, Subsidized Employment Time Frame - Up to 4 Weeks, Weekly Hours 30

Employer Pay Rate - up to $12.99, Subsidized Employment Time Frame - Up to 8 Weeks, Weekly Hours 30

Employer Pay Rate - up to $13.00 and over, Subsidized Employment Time Frame - Up to 12 Weeks, Weekly Hours 30

Other elements of the program include:

Job training: DSS contracts with employment-and-training vendors to prepare clients to enter or re-enter the workforce. 

Transportation: Under certain agreements, DSS will transport hired workers to and from job sites for an agreed-upon period.

Support services: DSS provides support services for hired workers for as long as needed. This includes regular contact with workers and employers to assess attendance, performance, behavior and other workplace issues and to identify and address barriers to successful employment.

Employer partners: We work with more than 30 employers who have agreed to hire our clients. As of October 2019, more than 100 clients are employed with about a dozen employers. Among our employer partners are UPS, Pepsi, Piedmont Airlines, Goodwill, and Dot Foods.