Medical, Psychological Assessments and Social Security Advocacy Services

The Vendor is required to provide a single contractor to conduct medical and psychological assessments to determine whether applicants and recipients for General Assistance (GA) and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) financial assistance programs are unable to engage in any substantial gainful employment for at least thirty (30) hours per week.
- Responsible for determining whether an individual between sixteen (16) and sixty-five (65) years of age has a physical or psychiatric disability such that the individual is unable to engage in full-time employment of thirty (30) or more hours per week (30+) at a job for which the individual is equipped by education, training or experience, for more than thirty (30) days.
- Responsible for recommending a treatment plan, identifying the specific capabilities of the individual, determining the expected disability end date, require proof of treatment compliance and re-evaluating the disability prior to the date the disability is expected to end.
- If employment is recommended, the Board shall specify the type of employment and the maximum number of hours that the individual can be expected to work per week.
- A disposition is required to be completed within forty-five (45) days from the date a financial assistance application is received by the Department.
- In some cases, re-applicants are required to provide proof of treatment compliance when reapplying within three (3) months of the prior closure. An appointment will not be scheduled for these re-applicants until proof of treatment compliance is completed. The individual is given ten (10) calendar days to provide this proof which will be forwarded to the Board for certification of compliance. Only when certified compliant will an appointment for an initial assessment be scheduled? For those determined not compliant a sanction will be recommended.
- Must have sufficient licensed medical evaluators to meet the volume of applicants who require an initial medical assessment and recipients who require a reevaluation.
- A medical Board shall be established and maintained to review determinations of disability, recommend sanctions due to a failure to comply with treatment and appear at Administrative Appeal hearings when benefits are denied or closed as a result of a determination made by the Board.