SENATE BILL REPORT

                            SB 5722

                    AS OF FEBRUARY 25, 1993

Brief Description:  Modifying provisions of the department of social and health services' job training program.

SPONSORS: Senator Rinehart

SENATE COMMITTEE ON WAYS & MEANS

Staff:  Mary Poole (786‑7715)

Hearing Dates: February 25, 1993

BACKGROUND:

The Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program provides employment services to recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC).  The program was federally mandated with the passage of the 1988 Family Support Act, and implemented in Washington in 1990.  JOBS provides job training, education, job search assistance, and support services such as day care and transportation for participants who are employed, in training, or looking for work. 

Under federal law, all nonexempt recipients of AFDC are required to participate in JOBS, subject to available funding.  Recipients are considered exempt if they meet certain criteria, including: the recipient provides primary care to a child under two years; is ill or incapacitated; or lives more than two hours from an educational training site or job market.  The federal and state governments share the cost of JOBS.  States are required to provide no less for JOBS than was provided for employment services to public assistance recipients in 1986.  The basic federal matching rate is 50 percent.  Enhanced federal matching rates are available to states that comply with certain conditions.

One of those conditions requires the state to meet specified participation standards.  Participation standards are established through a graduated schedule: in FY 1994, the state is required to serve 15 percent of the AFDC-Regular (primarily single parent family) recipients and 40 percent of the AFDC-Employable (two parent family) recipients and in FY 1995, 20 percent of AFDC-R recipients and 50 percent of AFDC-E recipients.  The federal government offers the enhanced matching rate as an incentive for states to comply with the federal participation standards; states are not sanctioned for noncompliance. 

Prior to 1992, Washington State JOBS prioritized service to voluntary participants.  The state was able to meet the federal enhanced match requirements while making resources available to volunteers.  In 1992, Washington mandated participation rates for JOBS through the passage of Chapter 165, Laws of 1992 (SHB 2983), which requires all nonexempt AFDC recipients under age 24 and one parent in all families enrolled in AFDC-E, to participate in JOBS.  Because no additional funding was provided to enact these requirements, the bill has necessitated replacing some voluntary JOBS participants with mandatory participants.

SUMMARY:

The requirement that nonexempt parents under age 24 and at least one nonexempt parent in the AFDC-Employable program participate in job search and training activities is eliminated. 

Appropriation:  none

Revenue:  none

Fiscal Note:  available