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Expected to Work/Barriers to Full Employment Policy & Procedures

Published Date: January 01, 2024
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04 Special Groups

High School Incentive (HSI) Benefit

AUTHORITY

Income and Employment Supports Act, Schedule, section 4(c)
Income Support, Training and Health Benefits Regulation, section 25

INTENT

To assist low-income families financially with the cost of a new baby in the family and to encourage the youth who may have been at risk of leaving school early, to complete their education and remain with their family for emotional and social support.

To address the inequity that exists if the young parent, attending a program under the Education Act (regular school system) full-time, were to reside independently and receive assistance under the Student Financial Assistance Act (SFAA) as opposed to remaining as a dependant on their parents Expected to Work (ETW)/Barriers to Employment (BFE) Income Support (IS) file.

POLICY

The High School Incentive (HSI) benefit provides a monthly benefit to households with 16-19 year old parents, attending the regular school system (under the Education Act) on a full-time basis, who reside with their parents and are included as a dependant on their parent’s IS file.

If the 18-19 year old parent chooses to be treated as an independent while living at home with their parents, they can apply for the Foundational Learning Assistance (FLA) program and be excluded from the Income Support household unit.

To be eligible for this benefit:

  • The 16-19 year old parent must be attending the regular school system (kindergarten to grade 12) full-time or planning to attend full-time after a scheduled school break, and
  • The youth and their child (ren) must both be dependants on the IS file, and
  • The 16-19 year old parent must be the legal guardian of the child. Families where the grandparent is the legal guardian of the grandchild and families where the teenage parent is under 16 are not eligible for this benefit.

Families continue to receive the HSI for the months of July and August if the 16-19 year old parent plans to attend the regular school system after the school break. If the youth does not attend school in September, no debt is calculated for July and August as the youth had intended to return to school. A debt is only calculated for those academic months the benefit was issued and the youth did not attend school.

Substantiation

  • Verbal statement or worker knowledge of client situation, or
  • If there is concern about where the dependent is actually attending school, a letter from the school where the 16-19 year old is in attendance.
  • 18 and 19 year old’s remaining on their parent’s file while attending school must sign Schedule C Declaration of 18 and 19 Year Old Dependent.


Rates
The HSI is the difference between the total benefits issued for the youth and their child (ren) when included as dependants on the IS ETW/BFE file, and what the family would receive (in total) if FLA student were issued for the 16-19 year old parent with their child(ren) and a separate ETW/BFE file remained open for the student’s parent(s).

The worker manually calculates the HSI benefit using the following formula:

  1. Determine what the 16-19 year old parent and their child(ren) would be eligible for as an independent FLA student.
  2. Determine what the Household (grandparent(s) would receive on IS as an ETW/BFE if the 16-19 year old parent and their children were removed from the IS file (using the appropriate ETW/BFE rates).
  3. Determine what the Household would receive on IS as an ETW/BFE if the 16-19 year old and their children remained on the IS file.
  4. Calculate the HSI by adding A and B together, and subtracting C from the sum of A and B.

Example 1 (using 2024 IS program benefit rates) 
A single parent in the BFE household type, residing in Social Housing with 4 dependants. Two of the dependants are under 12. The other two dependants include the 16 year old and her baby.

  1. The single parent as a FLA student with 1 dependant would be eligible for $1,774.
  2. The BFE grandparent in social housing with 2 dependants would be eligible for $1,213.
  3. The BFE grandparent in social housing with 4 dependants would be eligible for $1,563.
  4. HSI = ($1,774 + $1,213) - $1,563 = $1,424


Example 2 (using 2024 IS program benefit rates)

A couple in the ETW household type, residing in private housing with 3 dependants. The three dependants include a 17 year old and her two children.

  1. The single parent as a FLA student with 2 dependants would be eligible for $1,882.
  2. The ETW grandparents in private housing with 0 dependants would be eligible for $1,236.
  3. The ETW grandparents in private housing with 3 dependants would be eligible for $1,868.
  4. HSI = ($1,882 + $1,236) - $1,868 = $1,250

Need Code
1420 High School Incentive