H. B. 4146
(By Delegates Fleischauer, Compton, Marshall,
Houston, Leggett, Linch and Manuel)
[Introduced January 25, 2000; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections two, three and seven, article
nine, chapter nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating to the West
Virginia works program; including participation in an approved
secondary degree program or programs as being part of "work
activities"; adding definition of "education"; and work
requirements.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections two, three and seven, article nine, chapter nine
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9. WEST VIRGINIA WORKS PROGRAM.
§9-9-2. Legislative findings; purpose.
(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that:
(1) The entitlement of any person to receive federal-state cash assistance is hereby discontinued;
(2) At-risk families are capable of becoming self-supporting;
(3) A reformed assistance program should both expect and
assist a parent and caretaker-relatives in at-risk families to
support their dependent children and children for which they are
caretakers;
(4) Every parent or caretaker-relative can exhibit responsible
patterns of behavior so as to be a positive role model;
(5) Every parent or caretaker-relative who receives cash
assistance has a responsibility to participate in an activity to
help them prepare for, obtain and maintain gainful employment
including participation in an approved postsecondary degree
program, or other approved educational program, if they demonstrate
adequate progress toward completion of the program;
(6) For a parent or caretaker-relative who receives cash
assistance and for whom full-time work is not feasible,
participation in some activity is expected to further themselves,
their family or their community;
(7) The state should promote the value of work and the
capabilities of individuals;
(8) Job development efforts should enhance the employment
opportunities of participants;
(9) An effective public education system is the key to
long-term self-support; and
(10) A reformed assistance program should be structured to
achieve a clear set of outcomes; deliver services in an expedient,
effective and efficient manner; and maximize community support for
participants. After five years, there is expected to be a decrease
in the following: (i) The number of persons receiving public
assistance; and (ii) the amount of time an individual remains on
public assistance; and
(11) The state should encourage education as a key component
in furthering self-sufficiency, family support, and a skilled
workforce.
(b) The goals of the program are to achieve more efficient and
effective use of public assistance funds; reduce dependency on
public programs by promoting self-sufficiency; and structure the
assistance programs to emphasize employment and personal
responsibility. The program is to be evaluated on the increase in
employment rates in the program areas; the completion of
educational and training programs; the increased compliance in
preventive health activities, including immunizations; and a
decrease in the case-load of division of personnel.
§9-9-3. Definitions.
In addition to the rules for the construction of statutes in
section ten, article two, chapter two of this code and the words
and terms defined in section two, article one of this chapter,
unless a different meaning appears from the context:
(a) "At-risk family" means a group of West Virginians living
in the same household, living below the federally designated
poverty level, lacking the resources to become self-supporting, and
consisting of a dependent minor child or children living with a
parent, stepparent or caretaker-relative; an "at-risk family" may
include an unmarried minor parent and his or her dependent child or
children who live in an adult supervised setting;
(b) "Beneficiary" or "participant" means any parent or
caretaker-relative in an at-risk family who receives cash
assistance for himself or herself and family members;
(c) "Cash assistance" means temporary assistance for needy
families or diversionary assistance;
(d) "Challenge" means any fact, circumstance or situation that
prevents a person from becoming self-sufficient or from seeking,
obtaining or maintaining employment of any kind, including physical
or mental disabilities, lack of education, testing, training,
counseling, child care arrangements, transportation, medical
treatment or substance abuse treatment;
(e) "Community or personal development" means activities
designed or intended to eliminate challenges to participation in
self-sufficiency activities. These activities are to provide
community benefit and enhance personal responsibility, including,
but not limited to, classes or counseling for learning life skills
or parenting, dependent care, job readiness, volunteer work, participation in sheltered workshops or substance abuse treatment;
(f) "Department" means the state department of health and
human resources;
(g) "Division" means the division of human services;
(h) "Education" means any hours spent regularly attending and
making adequate progress in any approved job training, GED,
literacy, ABE, or equivalent program including any appropriate
remedial program, or postsecondary program. These activities shall
be counted towards satisfaction of the work requirement;
(h) (i) "Income" means money received by any member of an
at-risk family which can be used at the discretion of the household
to meet its basic needs: Provided, That income shall not include
earnings of minor children in school, payments received from earned
income tax credit or tax refunds;
(i) (j) "Personal responsibility contract" means a written
agreement entered into by the division and a beneficiary which
establishes the responsibilities and obligations of the
beneficiary;
(j) (k) "Secretary" means the secretary of the state
department of health and human resources;
(k) (l) "Subsidized employment" means employment with earnings
provided by an employer who receives a subsidy from the division
for the creation and maintenance of the employment position;
(l) (m) "Support services" means, but is not limited to, the following services: Child care; medicaid; transportation
assistance; information and referral; resource development services
which is assisting families to receive child support enforcement
and supplemental social security income; family support services
which is parenting, budgeting and family planning; relocation
assistance; and mentoring services;
(m) (n) "Unsubsidized employment" means employment with
earnings provided by an employer who does not receive a subsidy
from the division for the creation and maintenance of the
employment position;
(n) (o) "Work" means unsubsidized employment, subsidized
employment, work experience or community or personal development;
and
(o) (p) "Work experience" means unpaid structured work
activities that are provided in an environment where performance
expectations are similar to those existing in unsubsidized
employment and which provide training in occupational areas that
can realistically be expected to lead to unsubsidized employment.
§9-9-7. Work requirements.
Unless otherwise exempted by the provisions of section eight
of this article, the West Virginia works program shall require that
anyone who possesses a high school diploma, or its equivalent, or
anyone who is of the age of twenty years or more, to work or attend
an educational or training program for a minimum of twenty hours per week to receive any form of cash assistance. Work activities
include approved educational programs as defined in section three
of this article. In accordance with federal law or regulation, the
work, education and training requirements of this section are
waived for any qualifying participant with a child under six years
of age if the participant is unable to obtain appropriate and
available child care services. In order for any participant to
receive cash assistance, he or she shall enter into personal
responsibility contracts pursuant to the provisions of section nine
of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require persons receiving
cash assistance under the West Virginia Works Program to
participate in postsecondary degree programs or other educational
programs. It adds a definition for "education" and provides that
work activities include approved educational programs.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.