---
kind: "section"
citation: "45 C.F.R. § 261.20"
title: "45"
number: "261.20"
heading: "How will we hold a State accountable for achieving the work objectives of TANF?"
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/45/261.20"
---

# §261.20. How will we hold a State accountable for achieving the work objectives of TANF?

- (a) Each State must meet two separate work participation rates in FY 2006 and thereafter, one—the two-parent rate based on how well it succeeds in helping work-eligible individuals in two-parent families find work activities described at [§ 261.30](/cfr/45/261.30.md), the other—the overall rate based on how well it succeeds in finding those activities for work-eligible individuals in all the families that it serves.
- (b) Each State must submit data, as specified at [§ 265.3](/cfr/45/265.3.md) of this chapter, that allows us to measure its success in requiring work-eligible individuals to participate in work activities.
- (c) If the data show that a State met both participation rates in a fiscal year, then the percentage of historic State expenditures that it must expend under TANF, pursuant to [§ 263.1](/cfr/45/263.1.md) of this chapter, decreases from 80 percent to 75 percent for that fiscal year. This is also known as the State's TANF “maintenance-of-effort” (MOE) requirement.
- (d) If the data show that a State did not meet a minimum work participation rate for a fiscal year, a State could be subject to a financial penalty.
- (e) Before we impose a penalty, a State will have the opportunity to claim reasonable cause or enter into a corrective compliance plan, pursuant to §§ [262.5](/cfr/45/262.5.md) and [262.6](/cfr/45/262.6.md) of this chapter.

## Notes

### Source

Source: 73 FR 6822, Feb. 5, 2008, unless otherwise noted.

### Authority

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 601, 602, 607, and 609; Pub. L. 109-171.

### Source

Source: 64 FR 17884, Apr. 12, 1999, unless otherwise noted.