November 14, 2006, Introduced by Senator HARDIMAN and referred to the Committee on Families and Human Services.
A bill to amend 1939 PA 280, entitled
"The social welfare act,"
by amending section 57f (MCL 400.57f), as amended by 2001 PA 280,
and by adding sections 57s, 57t, 57u, and 57v.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec.
57f. (1) The family independence agency department
shall
enter into an agreement with the department of career
development
labor and economic growth in order to facilitate the
administration
of work first. The family independence agency shall
make
information on the program available to the legislature. The
department shall track all family independence program recipients
by social security number so that tracking information is traceable
for a recipient's lifetime. Tracking information shall be limited
to information regarding the receipt of public assistance or
participation in work first programs or both. The department of
labor and economic growth shall track work first participants by
social security number and the recipient's job status for a period
of not less than 1 year after job placement. This information shall
be shared between the department and the department of labor and
economic growth. Information tracked under this subsection shall be
provided to the appropriations committees during the annual budget
review. At the time the department or the department of labor and
economic growth opens a case on a recipient, the department and the
department of labor and economic growth shall use the same case
number previously used for the recipient and shall not assign a new
case number if the recipient has previously received assistance or
participated in work first. The department and the department of
labor and economic growth shall develop individual program goals
and measurable performance indicators to be reviewed for success or
failure annually. The annual success or failure rates shall be
reported to the legislature. One individual program goal developed
under this subsection shall be a state goal for the percentage of
the family independence program caseload involved in employment
activities to be developed jointly by the department and the
department of labor and economic growth. The state goal for the
percentage of the family independence program caseload involved in
employment activities developed under this subsection shall not be
less than 50% of the family independence program caseload. If the
family independence program caseload percentage is below the goal
for more than 2 consecutive quarters, the department shall develop
a plan for increasing the family independence program caseload
percentage involved in employment-related activities. The
department shall deliver the plan during the following annual
budget presentations to the appropriations subcommittees on the
department of human services in the senate and house.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3), every
member of a family independence assistance group shall be referred
to and shall participate in work first. The particular activities
in which the recipient is required or authorized to participate,
the number of hours of work required, and other details of work
first
shall be developed by the department of
career development
labor
and economic growth and the family
independence agency
department
and shall be set forth in the
recipient's social
contract
family self-sufficiency plan. If a recipient has
cooperated with work first, the recipient may enroll in a program
approved by the local workforce development board. Any and all
training
or education with the exception of
high school completion
an English as a second language program, a fast track literacy
program, high school completion, and GED preparation must be
occupationally relevant and in demand in the labor market as
determined
by the local workforce development board. and may be no
more
than 2 years in duration. Participants must make satisfactory
progress
while in training or education. If
a recipient does not
have a high school diploma or GED or has reading proficiency at the
eighth grade level or lower, the recipient must enroll in 1 or more
of the following, if the service is available:
(a) An English as a second language program.
(b) A fast track literacy program.
(c) A high school completion course.
(d) A GED preparation course.
(3) The following individuals are exempt from participation in
work first:
(a) A child under the age of 16.
(b) A child aged 16 or older, or a minor parent, who is
attending elementary or secondary school full-time.
(c)
The parent of a child under the age of 3 months. The
family
independence agency may department
shall require a parent
exempted from participation in work first under this subdivision to
participate
in family services, including , but not limited to,
instruction
in parenting, nutrition, and child development
instruction or counseling in 1 or more of the following beginning 6
weeks after the birth of his or her child until the child is 3
months
old as fulfillment of that parent's
social contract family
self-sufficiency
plan obligation under section 57e(1)(c): .
(i) Marriage.
(ii) Fatherhood.
(iii) Parenting.
(iv) Abstinence-based family planning.
(v) Child development.
(vi) Nutrition.
(d) An individual aged 65 or older.
(e) A recipient of supplemental security income. An individual
who is applying for supplemental security income is not
automatically exempt from participation in work first during the
application process for supplemental security income.
(f) An individual who meets 1 or more of the following
criteria to the extent that the individual, based on written
medical
evidence verification
provided by a physician,
psychiatrist,
or psychologist and an assessment of
need by the
family
independence agency department, is severely restricted in
his or her ability to participate in employment or training
activities:
(i) A recipient of social security disability, or medical
assistance due to disability or blindness.
(ii) An individual suffering from a physical or mental
impairment that meets federal supplemental security income
disability standards, except that no minimum duration is required.
(iii) The spouse of an individual described in subparagraph (i)
or (ii) who is the full-time caregiver of that individual.
(iv) A parent or caretaker of a child who is suffering from a
physical or mental impairment that meets the federal supplemental
security income disability standards, except that no minimum
duration is required.
(4) In addition to those individuals exempt under subsection
(3), the family independence agency may grant a temporary exemption
from participation in work first, not to exceed 90 days, to an
individual who is suffering from a documented short-term mental or
physical illness, limitation, or disability that severely restricts
his or her ability to participate in employment or training
activities as documented in writing by a physician, psychiatrist,
or
psychologist. An individual with a documented
mental or
physical illness, limitation, or disability as described in this
section that does not severely restrict his or her ability to
participate in employment or training activities shall be required
to participate in work first at a medically permissible level.
(5) The work first caseworker, in his or her discretion, may
authorize 1 of the following:
(a) A recipient's request to enroll in education or training
and count up to 20 hours per week of that education or training
toward his or her 40-hour-per-week work requirement. The 20 hours
per week of education and training allowed in this subsection shall
be counted toward the 40-hour-per-week work requirement for not
longer than a cumulative total of 24 months in the recipient's
lifetime. The education or training course requirements and
responsibilities, including, but not limited to, attendance,
performance, and grade point average, shall be outlined in the
recipient's family self-sufficiency plan's expectations section.
(b) A recipient's exemption from work first work requirements
for a maximum of 6 months in the client's lifetime if the recipient
is able to demonstrate that there is a current demand for workers
with the education or training the recipient is seeking. The
education or training course requirements and responsibilities,
including, but not limited to, attendance, performance, and grade
point average, shall be outlined in the recipient's family self-
sufficiency plan's expectations section.
(6) A recipient under subsection (5)(b) or a recipient
participating in education or training to meet the 40-hour-per-week
work requirement shall meet with his or her work first caseworker
not less than 1 time every 45 days.
(7) If the recipient is not in compliance with or meeting the
expectations outlined in his or her family self-sufficiency plan
under subsection (5) or (6), the recipient is prohibited from using
education or training toward his or her 40-hour-per-week work
requirement and is ineligible for an exemption offered under
subsection (5)(b).
(8) (5)
An individual is not disabled for purposes of this
section if substance abuse is a contributing factor material to the
determination of disability.
Sec. 57s. If a recipient is unable to find employment or be
placed by the work first program into a job and therefore is not
fulfilling his or her obligation to participate in work first, that
recipient shall participate in either relevant occupational work as
determined appropriate by the work first caseworker or in training
or counseling for not less than 10 hours per week in any of the
following areas considered relevant and appropriate by the work
first caseworker: marriage, fatherhood, parenting, self-
improvement, substance abuse, or volunteer activities.
Sec. 57t. The department of labor and economic growth shall
provide a written report to the house and senate appropriations
subcommittee on the department not later than 90 days after the
amendatory act that added this section takes effect and annually
thereafter by March 31 of each year that includes, at a minimum,
all of the following:
(a) The number and percentage of work first participants
achieving personal development plan goals.
(b) The number and percentage of work first participants
placed in employment.
(c) The number and percentage of work first participants
placed in employment who remain employed for a period of 180 days
and 365 days or more.
(d) The number and percentage of work first participants whose
cases are closed due to earnings.
(e) The number and percentage of work first participants
enrolled in a 2-year or 4-year educational program with information
on the degree programs enrolled in and the local work first
program's participants' graduation rate.
(f) The number and percentage of work first participants
participating in a fast track literacy program and the local work
first program's participants' success rate in this program.
(g) The number and percentage of work first participants
participating in a high school completion program or a general
education development (GED) program and the local work first
program's participants' graduation rate.
Sec. 57u. In granting contracts to work first providers, the
department of labor and economic growth may use incentives in
contracts or may require performance-based measures in payment of
contracts.
Sec. 57v. The department shall submit a written report not
later than 90 days after the amendatory act that added this section
takes effect and annually thereafter by March 31 of each year to
the legislature, the house and senate fiscal agencies, the
appropriate house and senate standing committees that handle family
and children's issues, and the house and senate appropriations
subcommittees for the department budget, that contains all of the
following information by district office for that time period:
(a) The number of sanctions imposed for first instances of
noncompliance and reapplications made.
(b) The number of sanctions imposed for second instances of
noncompliance and reapplications made.
(c) The number of sanctions imposed for third instances of
noncompliance.
(d) The number of family independence program cases reopened.
(e) The number of family independence program cases
permanently closed.