AN ACT Relating to continuous job search requirements for aid to families with dependent children recipients; adding a new chapter to Title 74 RCW; and making an appropriation.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that making a contribution to oneself and to one's community through regular unsubsidized employment builds self-esteem, creates independence and eliminates poverty. It is the intent of the legislature that all applicants for and recipients of aid to families with dependent children shall engage in a job search continuously until employment is secured.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. All applicants for and recipients of aid to families with dependent children who are deemed employable by the department of social and health services and not otherwise assigned to work supplementation program projects shall participate in mandatory continuous job search. The state department of social and health services having already elected the Title IV-A job search program under Sec. 402(A)(35) of the Social Security Act shall seek a waiver from the federal department of health and human services of the job search time limitations specified at Sec. 402(A)(35) (i) and (ii) of the Social Security Act. The purpose of said waiver is to permit the department of social and health services to require that applicants for and recipients of aid to families with dependent children shall perform continuous job search from the date of application for aid to families with dependent children benefits, and for so long as the department deems these individuals to be employable.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. Continuous job search will eliminate all job search time limitations on applicants for and recipients of aid to families with dependent children. Applicants and recipients may be provided short-term supportive services to assist them in carrying out their job search requirements, if necessary. Supportive services shall include daycare and transportation. Applicants and recipients are responsible for securing their own daycare or transportation. If assistance in financing and securing these services is needed the department of social and health services will provide what is minimally necessary to ensure that the applicant or recipient is able to participate in job search. No applicant or recipient may be required to expend his or her own funds to participate in job search.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Applicants for aid to families with dependent children, unless otherwise exempt under section 7 of this act, must complete ten days of approved individual job search prior to their application being approved, or continuous job search until their application is approved, whichever is longer. If necessary, a federal waiver shall be secured to implement this section. Continuous job search includes part-time job search during the individual's assignment to community work experience program projects. The department of social and health services shall establish procedures under which there is coordination among the job search programs, community work experience program, and work incentive program, to insure that job search and job placement have priority and that conflicts in participant assignments will be avoided.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Once an application is approved, a recipient must participate in job search on a continuous basis until a job is secured, or for as long as he or she remains a recipient.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The department of social and health services may suspend job search requirements for a period not to exceed ninety-two continuous days for personal or family emergencies as determined by the department, on a case-by-case basis.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. An individual is exempt from the aforementioned job search requirements if he or she meets one of the following criteria:

(1) Is assigned to a work supplementation program;

(2) Is under age sixteen, incapacitated, or sixty-five years of age or older;

(3) Is a person whose presence in the home is required because of illness or incapacity of another member of the household;

(4) Is a needy caretaker relative of a child under the age of three; or

(5) Is a pregnant women in the last trimester of pregnancy.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 1 through 7 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 74 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. 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. 10. There is appropriated from the general fund to the department of social and health services for the biennium ending June 30, 1987, the sum of .......... dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to carry out the purposes of this act.