CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT

 

              ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1144

 

 

                    Chapter 89, Laws of 2002

 

 

                        57th Legislature

                      2002 Regular Session

 

 

WORKFIRST--PARTICIPATION EXEMPTION

 

 

 

                    EFFECTIVE DATE:  6/13/02

Passed by the House February 19, 2002

  Yeas 97   Nays 0

 

 

              FRANK CHOPP

Speaker of the House of Representatives

     

 

 

 

 

 

Passed by the Senate March 7, 2002

  Yeas 33   Nays 15

             CERTIFICATE

 

I, Cynthia Zehnder, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1144 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth.

 

 

 

           CYNTHIA ZEHNDER

                          Chief Clerk

 

 

 

 

               BRAD OWEN

President of the Senate

 

 

 

Approved March 22, 2002 Place Style On Codes above, and Style Off Codes below.                 

                                FILED                

 

          March 22, 2002 - 12:37 p.m.

 

              GARY LOCKE

Governor of the State of Washington

                 Secretary of State

                 State of Washington


          _______________________________________________

 

               ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1144

          _______________________________________________

 

             Passed Legislature - 2002 Regular Session

 

State of Washington      57th Legislature     2002 Regular Session

 

By House Committee on Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives Kessler, Tokuda, Ogden, Keiser, Cody, Santos, Edmonds, Kenney, Linville, Darneille, O'Brien, Ruderman, Rockefeller, Dickerson, McDermott, Edwards, Conway, Schual‑Berke, Jackley, Lovick, McIntire and Haigh)

 

Read first time 02/11/2002.  Referred to Committee on .

Modifying good cause reasons for failure to participate in the WorkFirst program.    


    AN ACT Relating to the WorkFirst program participation exemption; and amending RCW 74.08A.270.

 

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

 

    Sec. 1.  RCW 74.08A.270 and 1997 c 58 s 314 are each amended to read as follows:

    (1) Good cause reasons for failure to participate in WorkFirst program components include:  (((1))) (a) Situations where the recipient is a parent or other relative personally providing care for a child under the age of six years, and formal or informal 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 fails to provide such care; or (((2) until June 30, 1999, if)) (b) the recipient is a parent with a child under the age of one year, except that at the time a child reaches the age of three months, the recipient is required to participate in one of the following for up to twenty hours per week:

    (i) Instruction or training which has the purpose of improving parenting skills or child well-being;

    (ii) Preemployment or job readiness training;

    (iii) Course study leading to a high school diploma or GED; or

    (iv) Volunteering in a child care facility licensed under chapter 74.15 RCW so long as the child care facility agrees to accept the recipient as a volunteer and the child without compensation while the parent is volunteering at the facility.  The volunteer recipient and his or her child shall not be counted for the purposes of determining licensed capacity or the staff to child ratio of the facility.

    (2) Nothing in this section shall prevent a recipient from participating fully in the WorkFirst program on a voluntary basis.  A recipient who chooses to participate fully in the WorkFirst program shall be considered to be fulfilling the requirements of this section.

    (3) For any recipient who claims a good cause reason for failure to participate in the WorkFirst program based on the fact that the recipient has a child under the age of one year, the department shall, within existing resources, conduct an assessment of the recipient within ninety days and before a job search component is initiated in order to determine if the recipient has any specific service needs or employment barriers.  The assessment may include identifying the need for substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, or domestic violence services, and shall be used in developing the recipient's individual responsibility plan.

    (4) A parent may only receive ((this)) the exemption ((for a total of twelve months, which may be consecutive or nonconsecutive; or (3) after June 30, 1999, if the recipient is a parent with a child under three months of age)) under subsection (1)(b) of this section one time, for one child.


    Passed the House February 19, 2002.

    Passed the Senate March 7, 2002.

Approved by the Governor March 22, 2002.

    Filed in Office of Secretary of State March 22, 2002.