H. B. 4012


(By Delegates Stalnaker and Williams)
[Introduced January 10, 1996; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization.]




A BILL to amend chapter nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated article three-a, relating to public welfare; establishing workfare program for persons receiving welfare assistance benefits; stating purpose; requiring department of health and human resources to issue forms; requiring counties to place persons on public works projects; requiring work to equal benefits in order to receive benefits; providing for rules; and providing that persons not able to work will continue to receive benefits.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated article three-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3A. WORKFARE.
§9-3A-1. Workfare program established.
There is hereby established the West Virginia workfare program.
§9-3A-2. Legislative purpose.
The Legislature, in enacting this program, recognizes that it is necessary for the general well-being of the state that persons who are receiving public assistance maintain active job skills until they are able to return to work.
§9-3A-3. Certification of ability to work; forms to be provided

by department of health and human resources and returned to department.

Any person who is receiving any form of welfare assistance as defined by section two, article one of this chapter, shall within sixty days from the effective date of this article obtain a certificate from a physician or other licensed health care practitioner stating whether or not that person is physically able to engage in work requiring physical exertion or, if not, whether able to engage in work requiring a lesser degree of physical exertion and to what extent. Certifications shall be made on forms to be provided by the department of health and human resources and returned to the department within ten days after the physician or other practitioner has made the determination required.
§9-3A-4. County commissions to place persons able to work on

public works projects.

The department of health and human resources shall forward to each county commission a list of those persons who have been certified under this article as able to work with a statement of the type of job they have been certified to do.
Each person certified as able to work shall be placed by the county commission on any public works project within the county according to the type of work the person has been certified to do.
§9-3A-5. Work must equal welfare benefits; absences.
In order to receive welfare assistance benefits under this article, each person placed in a job under the workfare program must work the number of hours per week it would take to equal that person's welfare assistance benefits as if the person were being paid at a rate of four dollars twenty-five cents an hour.
Any person who has three unexcused absences in any one workweek shall receive welfare assistance benefits equal to the number of hours worked in that week at the applicable rate.
§9-3A-6. Rules.
The department of health and human resources is empowered, in accordance with law, to issue any rules necessary for the implementation of this program.
§9-3A-7. Exemptions.
A person receiving public assistance benefits shall continue to be eligible to such benefits as that person is entitled in any month notwithstanding the provisions of this article if the person:
(a) Is under age sixteen; or
(b) Attends, full time, an elementary, secondary, vocational or technical school (except that such school attendance as a required jobs opportunity and basic skill training program hereafter referred to as "JOBS" activity for a child who loses this exemption will not requalify the child for the exemption); or
(c) Is ill, when determined by the bureau for children and families on the basis of medical evidence or another sound basis that the illness or injury is serious enough to temporarily prevent entry into employment or training; or
(d) Is incapacitated, when verified by the bureau for children and families that a physical or mental impairment, determined by a physician or licensed or certified psychologist, by itself or in conjunction with age, prevents the individual from engaging in employment or training under JOBS; or
(e) Is sixty years of age or older; or
(f) Resides in a political subdivision of the state where the JOBS program is available, but in a location which is so remote for a JOBS program or activity that effective participation is precluded. The individual shall be considered remote if a round trip of more than two hours by reasonable public or private transportation, exclusive of time necessary to transport children to and from a child care facility, would be required for a normal work or training day. However, if normal round trip commuting time in the area is more than two hours, then the round trip commuting time shall not exceed the generally accepted community standards; or
(g) Is needed in the home because another member of the household requires the individual's presence due to illness or incapacity as determined by a physician or a licensed or certified psychologist, and no other appropriate member of the household is available to provide the needed care; or
(h) Is working thirty or more hours a week. The bureau for children and families may establish minimum standards in its JOBS plan for work that qualifies an individual for this exemption; or
(i) Is pregnant, and it has been medically verified that the child is expected to be born in the month in which participation would be required or within the following six-month period; or
(j) (1) Is the parent or other relative of a child under three years of age (or an age less than three but not less than one) who is personally providing care for the child; or
(2) Is the parent or other relative personally providing care for a child under six years of age, unless the bureau for children and families assures that child care will be guaranteed and that participation in the program by the parent or relative will not be required for more than twenty hours per week; or
(k) Is a full-time volunteer serving under the volunteers in service to America (VISTA) program.
Only one parent or other relative in a case may be exempt under subdivision (j), paragraph (1) or (2) of this section. In the case of a family member eligible for aid to families with dependent children (AFDC) by reason of the unemployment of the parent who is the principal earner, only one parent may be exempt under subdivision (j), paragraph (1) or (2) of this section. The bureau for children and families may:
(1) Limit the exemptions in subdivision (j), paragraph (1) or (2) of this section to the parent who is not the principal earner.
(2) Make the exemptions in subdivision (j), paragraph (1) or (2) of this section applicable to both parents and require their participation in the program if child care is guaranteed.
The bureau for children and families shall reevaluate any exemption at such time as the condition is expected to terminate but no less frequently than at each redetermination of AFDC eligibility. The bureau for children and families shall promptly notify the recipient and any appropriate service providers of any change in the recipient's exemption status.




NOTE: This bill would establish the West Virginia Workfare Program in which welfare assistance recipients would be required to be certified as able to work and placed by counties on public projects in order to receive benefits.

This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.