AN ACT Relating to youth employment and conservation; amending RCW 50.65.010, 50.65.020, 50.65.030, 50.65.040, 50.65.050, 50.65.060, 50.65.110, 50.65.130, and 50.65.900; adding new sections to chapter 50.65 RCW; providing an expiration date; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

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

Sec. 1. Section 1, chapter 50, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. and RCW 50.65.010 are each amended to read as follows:

The legislature finds that:

(1) The unemployment rate in the state of Washington is the highest since the great depression, with a significantly higher rate among Washington youth.

(2) The policy of the state is to conserve and protect its natural and urban resources, scenic beauty, and historical and cultural sites.

(3) It is in the public interest to target employment projects to those activities which have the greatest benefit to the local economy.

(4) There are many unemployed young adults without hope or opportunities for entrance into the labor force who are unable to afford higher education and who create a serious strain on tax revenues in community services.

(5) The severe cutbacks in community and human services funding leave many local community service agencies without the resources to provide necessary services to those in need.

(6) The talent and energy of Washington's unemployed young adults are an untapped resource which should be challenged to meet the serious shortage in community services and promote and conserve the valuable resources of the state.

Therefore, the legislature finds it necessary and in the public interest to enact the Washington youth employment and conservation act. As part of this chapter, the Washington ((~~youth employment exchange~~)) service corps is established as an operating program of the employment security department. The legislature desires to facilitate the potential of youth to obtain available job opportunities in both public and private agencies.

Sec. 2. Section 2, chapter 50, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. and RCW 50.65.020 are each amended to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the employment security department.

(2) "Department" means the employment security department.

(3) "Enrollees" means those persons who have completed enrollment forms, completed a work agreement, and who have entered into ((~~service~~)) the Washington service corps following the approval of the director of the supervising agency.

(4) "Exchange" means the Washington youth employment exchange.

(5) "Work agreement" means the written agreement between the department, the enrollee and the supervising agency under this chapter for a period of up to eighteen months.

(6) "Supervising agencies" means those private or public agencies which develop and implement full-time service projects in which enrollees agree to participate.

(7) "Matching funds" means funding that is provided to the employment security department by agencies or individuals as financial support for a portion of the stipend or wage and benefits paid to the enrollee.

(8) "Financial support" means any thing of value contributed by agencies or individuals to the department for a youth employment project which is reasonably calculated to support directly the development and expansion of a particular program under this chapter and which represents an addition to any financial support previously or customarily provided by the individual or agency. "Financial support" includes, but is not limited to funds, equipment, facilities, and training.

(9) "Director" means the individual who shall serve as the director of the exchange.

Sec. 3. Section 3, chapter 50, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. and RCW 50.65.030 are each amended to read as follows:

The Washington youth employment exchange is established within the employment security department. The commissioner shall:

(1) Appoint a director for the exchange and other personnel as necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter;

(2) Coordinate youth employment and training efforts under the department's jurisdiction and cooperate with other agencies or departments providing youth services to ensure that funds appropriated for the purposes of this chapter will not be expended to duplicate existing services, but will increase the services of youth to the state;

(3) The employment security department is authorized to place subgrants with other federal, state, and local governmental agencies and private agencies to provide youth employment projects and to increase the numbers of youth employed;

(4) Determine appropriate financial support levels by private business, community groups, foundations, public agencies, and individuals which will provide matching funds for enrollees in service projects under work agreements. The matching funds requirement may be waived for public agencies or reduced for private agencies;

(5) Recruit enrollees who are residents of the state unemployed at the time of application and are at least eighteen years of age but have not ((~~more than twenty-five years of age~~)) reached their twenty-sixth birthday;

(6) Recruit supervising agencies to host the enrollees in full-time service activities which shall not exceed six months' duration, which may be extended for an additional six months by mutual consent;

(7) Assist supervising agencies in the development of scholarships and matching funds from private and public agencies, individuals, and foundations in order to support a portion of the enrollee's stipend and benefits;

(8) Develop general employment guidelines for placement of enrollees in supervising agencies to establish appropriate authority for hiring, firing, grievance procedures, and employment standards which are consistent with state and federal law;

(9) Match enrollees with appropriate public agencies and available service projects;

(10) Monitor enrollee activities for compliance with this chapter and compliance with work agreements;

(11) Assist enrollees in transition to employment upon termination from the programs, including such activities as orientation to the labor market, on-the-job training, and placement in the private sector;

(12) Establish a program for providing incentives to encourage successful completion of terms of enrollment in the service corps and the continuation of educational pursuits. Such incentives shall be in the form of educational assistance;

(13) Enter into agreements with the state's community college system and other educational institutions or independent nonprofit agencies to provide special education in basic skills, including reading, writing, and mathematics for those participants who may benefit by participation in such classes. Participation is not mandatory but shall be strongly encouraged.

Sec. 4. Section 4, chapter 50, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. and RCW 50.65.040 are each amended to read as follows:

The commissioner may select and enroll in the Washington ((~~youth employment exchange~~)) service corps program any person who is at least eighteen years of age but has not ((~~more than twenty-five years of age~~)) reached their twenty-sixth birthday, is a resident of the state, and who is not for medical, legal, or psychological reasons incapable of service. In the selection of enrollees of the ((~~exchange~~)) service corps, preference shall be given to youths residing in areas, both urban and rural, in which there exists substantial unemployment above the state average. Efforts shall be made to enroll youths who are economically, socially, physically, or educationally disadvantaged. The commissioner may prescribe such additional standards and procedures in consultation with supervising agencies as may be necessary in conformance with this chapter.

Sec. 5. Section 5, chapter 50, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. and RCW 50.65.050 are each amended to read as follows:

The commissioner shall use existing local offices of the employment security department or contract with independent, private nonprofit agencies in a local community to establish the ((~~local youth employment exchange~~)) Washington service corps program and to insure coverage of the program state-wide. Each local ((~~youth employment exchange program~~)) office shall maintain a list of available youth employment opportunities in the jurisdiction covered by the local office and the appropriate forms or work agreements to enable the youths to apply for employment in private or public supervising agencies.

Sec. 6. Section 6, chapter 50, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. and RCW 50.65.060 are each amended to read as follows:

Placements in the Washington ((~~youth employment exchange~~)) service corps shall be made in supervising agencies under work agreements as provided under this chapter and shall include those assignments which provide for addressing community needs and conservation problems and will assist the community in economic development efforts. Each work agreement shall:

(1) Demonstrate that the service project is appropriate for the enrollee's interests, skills, and abilities and that the project is designed to meet unmet community needs;

(2) Include a requirement of regular performance evaluation. This shall include clear work performance standards set by the supervising agency and procedures for identifying strengths, recommended improvement areas and conditions for probation or dismissal of the enrollee; and

(3) Include a commitment for partial financial support for the enrollee for a private industry, public agency, community group, or foundation. The commissioner may establish additional standards for the development of placements for enrollees with supervising agencies and assure that the work agreements comply with those standards. This section shall not apply to conservation corps programs established by chapter 43.220 RCW.

Agencies of the state may use the youth employment exchange for the purpose of employing youth qualifying under this chapter.

Sec. 7. Section 11, chapter 50, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. as amended by section 6, chapter 230, Laws of 1985 and RCW 50.65.110 are each amended to read as follows:

The compensation received shall be considered a training and subsistence allowance. Comprehensive medical insurance, and medical aid shall be paid for the enrollees in the youth employment exchange by the commissioner in accordance with the standards and limitations of the appropriation provided for this chapter. The department shall give notice of coverage to the director of labor and industries after enrollment. The department shall not be deemed an employer of an enrollee for any other purpose.

Other provisions of law relating to civil service, hours of work, rate of compensation, sick leave, unemployment compensation, old age health and survivor's insurance, state retirement plans, and vacation leave do not apply to enrollees.

Sec. 8. Section 13, chapter 50, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. and RCW 50.65.130 are each amended to read as follows:

In addition to any other power, duty, or function described by law or rule, the employment security department, through the program established under this chapter, may accept federal or private sector funds and grants and implement such programs relating to community services or employment programs and may enter into contracts respecting such funds or grants. The department may also use funds appropriated for the purposes of this chapter as matching funds for federal or private source funds to accomplish the purposes of this chapter. The youth employment exchange shall be the sole recipient of federal funds for youth employment and conservation corps programs.

Sec. 9. Section 14, chapter 50, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. and RCW 50.65.900 are each amended to read as follows:

This chapter shall expire on July 1, ((~~1987~~)) 1993, unless extended by law for an additional fixed period of time.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. Sixty percent of the general funds available to the service corps program shall be for enrollees from distressed areas and for projects in distressed areas. A distressed area shall mean:

(1) A county which has an unemployment rate which is twenty percent above the state average for the immediately preceding three years;

(2) A community which has experienced sudden and severe loss of employment; or

(3) An area within a county which area:

(a) Is composed of contiguous census tracts;

(b) Has a minimum population of five thousand persons;

(c) The median household income is at least thirty-five percent below the county's median household income, as determined from data collected for the preceding United States ten-year census; and

(d) Has an unemployment rate which is at least forty percent higher than the county's unemployment rate. For purposes of this definition, "families and unrelated individuals" has the same meaning that is ascribed to that term by the federal department of housing and urban development in its regulations authorizing action grants for economic development and neighborhood revitalization projects.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. (1) Not more than fifteen percent of the funds available for the service corps shall be expended for administrative costs. For the purposes of this chapter, "administrative costs" include, but are not limited to, program planning and evaluation, budget development and monitoring, personnel management, contract administration, administrative payroll, development of program reports, and administrative office space costs and utilities.

(2) The fifteen percent limitation does not include costs for any of the following: Program support activities such as direct supervision of enrollees and corpsmembers, counseling, education and job training, equipment, advisory board expenses, and extraordinary recruitment and placement procedures necessary to fill project positions.

(3) The total for all items included under subsection (1) of this section and excluded under subsection (2) of this section shall not: (a) Exceed thirty percent of the appropriated funds available during a fiscal biennium for the service and conservation corps programs; or (b) result in an average cost per enrollee or corpsmember from general funds exceeding seven thousand dollars in the 1987-89 biennium and in succeeding biennia as adjusted by inflation factors established by the office of financial management for state budgeting purposes. The test included in (a) and (b) of this subsection are in the alternative, and it is only required that one of the tests be satisfied.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. The summer volunteer corps is established as a pilot project of the youth employment exchange established in RCW 50.65.030. The summer volunteer corps shall provide a work and learning experience for fourteen to seventeen year olds who are at risk of leaving high school without a diploma.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. The legislature finds that:

(1) Each year large numbers of youth enter the labor market without basic skills.

(2) The attainment of a high school diploma is, in itself, a factor which reduces long-term unemployment and increases earnings prospects.

(3) Summer is a time when academic performance tends to slow, halt, and even regress.

(4) Intervention during the summer which provides income, stability, and educational remediation should decrease the rate of dropouts and improve future employment and earning potentials.

(5) Lessons learned from the values of hard work and community service are transferable to the educational setting.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. The director of the youth employment exchange shall:

(1) Develop and plan, in consultation with the office of the superintendent of public instruction and one or more local school districts, residential and nonresidential pilot programs in the summer volunteer corps for implementation during the summer of 1988; and

(2) Conduct an evaluation, in consultation with the local school districts involved, of the pilot projects and present the evaluation's results and recommendations to the 1989 session of the legislature.

(3) Develop a plan whereby academic credit may be awarded for certain remedial and work activities in accordance with the standards of the local school district.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. (1) Youth participating in the summer volunteer corps will participate in resource conservation, community service, life skills, and educational activities. Participants shall be residents of the state who are between the ages of fourteen and seventeen inclusive, at the time of enrollment, and who are also nominated by a school official from the district in which they are enrolled.

(2) Residential participants will receive an educational stipend of one dollar an hour, plus room and board, payable twice each month. Nonresidential participants will receive an educational stipend of one hundred dollars per week, payable twice each month. Such stipends shall be considered a training and subsistence allowance.

(3) Medical aid shall be paid for the participants in the same manner as for enrollees of the Washington service corps under RCW 50.65.110. The department and any school district(s) participating shall not be deemed employers of a participant for any other purpose. Other provisions of law relating to civil service such as hours of work, rates of compensation, sick leave, old age, health, survivor's insurance, unemployment compensation, state retirement plans, and vacation leave do not apply.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 16. If any part of this chapter is found to be in conflict with federal requirements which are a prescribed condition to the allocation of federal funds to the state, such conflicting part of this chapter is declared to be inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict, and such finding or determination shall not affect the operation of the remainder of this chapter. The rules under this chapter shall meet federal requirements which are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 17. 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. 18. Sections 10 through 17 of this act shall be added to chapter 50.65 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 19. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, the support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect June 30, 1987.