S-1856

AN ACT Relating to work requirements under the temporary assistance for needy families program; amending RCW 74.08A.010, 74.08A.260, and 74.08A.270; adding new sections to chapter 74.08A RCW; and creating a new section.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 74.08A.010 and 1997 c 58 s 103 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A family that includes an adult who has received temporary assistance for needy families for sixty months after July 27, 1997, shall be ineligible for further temporary assistance for needy families assistance. The number of recipients exempted or deferred from the time limit in this subsection shall not exceed twenty percent of the temporary assistance for needy families caseload.

(2) For the purposes of applying the rules of this section, the department shall count any month in which an adult family member received a temporary assistance for needy families cash assistance grant unless the assistance was provided when the family member was a minor child and not the head of the household or married to the head of the household or the recipient received a deferral under section 2 of this act.

(3) The department shall refer recipients who require specialized assistance to appropriate department programs, crime victims' programs through the department of community, trade, and economic development, or the crime victims' compensation program of the department of labor and industries.

(4) The department may exempt a recipient and the recipient's family from the application of subsection (1) of this section by reason of hardship or if the recipient meets the family violence options of section 402(A)(7) of Title IVA of the federal social security act as amended by P.L. 104-193. ((The number of recipients and their families exempted from subsection (1) of this section for a fiscal year shall not exceed twenty percent of the average monthly number of recipients and their families to which assistance is provided under the temporary assistance for needy families program.

(5) The department shall not exempt a recipient and his or her family from the application of subsection (1) of this section until after the recipient has received fifty-two months of assistance under this chapter.))

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 74.08A RCW to read as follows:

(1) Each recipient approved to receive temporary assistance for needy families shall be subject to an employability screen as a condition of eligibility. If the employability screen determines the recipient meets the criteria specified in RCW 74.08A.270 for a good cause exemption to work requirements the department shall defer the work requirement under RCW 74.08A.260, as long as the condition of the recipient that causes him or her to meet the exemption criteria exists. When the condition ceases to exist, the exemption terminates.

(2) All recipients not deferred shall be placed in the job search component. Failure to participate in the job search component shall result in sanctions as provided in RCW 74.08A.260. If a recipient fails to find employment during the job search component, the department may refer the recipient to those work activities that are directly related to improving the recipient's employability.

(3) The department shall adopt rules providing for the review of recipients granted deferrals under this section.

Sec. 3. RCW 74.08A.260 and 1997 c 58 s 313 are each amended to read as follows:

Recipients who have not obtained a deferral under section 2 of this act or paid, unsubsidized employment ((~~by the end of the job search component authorized in section 312 of this act~~)) shall be referred to a work activity.

(1) Each recipient shall be assessed immediately upon completion of the job search component. Assessments shall be based upon factors that are critical to obtaining employment, including but not limited to education, employment strengths, and employment history. Assessments may be performed by the department or by a contracted entity. The assessment shall be based on a uniform, consistent, transferable format that will be accepted by all agencies and organizations serving the recipient. Based on the assessment, an individual responsibility plan shall be prepared that: (a) Sets forth an employment goal and a plan for moving the recipient immediately into employment; (b) contains the obligation of the recipient to become and remain employed; (c) moves the recipient into whatever employment the recipient is capable of handling as quickly as possible; and (d) describes the services available to the recipient to enable the recipient to obtain and keep employment.

(2) Recipients who are not engaged in work and work activities, and do not qualify for a good cause exemption under RCW 74.08A.270, shall engage in self‑directed service as provided in RCW 74.08A.330.

(3) If a recipient refuses to engage in work and work activities required by the department, the family's grant shall be reduced by the recipient's share, and may, if the department determines it appropriate, be terminated.

(4) The department may waive the penalties required under subsection (3) of this section, subject to a finding that the recipient refused to engage in work for good cause provided in RCW 74.08A.270.

(5) In implementing this section, the department shall assign the highest priority to the most employable clients, including adults in two-parent families and parents in single-parent families that include older preschool or school-age children to be engaged in work activities.

(6) In consultation with the recipient, the department or contractor shall place the recipient into a work activity that is available in the local area where the recipient resides.

Sec. 4. 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,~~)) (b) if the recipient is a parent with a child under the age of one year. A parent may only receive this 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~~)) (c) if the recipient is a victim of domestic violence; or (d) if the recipient is incapacitated; or (e) if the recipient is caring for an incapacitated child; or (f) if the recipient is fifty-five years of age or older and is the grandparent or nonparent relative of the dependent child.

(2) For purposes of this section, domestic violence victimization must be documented by either a protection order or a written confirmation of treatment by a health care professional licensed under chapter 18.57, 18.57A, 18.71, 18.71A, 18.79, or 18.83 RCW for the effects of domestic violence. Incapacity of a recipient or child must be documented by medical or psychiatric clinical evidence, confirmed in writing by a health care professional licensed under chapter 18.57, 18.57A, 18.71, 18.71A, 18.79, or 18.83 RCW.

(3) When the domestic violence victimization or the incapacity of the recipient or child no longer exist, the good cause deferral under this section terminates. The department shall notify the recipient of the termination of the good cause exemption.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 74.08A RCW to read as follows:

Recipients who are not required to meet work requirements under RCW 74.08A.270 shall receive grants, child care, and related services that are not supported by the temporary assistance for needy families block grant.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. 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. Rules adopted under this act must meet federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state.