2798-S

AN ACT Relating to public assistance reform; amending RCW 74.25.010, 74.25.020, and 74.12.360; adding new sections to chapter 74.12 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 74.25 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 74.20A RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.20A RCW; creating new sections; making appropriations; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that lengthy stays on welfare, the inadequate emphasis on employment by the social welfare system, and teen pregnancy are obstacles to achieving economic independence. Therefore, the legislature intends that:

(1) Income and employment assistance programs emphasize the temporary nature of welfare and set goals of responsibility, work, and independence;

(2) Employment assistance resources focus on recipients who are most at risk of a long-term stay on welfare;

(3) State institutions take an active role in preventing pregnancy in young teens; and

(4) Family planning assistance, including alternatives to abortion, be readily available to welfare recipients.

PART I. EMPHASIZING WORK AND FAMILY PLANNING IN PUBLIC ASSISTANCE

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 74.12 RCW to read as follows:

The department shall train financial services and social work staff who provide direct service to recipients of aid to families with dependent children to:

(1) Effectively communicate the transitional nature of aid to families with dependent children and the expectation that recipients will enter employment;

(2) Actively refer clients to the job opportunities and basic skills program;

(3) Provide social services needed to overcome obstacles to employability;

(4) Provide family planning information and assistance, including alternatives to abortion, which shall be conducted in consultation with the department of health;

(5) Work cooperatively with recipients in the development of the self-sufficiency plan; and

(6) Develop a friendly and efficient local office setting designed to minimize the waiting time for applicants for and recipients of public assistance, provide video and print information of value to applicants, recipients, and their children, and utilize volunteers in creative ways to provide educational and instructive services to children waiting in the local office.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 74.12 RCW to read as follows:

At time of application or reassessment under this chapter the department shall offer or contract for family planning information and assistance, including alternatives to abortion, to prospective and current recipients of aid to families with dependent children.

PART II. TEEN PREGNANCY PREVENTION

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. For the 1994-95 school year, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall administer a program that provides grants to school districts for media campaigns promoting sexual abstinence until marriage and addressing the importance of delaying sexual activity, pregnancy, and childbearing until individuals are ready to nurture and support their children. The messages shall be distributed in the school and community where produced. Grants to the school districts shall be for projects that are substantially designed and produced by students. The grants shall require a local private sector match equal to the state grant, which may include in-kind contribution of technical or other assistance from consultants or firms involved in public relations, advertising, broadcasting, and graphics or video production or other related fields. For purposes of evaluating the impact of the campaigns, applicants shall estimate student pregnancy and birth rates over the prior three to five years.

PART III. REFOCUSING JOBS

Sec. 5. RCW 74.25.010 and 1991 c 126 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

The legislature establishes as state policy the goal of economic self-sufficiency for employable recipients of public assistance, through employment, training, and education. In furtherance of this policy, the legislature intends to comply with the requirements of the federal social security act, as amended, by creating a job opportunities and basic skills training program for applicants and recipients of aid to families with dependent children. The purpose of this program is to provide recipients of aid to families with dependent children the opportunity to obtain a full range of necessary education, training, skills, and supportive services, including child care, consistent with their needs, that will help them enter or reenter gainful employment, thereby avoiding long-term welfare dependence and achieving economic self-sufficiency. The program shall be operated by the department of social and health services in conformance with federal law and consistent with the following legislative findings:

(1) The legislature finds that the well-being of children depends not only on meeting their material needs, but also on the ability of parents to become economically self-sufficient. The job opportunities and basic skills training program is specifically directed at increasing the labor force participation and household earnings of aid to families with dependent children recipients, through the removal of barriers preventing them from achieving self-sufficiency. These barriers include, but are not limited to, the lack of recent work experience, supportive services such as affordable and reliable child care, adequate transportation, appropriate counseling, and necessary job-related tools, equipment, books, clothing, and supplies, the absence of basic literacy skills, the lack of educational attainment sufficient to meet labor market demands for career employees, and the nonavailability of useful labor market assessments.

(2) The legislature also recognizes that aid to families with dependent children recipients must be acknowledged as active participants in self-sufficiency planning under the program. The legislature finds that the department of social and health services should communicate concepts of the importance of work and how performance and effort directly affect future career and educational opportunities and economic well-being, as well as personal empowerment, self-motivation, and self-esteem to program participants. The legislature further recognizes that informed choice is consistent with individual responsibility, and that parents should be given a range of options for available child care while participating in the program.

(3) The legislature finds that current work experience is one of the most important factors influencing an individual's ability to work toward financial stability and an adequate standard of living in the long term, and that work experience should be the most important component of the program.

(4) The legislature finds that education, including, but not limited to, literacy, high school equivalency, vocational, secondary, and postsecondary, is one of the most important tools an individual needs to achieve full independence, and that this should be an important component of the program.

((~~(4)~~)) (5) The legislature further finds that the objectives of this program are to assure that aid to families with dependent children recipients gain experience in the labor force and thereby enhance their long-term ability to achieve financial stability and an adequate standard of living at wages that will meet family needs.

Sec. 6. RCW 74.25.020 and 1993 c 312 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department of social and health services is authorized to contract with public and private employment and training agencies and other public service entities to provide services prescribed or allowed under the federal social security act, as amended, to carry out the purposes of the jobs training program. In contracting for job placement services, the department is encouraged to structure payments to the contractor on a performance basis. The department of social and health services has sole authority and responsibility to carry out the job opportunities and basic skills training program. No contracting entity shall have the authority to review, change, or disapprove any administrative decision, or otherwise substitute its judgment for that of the department of social and health services as to the application of policies and rules adopted by the department of social and health services. The department shall aggressively seek to maximize the availability of federal funds for the job opportunities and basic skills program by utilizing available state and other funding as match for federal funds.

(2) To the extent feasible under federal law, the department of social and health services and all entities contracting with it shall ((~~give first priority of service to individuals volunteering for program participation~~)) require nonexempt recipients who are parents under age twenty and nonexempt recipients who have received aid to families with dependent children for thirty-six of the preceding sixty months to actively participate in the job opportunities and basic skills training program. Social services shall be offered to participants in accordance with federal law. The department shall adopt appropriate sanctions to ensure compliance with the requirements and policies of this chapter.

(3) The department of social and health services shall adopt rules under chapter 34.05 RCW establishing criteria constituting circumstances of good cause for an individual failing or refusing to participate in an assigned program component, or failing or refusing to accept or retain employment. These criteria shall include, but not be limited to, the following circumstances: (a) If the individual is a parent or other relative personally providing care for a child under age ((~~six years, and the employment would require the individual to work more than twenty hours per week~~)) three; (b) if child care, or day care for an incapacitated individual living in the same home as a dependent child, is necessary for an individual to participate or continue participation in the program or accept employment, and such care is not available, and the department of social and health services fails to provide such care; (c) the employment would result in the family of the participant experiencing a net loss of cash income; or (d) circumstances that are beyond the control of the individual's household, either on a short-term or on an ongoing basis.

(4) The department of social and health services shall adopt rules under chapter 34.05 RCW as necessary to effectuate the intent and purpose of this chapter.

(5) The department of social and health services shall provide or contract for a program of community work experience for recipients of aid to families with dependent children, to the extent permitted under federal law. The program shall actively involve recipients in activities designed to promote community participation and development. The department shall establish criteria constituting circumstance of compelling cause for an individual failing or refusing to participate in the program of community work experience established in this subsection. These criteria include, but are not limited to, the following: (a) The individual is a parent or other relative providing care for a child under three years of age, and the employment would require the individual to participate more than ten hours per week; (b) child care is necessary for an individual to participate or continue participation in the program and such care is not available, and the department fails to provide such care; or (c) extenuating circumstances that are beyond the control of the individual's household, either on a short-term or on an ongoing basis.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. A new section is added to chapter 74.25 RCW to read as follows:

The department of social and health services shall seek all necessary approvals from the federal government to permit recipients of aid to families with dependent children to participate in a program of community service and community involvement through the Washington service corps.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. A new section is added to chapter 74.25 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The assessments and employability plan shall identify and primarily respond to a participant's job readiness. The job opportunities and basic skills training program components specified by the employability plan shall place a high priority on participants gaining work experience.

Participants will normally be expected to accept any job offered unless there is good cause to refuse to accept a job. Good cause shall be found if:

(a) Any of the conditions described in RCW 74.25.020(2) are met;

(b) Accepting a job would result in a participant having to discontinue an education or job training program that is part of the participant's employability plan prior to completion of such education or job training program;

(c) The earnings or wage paid by a job would not enable the participant to achieve long-term self-sufficiency, but would render the participant ineligible for income assistance benefits; or

(d) The job involves unreasonable demands or conditions, such as working without getting paid on schedule, or the job exceeds the daily or weekly hours customary to the occupation.

(2) The services specified in the employability plan will be targeted as follows:

(a) Participants under age twenty may be required to complete high school or other basic skills training;

(b) Participants who do not have recent work experience shall be required to participate in paid or unpaid work experience or activities leading directly to such experience, including job search, job readiness, and job skills training;

(c) Participants who have recent work experience and more than a high school diploma shall be required to participate in job search; and

(d) Vocational education programs shall be emphasized over postsecondary education programs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. A new section is added to chapter 74.25 RCW to read as follows:

Recipients of aid to families with dependent children who are not participating in an education or work training program may volunteer to work in a licensed child care facility. Licensed child care facilities participating in this effort shall provide care for the recipient's children and provide for the development of positive child care skills.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. A new section is added to chapter 74.25 RCW to read as follows:

The department of social and health services shall, within available funds, actively incorporate job development services into the job opportunities and basic skills program as follows:

(1) Job development services shall be based in the department's community services offices.

(2) Job developers shall be responsible for identifying existing and potential job openings, by developing relationships with existing and potential area employers.

PART IV. ELIGIBILITY AND BENEFIT PAYMENT REVISIONS

Sec. 11. RCW 74.12.360 and 1993 c 312 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) ((~~As part of the orientation and assessment conducted pursuant to RCW 74.25.020,~~)) The department shall ((~~assist the family of the recipient in determining~~)) determine, in the following order of priority, the most appropriate living situation that will best ensure the safety and well-being for each recipient of aid to families with dependent children who is receiving those benefits as a head of household and is under age eighteen. Appropriate living situations may include, but are not limited to:

(a) The parent's home;

(b) The home of ((a)) an adult relative or legal guardian;

(d) ((~~Living independently; and~~

~~(e)~~)) Payment of the recipient's grant to another as provided in RCW 74.12.250.

(2) In conducting the assessment, the department shall consider all relevant factors, including but not limited to:

(a) Whether the recipient is enrolled in and attending school;

(b) Whether the recipient is employed;

(c) The situation in the home of the recipient's parents, including but not limited to, whether there is substance abuse or domestic violence in the home and the adequacy of the dwelling; and

(d) Whether there is a history of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse of the recipient by a person living in or frequenting the recipient's parents' home.

(3) If, as a result of the assessment, the department becomes aware of a recipient's need for other services that will help the recipient complete high school or achieve economic independence, and be an effective parent, the department shall make every effort to link the recipient with the services, including parenting classes.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. A new section is added to chapter 74.12 RCW to read as follows:

The department shall pay to recipients of aid to families with dependent children who are participating in the job opportunities and basic skills training program a cash grant equal to the combined monthly aid to families with dependent children benefit and monthly food stamp benefit.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. A new section is added to chapter 74.25 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The department of social and health services shall establish a supported employment component of the job opportunities and basic skills program for recipients of aid to families with dependent children benefits who have little, if any work experience and have been receiving assistance for a period of at least thirty-six months of the preceding sixty months.

(2) The supported employment component shall:

(a) Engage in aggressive job development efforts;

(b) Provide recipients participating in the program with intensive case management services that address their individual and family needs;

(c) Define intensive case management services to include support to both the recipient and the recipient's employer, including support at the employer's workplace to the extent that such support is needed; and

(d) Broadly define support services to include any services needed by the recipient to achieve self-sufficiency.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. A new section is added to chapter 74.12 RCW to read as follows:

For purposes of determining the amount of monthly benefit payment to recipients of aid to families with dependent children who are subject to family size limitations or benefit reductions due to length of stay, all countable nonexempt earned income shall be subtracted from an amount equal to the payment standard.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. A new section is added to chapter 74.12 RCW to read as follows:

The revisions to the aid to families with dependent children program and job opportunities and basic skills training program shall be implemented by the department of social and health services on a state-wide basis.

PART V. CHILD SUPPORT

NEW SECTION. Sec. 16. The department of social and health services shall attempt to determine the identity of the noncustodial parent through consistent implementation of RCW 70.58.080. By December 1, 1994, the department of social and health services shall report to the fiscal committees of the legislature on the method for validating claims of good cause for refusing to establish paternity, the methods used in other states, and the fiscal impact of the current method.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 17. A new section is added to chapter 74.20A RCW to read as follows:

(1) In each case within the jurisdiction of office of support enforcement in which a child support obligation has been established, the secretary shall issue a letter, by mail, to the parent responsible for payment of the support obligation. The letter shall notify the parent that the fact and amount of the child support obligation will be reported to consumer reporting agencies, as defined in RCW 19.182.010, operating in the state of Washington.

(2) Within thirty days following the date that a notice described in subsection (1) of this section is mailed, the secretary shall report the fact and amount of the child support obligation to consumer reporting agencies, as defined in RCW 19.182.010, operating in the state of Washington. Any modification in the amount of a child support obligation for which a report has been made under this section, shall be reported to consumer reporting agencies, as defined in RCW 19.182.010, operating in the state of Washington.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 18. The Washington state institute for public policy shall undertake a study to determine the feasibility of establishing a child support assurance system in Washington state. A child support assurance system is one that provides a guarantee of a minimum child support benefit to custodial parents with a child support order, that is uniform and independent of the actual support order established for any child. The study must include, but not be limited to, consideration of the following issues:

(1) Whether child support assurance payments should be available to custodial parents, regardless of financial need, or be limited to custodial parents with income below a fixed threshold level;

(2) How the amount of the monthly child support assurance payment should be determined;

(3) Whether, or to what extent, child support assurance payments should be disregarded as income for purposes of determining eligibility for income assistance benefits;

(4) How child support assurance payments can be structured to minimize or avoid adverse effects on food stamp benefits, subsidized housing, or the earned income tax credit; and

(5) Whether additional steps should be taken to increase the number of children for whom a child support order has been issued.

The results of the study must be submitted to the governor and appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 1994.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 19. A new section is added to chapter 74.20A RCW to read as follows:

If federal funds become available to the states for the purpose of conducting child support demonstration projects, the department shall take any actions necessary to apply for the funds.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 20. The sum of fifty 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 Evergreen State College solely for the purposes of section 18 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 21. A new section is added to chapter 43.20A RCW to read as follows:

Through an interagency effort, the department shall:

(1) Produce a package of information on the federal earned income tax credit, with particular emphasis on the right of a low-income worker to obtain advance payment of an earned income tax credit; and

(2) Aggressively distribute the package throughout the state of Washington. In developing a distribution strategy, the department shall seek the input, to the maximum extent possible, of private businesses, private marketing firms, community-based organizations, and other appropriate entities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 22. The sum of four million five hundred thousand dollars of the general fund‑-state appropriation and four million five hundred thousand dollars of the general fund‑-federal appropriation are hereby appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1995, for the provisions of RCW 74.12A.010. If federal waivers authorizing fill the gap budgeting for earned income are not received by the governor by June 30, 1994, this section shall be null and void.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 23. The sum of four hundred thousand dollars of the general fund‑-state appropriation and four hundred thousand dollars of the general fund‑-federal appropriation are hereby appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1995, to eliminate the one hundred hour rule in the aid to families with dependent children-employable program. If federal waivers are not received by the governor by June 30, 1994, this section is null and void.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 24. The sum of . . . . . . dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1995, from the general fund--state to the department of social and health services for the purposes of implementing sections 2 and 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 25. The sum of . . . . . . dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1995, from the general fund--state to the office of the superintendent of public instruction for the purposes of implementing section 4 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 26. The sum of . . . . . dollars, from the general fund‑-state and . . . . . dollars from the general fund‑-federal, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1995, for the purposes of implementing section 13 of this act relating to supported employment.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 27. A new section is added to chapter 74.12 RCW to read as follows:

By October 1, 1994, the department shall request the governor to seek congressional action on any federal legislation that may be necessary to implement any sections of chapter . . ., Laws of 1994 (this act). By October 1, 1994, the department shall request the governor to seek federal agency action on any federal regulation that may require a federal waiver.

PART VI. MISCELLANEOUS

NEW SECTION. Sec. 28. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 29. If any part of this act is found to be in conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to the allocation of federal funds to the state, the conflicting part of this act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with respect to the agencies directly affected, and this finding does not affect the operation of the remainder of this act in its application to the agencies concerned. The rules under this act shall meet federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 30. Sections 11, 12, and 14 of this act shall take effect July 1, 1995.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 31. Part headings as used in this act constitute no part of the law.