2798-S2.E AMS PREN S5846.1

E2SHB 2798 - S AMD TO WM COMM AMD (S-5775.1/94)

By Senator Prentice

    Beginning on page 4, line 36 of the amendment, strike all material through page 6, line 30, and insert the following:

    "(2) To the extent feasible under state and 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)) prioritize job search, job training, and education resources in the manner provided in this chapter.  The highest priority groups, for receipt of the services identified through the assessment and employability plan, are recipients who are parents under age twenty and who have received aid to families with dependent children for thirty-six of the preceding sixty months.

(3) 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 and participants targeted in this section will normally be expected to take any job offered unless there is good cause to refuse to accept a job.  Good cause shall be found if the criteria established by the department of social and health services pursuant to the federal regulations are met, or if 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 training program.

The department of social and health services shall track the experience of those recipients who accept any job offered as part of their job opportunities and basic skills program participation.  In tracking such recipients, the department shall determine the wages and hours of the job taken, whether earnings resulted in ineligibility for the aid to families with dependent children program, and, for recipients who do return to the aid to families with dependent children program, the wages and hours of subsequent jobs taken.

Hours of unsubsidized employment shall count towards participation requirements independent of date of hire or concurrent participation in other components of the job opportunities and basic skills program.  The services specified in the employability plan shall 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.

(4) The department of social and health services shall develop a realistic schedule for the phase in of recipients' participation in the job opportunities and basic skills program based on the availability of state and federal funding."

    On page 6, at the beginning of line 31 of the amendment, strike "(7)" and insert "(5)"

E2SHB 2798 - S AMD TO WM COMM AMD (S-5775.1/94)

By Senator Prentice

    On page 7, at the beginning of line 3 of the amendment, strike "(8)" and insert "(6)"

    On page 7, line 8 of the amendment, after "(((3)))" strike "(9)" and insert "(7)"

    On page 7, line 25 of the amendment, after "(((4)))" strike "(10)" and insert "(8)"

EFFECT:  Targets JOBS services in two ways:  Emphasizes providing services to parents under age twenty and long-term recipients; and identifies types of JOBS services that should be used for recipients with specified educational levels or work histories.

E2SHB 2798 - S AMD TO WM COMM AMD (S-5775.1/94)

By Senator Prentice

    On page 6, line 38, strike "the fastest and most efficient" and insert "a cost-effective"

EFFECT:  Uses "cost-effective" as a threshold standard for any approval education in four-year college.

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