3.7.2 Documenting and Reporting Participation

Revised on: March 14, 2025

The Documenting and Reporting Participation section includes:

• 3.7.2.1 What is monitoring participation?
• 3.7.2.2 What is participation and progress?
• 3.7.2.3 Who monitors participation?
• 3.7.2.4 What is Documenting participation?
• 3.7.2.5 What are Contracted service requirements?
• 3.7.2.6 What are Non-contracted service requirements?
• 3.7.2.7 Are there requirements for participants in "X" components?
• 3.7.2.8 Monitoring Participation - Policy in Practice

3.7.2.1 What is monitoring participation?

When this manual refers to "monitoring participation", it’s talking about a monitoring and reporting process that makes sure WorkFirst participants are actively doing their assigned activities. Monitoring participants in their WorkFirst activities is a key element in ensuring strengthened accountability. 

WorkFirst participants benefit from this strengthened accountability because it will help them model the type of behavior that is required by employers. Close monitoring, and learning to come in or call in to scheduled activities, will help participants build transferable skills for the workplace.

As WorkFirst staff monitor participation, the way we gather information might vary depending on whether the participant is engaged in activities with contractors or non-contracted service providers.

Contracted service providers:

• Contractors must document participation hours for participants in unpaid core or non-core activities in eJAS, see more information in WFHB 3.7.2.5.

Non-contracted service providers:

• Most participants in non-contracted activities must have the monthly WorkFirst Participation Verification form turned into their Case Manager each month and the Case Manager enters the hours into eJAS, see more information in WFHB 3.7.2.6.

3.7.2.2 What is participation and progress?

Tracking participation and progress  includes verifying unpaid core and non-core WorkFirst activities but it’s important to know if the participant is participating fully and making satisfactory progress. Depending on the activity and the provider, there are different ways that participation and progress can be verified and captured: :

• Contractors use eJAS to report progress in basic education, high school and GED completion. They also use eJAS to report actual hours of participation for unpaid core and non-core activities.
• For non-contracted service providers, the participant is required to provide actual hours verification and confirm they are making progress for all unpaid core and non-core activities. One way a participant can provide actual hours and progress is by giving the non-contracted service provider the  WorkFirst Participation Verification Form.  The verification should include the actual hours the participant spent doing the activities (but would not include hours missed due to holidays or absences).
• Any provider may also communicate issues in other ways (such as meetings, e-messaging or phone calls).

Satisfactory participation means the participant is actively involved in doing the required hours and activities. Satisfactory progress means that the participant is making gains, learning new skills, and becoming more employable.

• For reports of unsatisfactory participation, the participant may be unable or unwilling to participate. The Case Manager must determine if there's good cause for non-participation.
• For reports of unsatisfactory progress, the Case Manager determines what the participant needs to do to meet the activity requirements or whether another activity would be more appropriate.

Case Managers also access eJAS ad-hoc, the Client Accountability Report (CAR) and the Caseload Management Report (CLMR) each day to track whether a participant has had an unexcused absence or has been referred back via eJAS.

3.7.2.3 Who monitors participation?

Case Managers monitor participation on a regular and consistent basis. If the participant is working with a contractor, participation and progress reporting occurs electronically through eJAS. If the participant is working with a non-contracted service provider, the participation and progress information from the eJAS WorkFirst Participation Verification form is be input into eJAS by WorkFirst staff by the 15 th of each month for the previous month's activity.

You can find information about how partners document and report participation in the Employment Services, WorkFirst Training, LEP Pathways, Supported Work and Community Jobs sections. The remainder of this section describes how to document and report participation in contracted and non-contracted services.

3.7.2.4 What is Documenting Participation?

To verify the specific hours of attendance in scheduled activities for each participant, documentation must be obtained.  Documentation must include excused absences and actual hours of participation for unpaid core and non-core activities. Examples of documentation include time sheets or attendance records, WorkFirst participation verification forms and notes in eJAS explaining how participation was verified.

 
Contractors must also document their approval of excused absences in eJAS notes. The eJAS note is to describe why the participant was unable to attend the scheduled activity, the date of absence and the hours absent.

The eJAS notes, time sheets, attendance records and eJAS forms become the source documents for participation reporting in eJAS. Documentation is to also be held by the provider, contractor for at least 30 months so it is available for auditing purposes.

 

3.7.2.5 What are Contracted service requirements?

The contracted service provider documents the participants' attendance in the program and reports any unexcused absences within one business day to the Case Manager via eJAS. The Case Manager starts the good cause determination process, if appropriate, when a participant exceeds the allowable limit for unexcused absences.  There are additional reporting requirements for these activities, as described in Section 3.7.1.2.

By the 10th of each month, contractors must report to the Case Manager, via eJAS, to confirm the participant's progress (when required) and participation for the previous month's unpaid core or non-core activity. Participation for community jobs, career jump, on-the-job training and work study participation is collected from ACES earnings data.

Specifically, the contractor reports:

• Actual hours of participation.
• The number of hours and instances for excused absences.
• The number of hours missed due to holidays (See List of State Holidays).
• The number of hours of unexcused absences.
• Progress reports are only required for basic education, high school or GED completion.

For excused absences, contractors and partners non-contracted service providers report regularly scheduled hours missed due to excused absences, listing the date of the absence and the number of hours missed on that date. If the participant only misses part of a day, enter actual hours and excused absence hours separately in eJAS. For example, a participant is scheduled to participate for 7 hours on the 12th, but gets an excused absence for 3 hours in the afternoon for a doctor's appointment. Enter 4 actual hours of participation and 3 excused absence hours for the 12th would be entered into eJAS.

Example: A participant is scheduled to participate for 7 hours on the 12th, but gets an excused absence for 3 hours in the afternoon for a doctor's appointment. Enter 4 actual hours of participation and 3 excused absence hours for the 12th would be entered into eJAS.

For holidays, contractors report regularly scheduled hours missed due to state holidays. Holiday hours should reflect but not exceed an average of the daily hours the participant is scheduled for an activity.

Example: A participant is scheduled to participate 5 hours per day on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Everyone is given 2 days off for the Thanksgiving holiday. When reporting participation for this participant:

• No holiday hours would be reported for Thursday.
• Only up to 5 holiday hours would be reported for the Friday (since the participant normally participates for 5 hours every Friday).

Contractors are to ask participants to make up absences if possible. Any makeup time should be reflected in the contractor's documentation and entered into eJAS under actual hours of participation.

The assigned Case Manager receives an e-message from the contractor when an participant has an unexcused absence or is referred back electronically. When this happens:

• A magenta colored flag appears on the contractor caseload screen for the participant in the corresponding column to indicate the Case Manager needs to take action on the case.
• The e-message text line auto-fills when a contractor reports an unexcused absence to the Case Manager.
• The contractor completes the text box of the e-message.
• eJAS takes the contractor to the Client Notes issue type that corresponds to the action being taken.
• The contractor must make case notes to add any relevant comments for future reference.
• The magenta flag turns to a green flag once the Case Manager has entered notes in the Sanction/SafetyNet category, to indicate action has been taken on the case.

Contractors are required to report unexcused absences immediately and participation/progress monthly. WorkFirst contractors make sure that their contractors are reporting each month, and can withhold payment if this requirement is not met.

3.7.2.6 What are Non-contracted service requirements?

WorkFirst staff may refer participants to non-contracted services, such as free basic education, doctors, or various types of services from non-profit agencies. Since these non-contracted service providers don't have eJAS access, the Case Manager must manually monitor participation for these cases. For unpaid core or non-core activities, the Case Manager must also enter documented actual hours of participation into eJAS.

A standard WorkFirst Participation Verification Form is available in eJAS for these cases. This form is the tool to be used by WorkFirst staff to document the participant's progress and participation in their WorkFirst activities. The form collects information about actual hours of participation but does not ask for information about absences. For unpaid core or non-core activities, use DMS to store the form so this documentation can be made available to state and federal auditors.

WorkFirst staff print the form from eJAS and give or mail the form to the participant. Information must be added to the participant 's IRP, stating that it is the participant's responsibility to have the service provider complete the form and return the form to the Case Manager by the 5th of the month. The Case Manager enters the WorkFirst participation information into eJAS by the 15th of each month for the previous month's activity.

The Case Manager must ensure these forms are turned in each month.

 A participant engaged in core or non-core activities with a non-contracted provider will appear on the Case Manager’s Multiple Client Monthly Participation eJAS screen.

To support and monitor participant engagement in non-countable activities, the Case Manager:

• Opens the component code for 30 days. Sets the IRP end date as the anticipated end date of the entire activity. 

Note: The IRP is not required to have the end date of the activity coincide with the date of the 30-day review, though the IRP must have the actual start and end date for the non-contracted activity to track how long the activity is supposed to last.

• Is alerted by the eJAS CLMR of when the monthly WorkFirst Participation Verification Form is due based upon the end date of the component code. The form confirms the participant is making progress 
• Updates the component code for another 30 days.

Note: Example of non-countable activities include someone working on addressing homelessness, (XH), or working with a SSIF to apply for SSI (XB).

If the participant has a medical deferment (XM) with written documentation from a medical provider that indicates the participant is unable to perform any activities or attend any appointments for a length of time greater than 30 days, the participant isn't required to provide the monthly WorkFirst Participation Verification Form to the Case Manager.

Examples:

• A participant is on bed rest for 90 days. The medical provider confirms the participant is unable to do any activity and will not have recurring medical appointments during that time frame. The Case Manager extends the appropriate X component code for 90 days and does not request the WorkFirst Participation Verification Form every 30 days.
• A participant has documentation from a licensed medical provider that they are unable to work for a period of 90 days but will be receiving physical therapy twice per week. The component code would be established for 30 days and the WorkFirst Participation Verification Form would be required every month to verify participation in physical therapy appointments.

If the WorkFirst Participation Verification Form is unclear or is missing necessary information to confirm the participation is occurring, the Case Manager contacts the non-contracted service provider to verify the information (documenting the contact's name, title, phone number and date of contact). For countable core or non-core activities, enter zero hours into eJAS if you cannot obtain actual participation hour documentation from the provider.

3.7.2.7 Are there requirements for participants in "X" components?

WorkFirst participants who are engaged in issue resolution activities are to have their participation reviewed every 30 days.

For participants in X components: 

• When a participant is receiving services from a contracted provider, the Case Manager receives the monthly report electronically via eJAS. If in a countable X activity, they appear on the Case Manager’s Multiple Client Monthly Participation eJAS screen. For these participants the "X" component code may have an end date of greater than 30 days, because the reporting occurs through eJAS.
• When the participant is receiving services from a non-contracted provider, they will also appear on the Case Manager’s Multiple Client Monthly Participation eJAS screen. These participants may have the "X" component code with an end date of greater than 30 days, because the reporting occurs through eJAS.
• When a participants receiving services from a non-contracted provider and non-countable activities, the component code may only be set for a maximum of 30 days. The end date of the component code is used as the tickler to monitor submission of the WorkFirst Participation Verification Form. 

Note: WorkFirst staff must not enter any confidential information into the WorkFirst Participation Verification Form prior to printing. Each time the form is printed, it creates an automated non-confidential note in eJAS with all of the information WorkFirst staff added to the form.  For example, don’t include the substance abuse treatment plan information or provider’s name.

3.7.2.8 Monitoring Participation - Policy in Practice

Contracted Service Providers: 

1. WorkFirst staff refer the participant to the contracted provider by:
   
   1. Entering both the component code and contractor code on the component code screen;
   2. Building an IRP that states the agreed activity, contractor or contact information, and the scheduled number of hours;
   3. Completing the eJAS referral form and transmitting the form to the contractor;
   4. Entering the presumed start and end date on both the component code screen and the contractor screen.
2. The WorkFirst contracted provider:
   
   1. Accepts or rejects the referral in eJAS;
   2. Makes an entry in Client Notes in eJAS to document first contact with the participant, this will auto fill the date of the entry in the first contact column on the contractor caseload screen,
   3. Enters the actual start date of the activity in eJAS;
   4. Reports unexcused absences in eJAS within one business day and document this in the participant's Client Notes in eJAS;
   5. Reports excused absences in eJAS and document the reason the participant was unable to attend in the participant's Client Notes in eJAS.
   6. Reports regularly scheduled hours missed due to an official state holiday.
   7. Reports the participant's actual hours of participation, absences, and progress in BE, HS or GE by the 10th of each month for the previous month's activities.
   8. Rounds participation hours up to the next ¼ (.25) hour increment.

Example: Participant reports for class one day for 6 hours and 10 minutes. The participation hours for that day would be 6.25 hours.

3. The Case Manager:
   
   1. Checks the contractor screen in eJAS on a regular basis to make sure that all reports of unexcused absences or unsatisfactory participation/progress are responded to in a timely manner.
   2. For unsatisfactory participation (including unexcused absences), starts the good cause determination,
   3. For unsatisfactory progress, determines next steps, using the case staffing process if desired. 

Excused and Unexcused Absences 

In general, upon two excused or unexcused absences, the contracted service provider sends an immediate notify via eJAS to the Case Manager.

Upon two excused or unexcused absences, contacts the participant, and the Case Manager as part of the Continuous Activity Planning (CAP) process to determine whether the activity is appropriate for the participant. Discuss next steps.

Excused Absence

Upon receipt of the immediate notification or contact from the contractor the Case Manager:

1. Keeps the current activity open.
2. Has a conversation with the participant, if possible, and the service provider to determine if the participant is in a correct activity and review next steps.
3. Updates IRP if needed.

Unexcused Absence

Upon receipt of the immediate notification or contact from ESD, the WFPS:

1. Keeps the current activity open.
2. Has a conversation with the participant, if possible, and the service provider or contractor as part of the Continuous Activity Planning (CAP) process to discuss next steps, including if it is appropriate to refer the participant back to DSHS. to determine if the participant is a correct activity and review next steps.

Upon receipt of the immediate notification or contact from the contractor, the Case Manager:

1. Keeps the current activity open.
2. Has a conversation with the participant, if possible, and the service provider or contractor as part of the Continuous Activity Planning (CAP) process to discuss next steps, including if it is appropriate to refer the participant back to DSHS to determine if the participant is a correct activity and review next steps.

If it is identified that the appropriate next step would be to refer the participant, then the component can be closed (the contractor will close the component and refer the participant back). The Case Manager:

1. Opens a PR component and ensures the activity code is closed.
2. Initiates the good cause process, following the steps laid out in WFHB Section 3.5.1. , "Entering Non-Compliance Sanction (NCS)."

eJAS Entering Excused Absences

1. On the Client Monthly Participation Screen or Multiple Client Monthly Participation Screen, enter the date range of monthly participation.
2. Click the link in the Excused Hours/Dates column.
   • This brings up a new pop-up screen "DSHS Excused Absences Reporting".
3. Click in the required date box.
4. Click on the specific calendar date to enter the date of the absence.
5. Enter the number of excused hours missed on that date in the "Excused Hours" box.
   • Users can enter excused absence hours in ¼ hour increments.
6. Click the "Close" button after entering the excused absence hours - this takes you back to the participation page.
   • Users get an alert when they click the "Close" button on the excused absences page reminding them to click the update button on the participation page to save the information.
7. Click "Update" button on the participation page to save excused dates and absences.
   • The history of excused absences is on the same "Actual Hours Transaction History" screen. To view details of the excused absences, click on the Excused Hour link from the Transaction History screen. This opens the DSHS Excused Absences Reporting page which lists date range start and end dates, the date of the excused absence(s) and the excused hours.

Non-contracted Service Providers:

1. WorkFirst staff refer the participant to the non-contracted service provider by:
   
   1. Entering the appropriate component code or referral code on the component code screen. Open the component for 30 days for not countable activities, with the end date of the component indicating when a WorkFirst Participation Verification Form is due (leverage CLMR to monitor these cases); 
   2. Creating an IRP with the actual start and end date of the service and requiring the participant to turn in the WorkFirst Participation Verification Form each month by the 5th of the following month (with exception of participants with certain medical deferments, see WFHB 3.7.2.6); 
   3. Providing the WorkFirst Participation Verification Form in eJAS – printing, and handing or mailing it to the participant.
2. By the 15th of each month, WorkFirst staff enter hours from the WorkFirst Participation Verification Form into eJAS for the previous month's activity, and:
   
   1. For core or non-core activities:
      
      1. Enters the actual hours of participation into eJAS. If this data is not made available, enter zero hours of participation into eJAS.
      2. Sends the WorkFirst Participation Verification Form to DMS.
      3. Updates the component code to match the IRP end date.
   2. Updates the component code for another 30 days if the participant is in a not countable activity, is making satisfactory progress and it is appropriate for the participant to continue in the activity; or
   3. If the participant is in an X component code for a total of 90 days, the case needs supervisory review/approval prior to granting additional time to remain in the same component.
   4. For unsatisfactory participation, starts the good cause determination process. 

   Resources

   Related WorkFirst Handbook Sections

   • 3.1 Tools - Overview
   • 1.2 Required Participation
   • 6.1 Resolving Issues
   • 4.1 Career Scope Phases and Processes

   Forms & Other Resources

   • Consent to Exchange Information for Services Coordination
   • List of State Holidays
   • Social Services Manual