(a) States and local resettlement agencies must develop a public/private RCA plan which describes how the State and local resettlement agencies will administer and provide refugee cash assistance to eligible refugees. The plan must describe the agreed-upon public/private RCA program including:

(1) The proposed income standard to be used to determine RCA eligibility;

(2) The proposed payment levels to be used to provide cash assistance to eligible refugees;

(3) Assurance that the payment levels established are not lower than the comparable State TANF amounts;

(4) A detailed description of how benefit payments will be structured, including a description of employment incentives and/or income disregards to be used, if any, as well as methods of payment to be used, such as direct cash or vendor payments;

(5) A description of how all RCA eligible refugees residing in the State will have reasonable access to cash assistance and services;

(6) A description of the procedures to be used to ensure appropriate protections and due process for refugees, such as the correction of underpayments, notice of adverse action and the right to mediation, a pre-dermination hearing, and an appeal to an independent entity;

(7) A description of proposed exemptions from participation in employability services;

(8) A description of the employment and self-sufficiency services to be provided to RCA recipients by—

(i) Local resettlement agencies under contract or grant, and/or

(ii) Other refugee services providers;

(9) Procedures for providing RCA to eligible secondary migrants who move to the State, including secondary migrants who were sponsored by a local resettlement agency that does not have a presence in the receiving State;

(10) If applicable, provisions for providing assistance to refugees resettling in the State who are sponsored by a local resettlement agency in a bordering State which does not have an office in the State of resettlement;

(11) A description of the procedures to be used to safeguard the disclosure of information regarding refugee clients;

(12) Letters of agreement from the national voluntary resettlement agencies that indicate support for the proposed public/private RCA program and indicate that refugee placements in the State will continue under the public/private RCA program;

(13) A breakdown of the proposed program and administrative costs of both the cash assistance and service components of the public/private RCA program, including any per capita caps on administrative costs only if a State proposes to use such caps; and

(14) The proposed implementation date for the State's public/private RCA program;

(b) In cases where the State, after consultation with the local resettlement agencies in the State, determines that a public/private RCA program is not feasible statewide and proposes to implement a public/private RCA program in only a portion of the State and to operate a publicly-administered RCA program in the balance of the State, the State's RCA plan must include the information required in § 400.65(b).

(c) The plan must be signed by the Governor or his or her designee.

(d) The Director of ORR will follow the procedures in § 400.8 for the approval of public/private RCA plans. An approved public/private RCA plan will be incorporated into the refugee program State Plan.

(e) Any amendments to the public/private RCA plan must be developed in consultation with the local resettlement agencies and must be submitted to ORR in accordance with § 400.8. The Director of ORR will follow the procedures in § 400.8 for approval of amendments to public/private RCA plans.