H-1756.1 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 2074
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 53rd Legislature 1993 Regular Session
By Representatives Wineberry and J. Kohl
Read first time 02/26/93. Referred to Committee on Trade, Economic Development & Housing.
AN ACT Relating to youth employment placement and services; adding new sections to chapter 50.40 RCW; creating a new section; and making an appropriation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the escalating incidence of gang violence, drug trafficking, chronic unemployment, and nongang-related criminal activity by persons under twenty-one years of age affects the public health, safety, and welfare of Washington state. Present career opportunities for at-risk youth exist primarily in service and retail businesses, which typically are low wage and offer limited incentives to at-risk youth who are attracted to the money available through the street culture lifestyle. The drug-related activity and perceived potential for high income is viewed by many at-risk youth as an equalizer to social inequities that are real or imagined. The purpose of this act is to establish a pilot project to develop innovative ways to steer at-risks toward rewarding and secure career opportunities.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 50.40 RCW to read as follows:
(1) The career initiative pilot project is established in the employment security department. The project shall provide career opportunities within present state agencies to at-risk youth who have received a high school diploma or GED. The department shall contract with a local nonprofit corporation in the Puget Sound region to identify and select trainees to participate in the project, and shall provide support services to ensure the applicants meet job-preparedness standards. The department shall identify trainee positions at state agencies for the applicants to fill as provided in section 3 of this act. The trainees shall be trained and employed at the worksite of the employing state agency. The trainee is subject to all performance standards regularly in effect for that position. The nonprofit corporation shall provide case managers to work with the trainees, providing ongoing career counseling and support services. The period of employment under this pilot program is twelve months, unless employment is terminated by the state agency for cause or the trainee resigns. The agency shall continue to employ the trainee as a regular employee apart from the pilot program after the trainee has successfully competed the twelve months required under the pilot project and upon completing the standard probationary period.
(2) The department shall report to the senate trade, technology and economic development committee and the house of representatives trade, economic development and housing committee regarding this program each December.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 50.40 RCW to read as follows:
The following state agencies, as coordinated by the employment security department, shall identify forty-eight trainee positions, twenty-four per year, for the pilot project established in section 2 of this act:
(1) Department of agriculture;
(2) Department of fisheries;
(3) Department of ecology;
(4) Department of corrections;
(5) Department of licensing;
(6) Department of social and health services;
(7) Department of transportation;
(8) Washington state convention and trade center; and
(9) Washington state patrol.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The sum of two hundred ninety-two thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1995, from the general fund to the employment security department for the purposes of this act.
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