2022 -- S 2316 SUBSTITUTE A | |
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LC004452/SUB A | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES -- THE RHODE ISLAND WORKS PROGRAM | |
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Introduced By: Senators Murray, Quezada, Anderson, Euer, Cano, Miller, Acosta, | |
Date Introduced: February 15, 2022 | |
Referred To: Senate Finance | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Sections 40-5.2-10 and 40-5.2-12 of the General Laws in Chapter 40-5.2 |
2 | entitled "The Rhode Island Works Program" are hereby amended to read as follows: |
3 | 40-5.2-10. Necessary requirements and conditions. |
4 | The following requirements and conditions shall be necessary to establish eligibility for |
5 | the program. |
6 | (a) Citizenship, alienage, and residency requirements. |
7 | (1) A person shall be a resident of the state of Rhode Island. |
8 | (2) Effective October 1, 2008, a person shall be a United States citizen, or shall meet the |
9 | alienage requirements established in § 402(b) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity |
10 | Reconciliation Act of 1996, PRWORA, Pub. L. No. 104-193 and as that section may hereafter be |
11 | amended [8 U.S.C. § 1612]; a person who is not a United States citizen and does not meet the |
12 | alienage requirements established in PRWORA, as amended, is not eligible for cash assistance in |
13 | accordance with this chapter. |
14 | (b) The family/assistance unit must meet any other requirements established by the |
15 | department of human services by rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the administrative |
16 | procedures act, as necessary to promote the purpose and goals of this chapter. |
17 | (c) Receipt of cash assistance is conditional upon compliance with all program |
18 | requirements. |
19 | (d) All individuals domiciled in this state shall be exempt from the application of |
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1 | subdivision 115(d)(1)(A) of Pub. L. No. 104-193, the Personal Responsibility and Work |
2 | Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, PRWORA [21 U.S.C. § 862a], which makes any |
3 | individual ineligible for certain state and federal assistance if that individual has been convicted |
4 | under federal or state law of any offense that is classified as a felony by the law of the jurisdiction |
5 | and that has as an element the possession, use, or distribution of a controlled substance as defined |
6 | in § 102(6) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. § 802(6)). |
7 | (e) Individual employment plan as a condition of eligibility. |
8 | (1) Following receipt of an application, the department of human services shall assess the |
9 | financial conditions of the family, including the non-parent caretaker relative who is applying for |
10 | cash assistance for himself or herself as well as for the minor child(ren), in the context of an |
11 | eligibility determination. If a parent or non-parent caretaker relative is unemployed or under- |
12 | employed, the department shall conduct an initial assessment, taking into account: (A) The physical |
13 | capacity, skills, education, work experience, health, safety, family responsibilities, and place of |
14 | residence of the individual; and (B) The child care and supportive services required by the applicant |
15 | to avail himself or herself of employment opportunities and/or work readiness programs. |
16 | (2) On the basis of this assessment, the department of human services and the department |
17 | of labor and training, as appropriate, in consultation with the applicant, shall develop an individual |
18 | employment plan for the family that requires the individual to participate in the intensive |
19 | employment services. Intensive employment services shall be defined as the work requirement |
20 | activities in § 40-5.2-12(g) and (i). |
21 | (3) The director, or his or her designee, may assign a case manager to an |
22 | applicant/participant, as appropriate. |
23 | (4) The department of labor and training and the department of human services in |
24 | conjunction with the participant shall develop a revised individual employment plan that shall |
25 | identify employment objectives, taking into consideration factors above, and shall include a |
26 | strategy for immediate employment and for preparing for, finding, and retaining employment |
27 | consistent, to the extent practicable, with the individual's career objectives. |
28 | (5) The individual employment plan must include the provision for the participant to |
29 | engage in work requirements as outlined in § 40-5.2-12. |
30 | (6)(i) The participant shall attend and participate immediately in intensive assessment and |
31 | employment services as the first step in the individual employment plan, unless temporarily exempt |
32 | from this requirement in accordance with this chapter. Intensive assessment and employment |
33 | services shall be defined as the work requirement activities in § 40-5.2-12(g) and (i). |
34 | (ii) Parents under age twenty (20) without a high school diploma or general equivalency |
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1 | diploma (GED) shall be referred to special teen-parent programs that will provide intensive services |
2 | designed to assist teen parents to complete high school education or GED, and to continue approved |
3 | work plan activities in accord with Rhode Island works program requirements. |
4 | (7) The applicant shall become a participant in accordance with this chapter at the time the |
5 | individual employment plan is signed and entered into. |
6 | (8) Applicants and participants of the Rhode Island works program shall agree to comply |
7 | with the terms of the individual employment plan, and shall cooperate fully with the steps |
8 | established in the individual employment plan, including the work requirements. |
9 | (9) The department of human services has the authority under the chapter to require |
10 | attendance by the applicant/participant, either at the department of human services or at the |
11 | department of labor and training, at appointments deemed necessary for the purpose of having the |
12 | applicant enter into and become eligible for assistance through the Rhode Island works program. |
13 | The appointments include, but are not limited to: the initial interview, orientation and assessment; |
14 | job readiness; and job search. Attendance is required as a condition of eligibility for cash assistance |
15 | in accordance with rules and regulations established by the department. |
16 | (10) As a condition of eligibility for assistance pursuant to this chapter, the |
17 | applicant/participant shall be obligated to keep appointments; attend orientation meetings at the |
18 | department of human services and/or the Rhode Island department of labor and training; participate |
19 | in any initial assessments or appraisals; and comply with all the terms of the individual employment |
20 | plan in accordance with department of human services rules and regulations. |
21 | (11) A participant, including a parent or non-parent caretaker relative included in the cash |
22 | assistance payment, shall not voluntarily quit a job or refuse a job unless there is good cause as |
23 | defined in this chapter or the department's rules and regulations. |
24 | (12) A participant who voluntarily quits or refuses a job without good cause, as defined in |
25 | § 40-5.2-12(l), while receiving cash assistance in accordance with this chapter, shall be sanctioned |
26 | in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the department. |
27 | (f) Resources. |
28 | (1) The family or assistance unit's countable resources shall be less than the allowable |
29 | resource limit established by the department in accordance with this chapter. |
30 | (2) No family or assistance unit shall be eligible for assistance payments if the combined |
31 | value of its available resources (reduced by any obligations or debts with respect to such resources) |
32 | exceeds one thousand dollars ($1,000) five thousand dollars ($5,000). |
33 | (3) For purposes of this subsection, the following shall not be counted as resources of the |
34 | family/assistance unit in the determination of eligibility for the works program: |
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1 | (i) The home owned and occupied by a child, parent, relative, or other individual; |
2 | (ii) Real property owned by a husband and wife as tenants by the entirety, if the property |
3 | is not the home of the family and if the spouse of the applicant refuses to sell his or her interest in |
4 | the property; |
5 | (iii) Real property that the family is making a good-faith effort to dispose of, however, any |
6 | cash assistance payable to the family for any such period shall be conditioned upon disposal of the |
7 | real property within six (6) months of the date of application and any payments of assistance for |
8 | that period shall (at the time of disposal) be considered overpayments to the extent that they would |
9 | not have occurred at the beginning of the period for which the payments were made. All |
10 | overpayments are debts subject to recovery in accordance with the provisions of the chapter; |
11 | (iv) Income-producing property other than real estate including, but not limited to, |
12 | equipment such as farm tools, carpenter's tools, and vehicles used in the production of goods or |
13 | services that the department determines are necessary for the family to earn a living; |
14 | (v) One vehicle for each adult household member, but not to exceed two (2) vehicles per |
15 | household, and in addition, a vehicle used primarily for income-producing purposes such as, but |
16 | not limited to, a taxi, truck, or fishing boat; a vehicle used as a family's home; a vehicle that annually |
17 | produces income consistent with its fair market value, even if only used on a seasonal basis; a |
18 | vehicle necessary to transport a family member with a disability where the vehicle is specially |
19 | equipped to meet the specific needs of the person with a disability or if the vehicle is a special type |
20 | of vehicle that makes it possible to transport the person with a disability; |
21 | (vi) Household furnishings and appliances, clothing, personal effects, and keepsakes of |
22 | limited value; |
23 | (vii) Burial plots (one for each child, relative, and other individual in the assistance unit) |
24 | and funeral arrangements; |
25 | (viii) For the month of receipt and the following month, any refund of federal income taxes |
26 | made to the family by reason of § 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. § 32 (relating |
27 | to earned income tax credit), and any payment made to the family by an employer under § 3507 of |
28 | the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. § 3507 [repealed] (relating to advance payment of |
29 | such earned income credit); |
30 | (ix) The resources of any family member receiving supplementary security income |
31 | assistance under the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.; |
32 | (x) Any veteran's disability pension benefits received as a result of any disability sustained |
33 | by the veteran while in the military service. |
34 | (g) Income. |
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1 | (1) Except as otherwise provided for herein, in determining eligibility for and the amount |
2 | of cash assistance to which a family is entitled under this chapter, the income of a family includes |
3 | all of the money, goods, and services received or actually available to any member of the family. |
4 | (2) In determining the eligibility for and the amount of cash assistance to which a |
5 | family/assistance unit is entitled under this chapter, income in any month shall not include the first |
6 | one hundred seventy dollars ($170) three hundred dollars ($300) of gross earnings plus fifty percent |
7 | (50%) of the gross earnings of the family in excess of one hundred seventy dollars ($170) three |
8 | hundred dollars ($300) earned during the month. |
9 | (3) The income of a family shall not include: |
10 | (i) The first fifty dollars ($50.00) in child support received in any month from each |
11 | noncustodial parent of a child plus any arrearages in child support (to the extent of the first fifty |
12 | dollars ($50.00) per month multiplied by the number of months in which the support has been in |
13 | arrears) that are paid in any month by a noncustodial parent of a child; |
14 | (ii) Earned income of any child; |
15 | (iii) Income received by a family member who is receiving Supplemental Security Income |
16 | (SSI) assistance under Title XVI of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1381 et seq.; |
17 | (iv) The value of assistance provided by state or federal government or private agencies to |
18 | meet nutritional needs, including: value of USDA-donated foods; value of supplemental food |
19 | assistance received under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended, and the special food service |
20 | program for children under Title VII, nutrition program for the elderly, of the Older Americans Act |
21 | of 1965 as amended, and the value of food stamps; |
22 | (v) Value of certain assistance provided to undergraduate students, including any grant or |
23 | loan for an undergraduate student for educational purposes made or insured under any loan program |
24 | administered by the United States Commissioner of Education (or the Rhode Island council on |
25 | postsecondary education or the Rhode Island division of higher education assistance); |
26 | (vi) Foster care payments; |
27 | (vii) Home energy assistance funded by state or federal government or by a nonprofit |
28 | organization; |
29 | (viii) Payments for supportive services or reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses made |
30 | to foster grandparents, senior health aides, or senior companions and to persons serving in SCORE |
31 | and ACE and any other program under Title II and Title III of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act |
32 | of 1973, 42 U.S.C. § 5000 et seq.; |
33 | (ix) Payments to volunteers under AmeriCorps VISTA as defined in the department's rules |
34 | and regulations; |
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1 | (x) Certain payments to native Americans; payments distributed per capita to, or held in |
2 | trust for, members of any Indian Tribe under P.L. 92-254, 25 U.S.C. § 1261 et seq., P.L. 93-134, |
3 | 25 U.S.C. § 1401 et seq., or P.L. 94-540; receipts distributed to members of certain Indian tribes |
4 | which are referred to in § 5 of P.L. 94-114, 25 U.S.C. § 459d, that became effective October 17, |
5 | 1975; |
6 | (xi) Refund from the federal and state earned income tax credit; |
7 | (xii) The value of any state, local, or federal government rent or housing subsidy, provided |
8 | that this exclusion shall not limit the reduction in benefits provided for in the payment standard |
9 | section of this chapter; |
10 | (xiii) The earned income of any adult family member who gains employment while an |
11 | active RI Works household member. This income is excluded for the first six (6) months of |
12 | employment in which the income is earned, or until the household's total gross income exceeds one |
13 | hundred eighty-five percent (185%) of the federal poverty level, unless the household reaches its |
14 | forty-eight-month (48) sixty-month (60) time limit first; |
15 | (xiv) Any veteran's disability pension benefits received as a result of any disability |
16 | sustained by the veteran while in the military service. |
17 | (4) The receipt of a lump sum of income shall affect participants for cash assistance in |
18 | accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the department. |
19 | (h) Time limit on the receipt of cash assistance. |
20 | (1) On or after January 1, 2020, no cash assistance shall be provided, pursuant to this |
21 | chapter, to a family or assistance unit that includes an adult member who has received cash |
22 | assistance for a total of forty-eight (48) sixty (60) months (whether or not consecutive), to include |
23 | any time receiving any type of cash assistance in any other state or territory of the United States of |
24 | America as defined herein. Provided further, in no circumstances other than provided for in |
25 | subsection (h)(3) with respect to certain minor children, shall cash assistance be provided pursuant |
26 | to this chapter to a family or assistance unit that includes an adult member who has received cash |
27 | assistance for a total of a lifetime limit of forty-eight (48) sixty (60) months. |
28 | (2) Cash benefits received by a minor dependent child shall not be counted toward their |
29 | lifetime time limit for receiving benefits under this chapter should that minor child apply for cash |
30 | benefits as an adult. |
31 | (3) Certain minor children not subject to time limit. This section regarding the lifetime time |
32 | limit for the receipt of cash assistance shall not apply only in the instances of a minor child(ren) |
33 | living with a parent who receives SSI benefits and a minor child(ren) living with a responsible adult |
34 | non-parent caretaker relative who is not in the cash assistance payment. |
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1 | (4) Receipt of family cash assistance in any other state or territory of the United States of |
2 | America shall be determined by the department of human services and shall include family cash |
3 | assistance funded in whole or in part by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds |
4 | [Title IV-A of the federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.] and/or family cash assistance |
5 | provided under a program similar to the Rhode Island families work and opportunity program or |
6 | the federal TANF program. |
7 | (5)(i) The department of human services shall mail a notice to each assistance unit when |
8 | the assistance unit has six (6) months of cash assistance remaining and each month thereafter until |
9 | the time limit has expired. The notice must be developed by the department of human services and |
10 | must contain information about the lifetime time limit, the number of months the participant has |
11 | remaining, the hardship extension policy, the availability of a post-employment-and-closure bonus; |
12 | and any other information pertinent to a family or an assistance unit nearing the forty-eight-month |
13 | (48) sixty-month (60) lifetime time limit. |
14 | (ii) For applicants who have less than six (6) months remaining in the forty-eight-month |
15 | (48) sixty-month (60) lifetime time limit because the family or assistance unit previously received |
16 | cash assistance in Rhode Island or in another state, the department shall notify the applicant of the |
17 | number of months remaining when the application is approved and begin the process required in |
18 | subsection (h)(5)(i). |
19 | (6) If a cash assistance recipient family was closed pursuant to Rhode Island's Temporary |
20 | Assistance for Needy Families Program (federal TANF described in Title IV-A of the federal Social |
21 | Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.), formerly entitled the Rhode Island family independence |
22 | program, more specifically under § 40-5.1-9(2)(c) [repealed], due to sanction because of failure to |
23 | comply with the cash assistance program requirements; and that recipient family received forty- |
24 | eight (48) sixty (60) months of cash benefits in accordance with the family independence program, |
25 | then that recipient family is not able to receive further cash assistance for his/her family, under this |
26 | chapter, except under hardship exceptions. |
27 | (7) The months of state or federally funded cash assistance received by a recipient family |
28 | since May 1, 1997, under Rhode Island's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program |
29 | (federal TANF described in Title IV-A of the federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.), |
30 | formerly entitled the Rhode Island family independence program, shall be countable toward the |
31 | time-limited cash assistance described in this chapter. |
32 | (i) Time limit on the receipt of cash assistance. |
33 | (1) No cash assistance shall be provided, pursuant to this chapter, to a family assistance |
34 | unit in which an adult member has received cash assistance for a total of sixty (60) months (whether |
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1 | or not consecutive) to include any time receiving any type of cash assistance in any other state or |
2 | territory of the United States as defined herein effective August 1, 2008. Provided further, that no |
3 | cash assistance shall be provided to a family in which an adult member has received assistance for |
4 | twenty-four (24) consecutive months unless the adult member has a rehabilitation employment plan |
5 | as provided in § 40-5.2-12(g)(5). |
6 | (2) Effective August 1, 2008, no cash assistance shall be provided pursuant to this chapter |
7 | to a family in which a child has received cash assistance for a total of sixty (60) months (whether |
8 | or not consecutive) if the parent is ineligible for assistance under this chapter pursuant to subsection |
9 | (a)(2) of this section to include any time they received any type of cash assistance in any other state |
10 | or territory of the United States as defined herein. |
11 | (j) Hardship exceptions. |
12 | (1) The department may extend an assistance unit's or family's cash assistance beyond the |
13 | time limit, by reason of hardship; provided, however, that the number of families to be exempted |
14 | by the department with respect to their time limit under this subsection shall not exceed twenty |
15 | percent (20%) of the average monthly number of families to which assistance is provided for under |
16 | this chapter in a fiscal year; provided, however, that to the extent now or hereafter permitted by |
17 | federal law, any waiver granted under § 40-5.2-34, for domestic violence, shall not be counted in |
18 | determining the twenty percent (20%) maximum under this section. |
19 | (2) Parents who receive extensions to the time limit due to hardship must have and comply |
20 | with employment plans designed to remove or ameliorate the conditions that warranted the |
21 | extension unless otherwise exempt as determined by the department. |
22 | (k) Parents under eighteen (18) years of age. |
23 | (1) A family consisting of a parent who is under the age of eighteen (18), and who has |
24 | never been married, and who has a child; or a family consisting of a woman under the age of |
25 | eighteen (18) who is at least six (6) months pregnant, shall be eligible for cash assistance only if |
26 | the family resides in the home of an adult parent, legal guardian, or other adult relative. The |
27 | assistance shall be provided to the adult parent, legal guardian, or other adult relative on behalf of |
28 | the individual and child unless otherwise authorized by the department. |
29 | (2) This subsection shall not apply if the minor parent or pregnant minor has no parent, |
30 | legal guardian, or other adult relative who is living and/or whose whereabouts are unknown; or the |
31 | department determines that the physical or emotional health or safety of the minor parent, or his or |
32 | her child, or the pregnant minor, would be jeopardized if he or she was required to live in the same |
33 | residence as his or her parent, legal guardian, or other adult relative (refusal of a parent, legal |
34 | guardian, or other adult relative to allow the minor parent or his or her child, or a pregnant minor, |
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1 | to live in his or her home shall constitute a presumption that the health or safety would be so |
2 | jeopardized); or the minor parent or pregnant minor has lived apart from his or her own parent or |
3 | legal guardian for a period of at least one year before either the birth of any child to a minor parent |
4 | or the onset of the pregnant minor's pregnancy; or there is good cause, under departmental |
5 | regulations, for waiving the subsection; and the individual resides in a supervised supportive-living |
6 | arrangement to the extent available. |
7 | (3) For purposes of this section, "supervised supportive-living arrangement" means an |
8 | arrangement that requires minor parents to enroll and make satisfactory progress in a program |
9 | leading to a high school diploma or a general education development certificate, and requires minor |
10 | parents to participate in the adolescent parenting program designated by the department, to the |
11 | extent the program is available; and provides rules and regulations that ensure regular adult |
12 | supervision. |
13 | (l) Assignment and cooperation. As a condition of eligibility for cash and medical |
14 | assistance under this chapter, each adult member, parent, or caretaker relative of the |
15 | family/assistance unit must: |
16 | (1) Assign to the state any rights to support for children within the family from any person |
17 | that the family member has at the time the assignment is executed or may have while receiving |
18 | assistance under this chapter; |
19 | (2) Consent to and cooperate with the state in establishing the paternity and in establishing |
20 | and/or enforcing child support and medical support orders for all children in the family or assistance |
21 | unit in accordance with title 15, as amended, unless the parent or caretaker relative is found to have |
22 | good cause for refusing to comply with the requirements of this subsection. |
23 | (3) Absent good cause, as defined by the department of human services through the |
24 | rulemaking process, for refusing to comply with the requirements of subsections (l)(1) and (l)(2), |
25 | cash assistance to the family shall be reduced by twenty-five percent (25%) until the adult member |
26 | of the family who has refused to comply with the requirements of this subsection consents to and |
27 | cooperates with the state in accordance with the requirements of this subsection. |
28 | (4) As a condition of eligibility for cash and medical assistance under this chapter, each |
29 | adult member, parent, or caretaker relative of the family/assistance unit must consent to and |
30 | cooperate with the state in identifying and providing information to assist the state in pursuing any |
31 | third party who may be liable to pay for care and services under Title XIX of the Social Security |
32 | Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1396 et seq. |
33 | 40-5.2-12. Work requirements for receipt of cash assistance. |
34 | (a) The department of human services and the department of labor and training shall assess |
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1 | the applicant/parent or non-parent caretaker relative's work experience, educational, and vocational |
2 | abilities, and the department, together with the parent, shall develop and enter into a mandatory, |
3 | individual employment plan in accordance with § 40-5.2-10(e). |
4 | (b) In the case of a family including two (2) parents, at least one of the parents shall be |
5 | required to participate in an employment plan leading to full-time employment. The department |
6 | may also require the second parent in a two-parent (2) household to develop an employment plan |
7 | if, and when, the youngest child reaches six (6) years of age or older. |
8 | (c) The written, individual employment plan shall specify, at minimum, the immediate |
9 | steps necessary to support a goal of long-term, economic independence. |
10 | (d) All applicants and participants in the Rhode Island works employment program must |
11 | attend and participate in required appointments, employment plan development, and employment- |
12 | related activities, unless temporarily exempt for reasons specified in this chapter. |
13 | (e) A recipient/participant temporarily exempted from the work requirements may |
14 | participate in an individual employment plan on a voluntary basis, however, the individual remains |
15 | subject to the same program compliance requirements as a participant without a temporary |
16 | exemption. |
17 | (f) The individual employment plan shall specify the participant's work activity(ies) and |
18 | the supportive services that will be provided by the department to enable the participant to engage |
19 | in the work activity(ies). |
20 | (g) Work requirements for single-parent families. In single-parent households, the |
21 | participant parent or non-parent caretaker relative in the cash assistance payment, shall participate |
22 | as a condition of eligibility, for a minimum of twenty (20) hours per week if the youngest child in |
23 | the home is under the age of six (6), and for a minimum of thirty (30) hours per week if the youngest |
24 | child in the home is six (6) years of age or older, in one or more of their required work activities, |
25 | as appropriate, in order to help the parent obtain stable, full-time, paid employment, as determined |
26 | by the department of human services and the department of labor and training; provided, however, |
27 | that he or she shall begin with intensive employment services as the first step in the individual |
28 | employment plan. Required work activities are as follows: |
29 | (1) At least twenty (20) hours per week must come from participation in one or more of |
30 | the following ten (10) work activities: |
31 | (i) Unsubsidized employment; |
32 | (ii) Subsidized private-sector employment; |
33 | (iii) Subsidized public-sector employment; |
34 | (iv) Work experience; |
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1 | (v) On-the-job training; |
2 | (vi) Job search and job readiness; |
3 | (vii) Community service programs; |
4 | (viii) Vocational educational training not to exceed twelve (12) months; provided, |
5 | however, that a participant who successfully completes their first year of education at the |
6 | community college of Rhode Island, may participate in vocational education for an additional |
7 | twelve (12) months; |
8 | (ix) Providing childcare services to another participant parent who is participating in an |
9 | approved community service program; and |
10 | (x) Adult education in an intensive work-readiness program. |
11 | (2) Above twenty (20) hours per week, the parent may participate in one or more of the |
12 | following three (3) activities in order to satisfy a thirty-hour (30) requirement: |
13 | (i) Job skills training directly related to employment; |
14 | (ii) Education directly related to employment; and |
15 | (iii) Satisfactory attendance at a secondary school or in a course of study leading to a |
16 | certificate of general equivalence if it is a teen parent under the age of twenty (20) who is without |
17 | a high school diploma or General Equivalence Diploma (GED). |
18 | (3) In the case of a parent under the age of twenty (20), attendance at a secondary school |
19 | or the equivalent during the month, or twenty (20) hours per week on average for the month in |
20 | education directly related to employment, will be counted as engaged in work. |
21 | (4) A parent who participates in a work experience or community service program for the |
22 | maximum number of hours per week allowable by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is deemed |
23 | to have participated in his or her required minimum hours per week in core activities if actual |
24 | participation falls short of his or her required minimum hours per week. |
25 | (5) A parent who has been determined to have a physical or mental impairment affecting |
26 | employment, but who has not been found eligible for Social Security Disability benefits or |
27 | Supplemental Security Income must participate in his or her rehabilitation employment plan as |
28 | developed with the office of rehabilitation services that leads to employment and/or to receipt of |
29 | disability benefits through the Social Security Administration. |
30 | (6) A required work activity may be any other work activity permissible under federal |
31 | TANF provisions or state-defined Rhode Island works program activity, including up to ten (10) |
32 | hours of activities required by a parent's department of children, youth and families service plan. |
33 | (h) Exemptions from work requirements for the single-parent family. Work requirements |
34 | outlined in subsection (g) shall not apply to a single parent if (and for so long as) the department |
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1 | finds that he or she is: |
2 | (1) Caring for a child below the age of one; provided, however, that a parent may opt for |
3 | the deferral from an individual employment plan for a maximum of twelve (12) months during the |
4 | twenty-four (24) months of eligibility for cash assistance and provided, further, that a minor parent |
5 | without a high school diploma or the equivalent, and who is not married, shall not be exempt for |
6 | more than twelve (12) weeks from the birth of the child; |
7 | (2) Caring for a disabled family member who resides in the home and requires full-time |
8 | care; |
9 | (3) A recipient of Social Security Disability benefits or Supplemental Security Income or |
10 | other disability benefits that have the same standard of disability as defined by the Social Security |
11 | Administration; |
12 | (4) An individual receiving assistance who is a victim of domestic violence as determined |
13 | by the department in accordance with rules and regulations; |
14 | (5) An applicant for assistance in her third trimester or a pregnant woman in her third |
15 | trimester who is a recipient of assistance and has medical documentation that she cannot work; |
16 | (6) An individual otherwise exempt by the department as defined in rules and regulations |
17 | promulgated by the department. |
18 | (i) Work requirement for two-parent families. |
19 | (1) In families consisting of two (2) parents, one or both parents are required, and shall be |
20 | engaged in, work activities as defined below, for an individual or combined total of at least thirty- |
21 | five (35) hours per week during the month, not fewer than thirty (30) hours per week of that are |
22 | attributable to one or more of the following listed work activities; provided, however, that he or she |
23 | shall begin with intensive employment services as the first step in the individual employment plan. |
24 | Two-parent work requirements shall be defined as the following: |
25 | (i) Unsubsidized employment; |
26 | (ii) Subsidized private-sector employment; |
27 | (iii) Subsidized public-sector employment; |
28 | (iv) Work experience; |
29 | (v) On-the-job training; |
30 | (vi) Job search and job readiness; |
31 | (vii) Community service program; |
32 | (viii) Vocational educational training not to exceed twelve (12) months; provided, |
33 | however, that a participant who successfully completes his/her first year of education at the |
34 | Community College of Rhode Island, may participate in vocational education for an additional |
| LC004452/SUB A - Page 12 of 15 |
1 | twelve (12) months; |
2 | (ix) The provision of childcare services to a participant individual who is participating in a |
3 | community service program; and |
4 | (x) Adult education in an intensive work-readiness program. |
5 | (2) Above thirty (30) hours per week, the following three (3) activities may also count for |
6 | participation: |
7 | (i) Job skills training directly related to employment; |
8 | (ii) Education directly related to employment; and |
9 | (iii) Satisfactory attendance at secondary school or in a course of study leading to a |
10 | certificate of general equivalence. |
11 | (3) A family with two (2) parents, in which one or both parents participate in a work |
12 | experience or community service program, shall be deemed to have participated in core work |
13 | activities for the maximum number of hours per week allowable by the Fair Labor Standards Act |
14 | (FLSA) if actual participation falls short of his or her required minimum hours per week. |
15 | (4) If the family receives childcare assistance and an adult in the family is not disabled or |
16 | caring for a severely disabled child, then the work-eligible individuals must be participating in work |
17 | activities for an average of at least fifty-five (55) hours per week to count as a two-parent family |
18 | engaged in work for the month. |
19 | (5) At least fifty (50) of the fifty-five (55) hours per week must come from participation in |
20 | the activities listed in subsection (i)(1). |
21 | Above fifty (50) hours per week, the three (3) activities listed in subsection (i)(2) may also |
22 | count as participation. |
23 | (6) A family with two (2) parents receiving child care in which one or both parents |
24 | participate in a work experience or community service program for the maximum number of hours |
25 | per week allowable by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) will be considered to have met their |
26 | required core hours if actual participation falls short of the required minimum hours per week. For |
27 | families that need additional hours beyond the core activity requirement, these hours must be |
28 | satisfied in some other TANF work activity. |
29 | (j) Exemptions from work requirements for two-parent families. Work requirements |
30 | outlined in subsection (i) shall not apply to two-parent families if (and for so long as) the department |
31 | finds that: |
32 | (1) Both parents receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI); |
33 | (2) One parent receives SSI, and the other parent is caring for a disabled family member |
34 | who resides in the home and who requires full-time care; or |
| LC004452/SUB A - Page 13 of 15 |
1 | (3) The parents are otherwise exempt by the department as defined in rules and regulations. |
2 | (k) Failure to comply with work requirements -- Sanctions and terminations. |
3 | (1) The cash assistance to which an otherwise eligible family/assistance unit is entitled |
4 | under this chapter shall be reduced for three (3) months, whether or not consecutive, in accordance |
5 | with rules and regulations promulgated by the department, whenever any participant, without good |
6 | cause as defined by the department in its rules and regulations, has failed to enter into an individual |
7 | employment plan; has failed to attend a required appointment; has refused or quit employment; or |
8 | has failed to comply with any other requirements for the receipt of cash assistance under this |
9 | chapter. If the family's benefit has been reduced, benefits shall be restored to the full amount |
10 | beginning with the initial payment made on the first of the month following the month in which the |
11 | parent: (i) Enters into an individual employment plan or rehabilitation plan and demonstrates |
12 | compliance with the terms thereof; or (ii) Demonstrates compliance with the terms of his or her |
13 | existing individual employment plan or rehabilitation plan, as such plan may be amended by |
14 | agreement of the parent and the department. |
15 | (2) In the case where appropriate child care has been made available in accordance with |
16 | this chapter, a participant's failure, without good cause, to accept a bona fide offer of work, |
17 | including full-time, part-time, and/or temporary employment, or unpaid work experience or |
18 | community service, shall be deemed a failure to comply with the work requirements of this section |
19 | and shall result in reduction or termination of cash assistance, as defined by the department in rules |
20 | and regulations duly promulgated. |
21 | (3) If the family/assistance unit's benefit has been reduced for a total of three (3) months, |
22 | whether or not consecutive in accordance with this section due to the failure by one or more parents |
23 | to enter into an individual employment plan, or failure to comply with the terms of his or her |
24 | individual employment plan, or the failure to comply with the requirements of this chapter, cash |
25 | assistance to the entire family shall end. The family/assistance unit may reapply for benefits, and |
26 | the benefits shall be restored to the family/assistance unit in the full amount the family/assistance |
27 | unit is otherwise eligible for under this chapter beginning on the first of the month following the |
28 | month in which all parents in the family/assistance unit who are subject to the employment or |
29 | rehabilitation plan requirements under this chapter: (i) Enter into an individual employment or |
30 | rehabilitation plan as applicable, and demonstrate compliance with the terms thereof, or (ii) |
31 | Demonstrate compliance with the terms of the parent's individual employment or rehabilitation |
32 | employment plan in effect at the time of termination of benefits, as such plan may be amended by |
33 | agreement of the parent and the department. |
34 | (4) Up to ten (10) days following a notice of adverse action to reduce or terminate benefits |
| LC004452/SUB A - Page 14 of 15 |
1 | under this subsection, the client may request the opportunity to meet with a social worker to identify |
2 | the reasons for non-compliance, establish good cause, and seek to resolve any issues that have |
3 | prevented the parent from complying with the employment plan requirements. |
4 | (5) Participants whose cases had closed in sanction status pursuant to Rhode Island's prior |
5 | Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (federal TANF described in Title IV-A of the |
6 | federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.), the family independence program, more |
7 | specifically, § 40-5.1-9(2)(c) [repealed], due to failure to comply with the cash assistance program |
8 | requirements, but who had received less than forty-eight (48) months of cash assistance at the time |
9 | of closure, and who reapply for cash assistance under the Rhode Island works program, must |
10 | demonstrate full compliance, as defined by the department in its rules and regulations, before they |
11 | shall be eligible for cash assistance pursuant to this chapter. |
12 | (l) Good cause. Good cause for failing to meet any program requirements including leaving |
13 | employment, and failure to fulfill documentation requirements, shall be outlined in rules and |
14 | regulations promulgated by the department of human services. |
15 | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on July 1, 2022. |
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LC004452/SUB A | |
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| LC004452/SUB A - Page 15 of 15 |
EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES -- THE RHODE ISLAND WORKS PROGRAM | |
*** | |
1 | This act would extend the lifetime limit for RI Works benefits from forty-eight (48) months |
2 | to sixty (60) months; increase the monthly income exclusion from one hundred seventy dollars |
3 | ($170) to three hundred dollars ($300); and include participation in a post-secondary education |
4 | program at the community college of Rhode Island for two (2) years as an allowable work activity. |
5 | This act would take effect July 1, 2022. |
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LC004452/SUB A | |
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| LC004452/SUB A - Page 16 of 15 |