45 CFR § 261.12 - What is an individual responsibility plan?

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t45/s261.12"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "45 CFR § 261.12 - What is an individual responsibility plan?"
title_number: 45
title_name: "Public Welfare"
section_number: "261.12"
section_name: "What is an individual responsibility plan?"
chapter_name: "OFFICE OF FAMILY ASSISTANCE (ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS), ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES"
part_number: "261"
part_name: "ENSURING THAT RECIPIENTS WORK"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "42 U.S.C. 601, 602, 607, and 609; Pub. L. 109-171."
regulatory_source: "64 FR 17884, Apr. 12, 1999, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "261"
---


# 261.12 What is an individual responsibility plan?

An individual responsibility plan is a plan developed at State option, in consultation with the individual, on the basis of the assessment made under § 261.11. The plan:

(a) Should set an employment goal and a plan for moving immediately into private-sector employment;

(b) Should describe the obligations of the individual. These could include going to school, maintaining certain grades, keeping school-aged children in school, immunizing children, going to classes, or doing other things that will help the individual become or remain employed in the private sector;

(c) Should be designed to move the individual into whatever private-sector employment he or she is capable of handling as quickly as possible and to increase over time the responsibility and the amount of work the individual handles;

(d) Should describe the services the State will provide the individual to enable the individual to obtain and keep private sector employment, including job counseling services; and

(e) May require the individual to undergo appropriate substance abuse treatment.