Symptoms
The client required a workaround/alternate option for and issue in which sharepoint groups were not rendering when adding participants to a user task.
Diagnoses
While the reason the workaround was needed is still being investigated, by properly leveraging the SmartObject fields created when the parent list was appified we were able to properly assign tasks to the worklist in a way that suited the client's needs.
Resolution
By using the 'Get List Item by Title' method of the list SMO and inputting the proper title information (as described within the list) the client was able to action tasks to the appropriate users.