2024 -- H 7686 | |
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LC004974 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2024 | |
____________ | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES -- THE RHODE ISLAND WORKS PROGRAM | |
| |
Introduced By: Representatives Handy, Vella-Wilkinson, Cruz, Potter, Kazarian, | |
Date Introduced: February 15, 2024 | |
Referred To: House Finance | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Sections 40-5.2-10, 40-5.2-11 and 40-5.2-12 of the General Laws in Chapter |
2 | 40-5.2 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. Provided, however, a person who has been admitted for lawful |
14 | permanent residence shall not be subject to a waiting period for benefits for which they are |
15 | otherwise eligible under this chapter. |
16 | (b) The family/assistance unit must meet any other requirements established by the |
17 | department of human services by rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the Administrative |
18 | Procedures Act, as necessary to promote the purpose and goals of this chapter. |
19 | (c) Receipt of cash assistance is conditional upon compliance with all program |
| |
1 | requirements. |
2 | (d) All individuals domiciled in this state shall be exempt from the application of |
3 | subdivision 115(d)(1)(A) of Pub. L. No. 104-193, the Personal Responsibility and Work |
4 | Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, PRWORA [21 U.S.C. § 862a], which makes any |
5 | individual ineligible for certain state and federal assistance if that individual has been convicted |
6 | under federal or state law of any offense that is classified as a felony by the law of the jurisdiction |
7 | and that has as an element the possession, use, or distribution of a controlled substance as defined |
8 | in § 102(6) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. § 802(6)). |
9 | (e) Individual employment plan as a condition of eligibility. |
10 | (1) Following receipt of an application, the department of human services shall assess the |
11 | financial conditions of the family, including the non-parent caretaker relative who is applying for |
12 | cash assistance for themself as well as for the minor child(ren), in the context of an eligibility |
13 | determination. If a parent or non-parent caretaker relative is unemployed or under-employed, the |
14 | department shall conduct an initial assessment, taking into account: |
15 | (A) The physical capacity, skills, education, work experience, health, safety, family |
16 | responsibilities, and place of residence of the individual; and |
17 | (B) The child care and supportive services required by the applicant to avail themself of |
18 | employment opportunities and/or work readiness programs. |
19 | (2) On the basis of this assessment, the department of human services and the department |
20 | of labor and training, as appropriate, in consultation with the applicant, shall develop an individual |
21 | employment plan for the family that requires the individual to participate in the intensive |
22 | employment services. Intensive employment services shall be defined as the work requirement |
23 | activities in § 40-5.2-12(g) and (i). |
24 | (3) The director, or the director’s designee, may assign a case manager to an |
25 | applicant/participant, as appropriate. |
26 | (4) The department of labor and training and the department of human services in |
27 | conjunction with the participant shall develop a revised individual employment plan that shall |
28 | identify employment objectives, taking into consideration factors above, and shall include a |
29 | strategy for immediate employment and for preparing for, finding, and retaining employment |
30 | consistent, to the extent practicable, with the individual’s career objectives. |
31 | (5) The individual employment plan must include the provision for the participant to |
32 | engage in work requirements as outlined in § 40-5.2-12. |
33 | (6)(i) The participant shall attend and participate immediately in intensive assessment and |
34 | employment services as the first step in the individual employment plan, unless temporarily exempt |
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1 | from this requirement in accordance with this chapter. Intensive assessment and employment |
2 | services shall be defined as the work requirement activities in § 40-5.2-12(g) and (i). |
3 | (ii) Parents under age twenty (20) without a high school diploma or general equivalency |
4 | diploma (GED) shall be referred to special teen-parent programs that will provide intensive services |
5 | designed to assist teen parents to complete high school education or GED, and to continue approved |
6 | work plan activities in accord with Rhode Island works program requirements. |
7 | (7) The applicant shall become a participant in accordance with this chapter at the time the |
8 | individual employment plan is signed and entered into. |
9 | (8) Applicants and participants of the Rhode Island works program shall agree to comply |
10 | with the terms of the individual employment plan, and shall cooperate fully with the steps |
11 | established in the individual employment plan, including the work requirements. |
12 | (9) The department of human services has the authority under the chapter to require |
13 | attendance by the applicant/participant, either at the department of human services or at the |
14 | department of labor and training, at appointments deemed necessary for the purpose of having the |
15 | applicant enter into and become eligible for assistance through the Rhode Island works program. |
16 | The appointments include, but are not limited to: the initial interview, orientation and assessment; |
17 | job readiness; and job search. Attendance is required as a condition of eligibility for cash assistance |
18 | in accordance with rules and regulations established by the department. |
19 | (10) As a condition of eligibility for assistance pursuant to this chapter, the |
20 | applicant/participant shall be obligated to keep appointments; attend orientation meetings at the |
21 | department of human services and/or the Rhode Island department of labor and training; participate |
22 | in any initial assessments or appraisals; and comply with all the terms of the individual employment |
23 | plan in accordance with department of human services rules and regulations. |
24 | (11) A participant, including a parent or non-parent caretaker relative included in the cash |
25 | assistance payment, shall not voluntarily quit a job or refuse a job unless there is good cause as |
26 | defined in this chapter or the department’s rules and regulations. |
27 | (12) A participant who voluntarily quits or refuses a job without good cause, as defined in |
28 | § 40-5.2-12(l), while receiving cash assistance in accordance with this chapter, shall be sanctioned |
29 | in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the department. |
30 | (f) Resources. |
31 | (1) The family or assistance unit’s countable resources shall be less than the allowable |
32 | resource limit established by the department in accordance with this chapter. |
33 | (2) No family or assistance unit shall be eligible for assistance payments if the combined |
34 | value of its available resources (reduced by any obligations or debts with respect to such resources) |
| LC004974 - Page 3 of 17 |
1 | exceeds five thousand dollars ($5,000). |
2 | (3) For purposes of this subsection, the following shall not be counted as resources of the |
3 | family/assistance unit in the determination of eligibility for the works program: |
4 | (i) The home owned and occupied by a child, parent, relative, or other individual; |
5 | (ii) Real property owned by a husband and wife as tenants by the entirety, if the property |
6 | is not the home of the family and if the spouse of the applicant refuses to sell his or her interest in |
7 | the property; |
8 | (iii) Real property that the family is making a good faith effort to dispose of, however, any |
9 | cash assistance payable to the family for any such period shall be conditioned upon such disposal |
10 | of the real property within six (6) months of the date of application and any payments of assistance |
11 | for that period shall (at the time of disposal) be considered overpayments to the extent that they |
12 | would not have occurred at the beginning of the period for which the payments were made. All |
13 | overpayments are debts subject to recovery in accordance with the provisions of the chapter; |
14 | (iv) Income-producing property other than real estate including, but not limited to, |
15 | equipment such as farm tools, carpenter’s tools, and vehicles used in the production of goods or |
16 | services that the department determines are necessary for the family to earn a living; |
17 | (v) One vehicle for each adult household member, but not to exceed two (2) vehicles per |
18 | household, and in addition, a vehicle used primarily for income-producing purposes such as, but |
19 | not limited to, a taxi, truck, or fishing boat; a vehicle used as a family’s home; a vehicle that |
20 | annually produces income consistent with its fair market value, even if only used on a seasonal |
21 | basis; a vehicle necessary to transport a family member with a disability where the vehicle is |
22 | specially equipped to meet the specific needs of the person with a disability or if the vehicle is a |
23 | special type of vehicle that makes it possible to transport the person with a disability; |
24 | (vi) Household furnishings and appliances, clothing, personal effects, and keepsakes of |
25 | limited value; |
26 | (vii) Burial plots (one for each child, relative, and other individual in the assistance unit) |
27 | and funeral arrangements; |
28 | (viii) For the month of receipt and the following month, any refund of federal income taxes |
29 | made to the family by reason of § 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. § 32 (relating |
30 | to earned income tax credit), and any payment made to the family by an employer under § 3507 of |
31 | the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. § 3507 [repealed] (relating to advance payment of |
32 | such earned income credit); |
33 | (ix) The resources of any family member receiving supplementary security income |
34 | assistance under the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.; |
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1 | (x) Any veteran’s disability pension benefits received as a result of any disability sustained |
2 | by the veteran while in the military service. |
3 | (g) Income. |
4 | (1) Except as otherwise provided for herein, in determining eligibility for and the amount |
5 | of cash assistance to which a family is entitled under this chapter, the income of a family includes |
6 | all of the money, goods, and services received or actually available to any member of the family. |
7 | (2) In determining the eligibility for and the amount of cash assistance to which a |
8 | family/assistance unit is entitled under this chapter, income in any month shall not include the first |
9 | three hundred dollars ($300) of gross earnings plus fifty percent (50%) of the gross earnings of the |
10 | family in excess of three hundred dollars ($300) earned during the month. |
11 | (3) The income of a family shall not include: |
12 | (i) The first fifty dollars ($50.00) in child support received in any month from each |
13 | noncustodial parent of a child plus any arrearages in child support (to the extent of the first fifty |
14 | dollars ($50.00) per month multiplied by the number of months in which the support has been in |
15 | arrears) that are paid in any month by a noncustodial parent of a child; |
16 | (ii) Earned income of any child; |
17 | (iii) Income received by a family member who is receiving Supplemental Security Income |
18 | (SSI) assistance under Title XVI of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1381 et seq.; |
19 | (iv) The value of assistance provided by state or federal government or private agencies to |
20 | meet nutritional needs, including: value of USDA-donated foods; value of supplemental food |
21 | assistance received under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended, and the special food service |
22 | program for children under Title VII, nutrition program for the elderly, of the Older Americans Act |
23 | of 1965 as amended, and the value of food stamps; |
24 | (v) Value of certain assistance provided to undergraduate students, including any grant or |
25 | loan for an undergraduate student for educational purposes made or insured under any loan program |
26 | administered by the United States Commissioner of Education (or the Rhode Island council on |
27 | postsecondary education or the Rhode Island division of higher education assistance); |
28 | (vi) Foster care payments; |
29 | (vii) Home energy assistance funded by state or federal government or by a nonprofit |
30 | organization; |
31 | (viii) Payments for supportive services or reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses made |
32 | to foster grandparents, senior health aides, or senior companions and to persons serving in SCORE |
33 | and ACE and any other program under Title II and Title III of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act |
34 | of 1973, 42 U.S.C. § 5000 et seq.; |
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1 | (ix) Payments to volunteers under AmeriCorps VISTA as defined in the department’s rules |
2 | and regulations; |
3 | (x) Certain payments to native Americans; payments distributed per capita to, or held in |
4 | trust for, members of any Indian Tribe under P.L. 92-254, 25 U.S.C. § 1261 et seq., P.L. 93-134, |
5 | 25 U.S.C. § 1401 et seq., or P.L. 94-540; receipts distributed to members of certain Indian tribes |
6 | which are referred to in § 5 of P.L. 94-114, 25 U.S.C. § 459d, that became effective October 17, |
7 | 1975; |
8 | (xi) Refund from the federal and state earned income tax credit and any federal or state |
9 | child tax credits or rebates; |
10 | (xii) The value of any state, local, or federal government rent or housing subsidy, provided |
11 | that this exclusion shall not limit the reduction in benefits provided for in the payment standard |
12 | section of this chapter; |
13 | (xiii) The earned income of any adult family member who gains employment while an |
14 | active RI Works household member. This income is excluded for the first six (6) months of |
15 | employment in which the income is earned, or until the household’s total gross income exceeds |
16 | one hundred eighty-five percent (185%) of the federal poverty level, unless the household reaches |
17 | its sixty-month (60) time limit first; |
18 | (xiv) Any veteran’s disability pension benefits received as a result of any disability |
19 | sustained by the veteran while in the military service. |
20 | (4) The receipt of a lump sum of income shall affect participants for cash assistance in |
21 | accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the department. |
22 | (h) Time limit on the receipt of cash assistance. |
23 | (1) On or after January 1, 2020, no cash assistance shall be provided, pursuant to this |
24 | chapter, to a family or assistance unit that includes an adult member who has received cash |
25 | assistance for a total of sixty (60) months (whether or not consecutive), to include any time |
26 | receiving any type of cash assistance in any other state or territory of the United States of America |
27 | as defined herein. Provided further, in no circumstances other than provided for in subsection (h)(3) |
28 | with respect to certain minor children, shall cash assistance be provided pursuant to this chapter to |
29 | a family or assistance unit that includes an adult member who has received cash assistance for a |
30 | total of a lifetime limit of sixty (60) months. |
31 | (2) Cash benefits received by a minor dependent child shall not be counted toward their |
32 | lifetime time limit for receiving benefits under this chapter should that minor child apply for cash |
33 | benefits as an adult. |
34 | (3) Certain minor children not subject to time limit. This section regarding the lifetime time |
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1 | limit for the receipt of cash assistance, shall not apply only in the instances of a minor child(ren) |
2 | living with a parent who receives SSI benefits and a minor child(ren) living with a responsible adult |
3 | non-parent caretaker relative who is not in the cash assistance payment. |
4 | (4) Receipt of family cash assistance in any other state or territory of the United States of |
5 | America shall be determined by the department of human services and shall include family cash |
6 | assistance funded in whole or in part by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds |
7 | [Title IV-A of the federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.] and/or family cash assistance |
8 | provided under a program similar to the Rhode Island families work and opportunity program or |
9 | the federal TANF program. |
10 | (5)(i) The department of human services shall mail a notice to each assistance unit when |
11 | the assistance unit has six (6) months of cash assistance remaining and each month thereafter until |
12 | the time limit has expired. The notice must be developed by the department of human services and |
13 | must contain information about the lifetime time limit, the number of months the participant has |
14 | remaining, the hardship extension policy, the availability of a post-employment-and-closure bonus; |
15 | and any other information pertinent to a family or an assistance unit nearing the sixty-month (60) |
16 | lifetime time limit. |
17 | (ii) For applicants who have less than six (6) months remaining in the sixty-month (60) |
18 | lifetime time limit because the family or assistance unit previously received cash assistance in |
19 | Rhode Island or in another state, the department shall notify the applicant of the number of months |
20 | remaining when the application is approved and begin the process required in subsection (h)(5)(i). |
21 | (6) If a cash assistance recipient family was closed pursuant to Rhode Island’s Temporary |
22 | Assistance for Needy Families Program (federal TANF described in Title IV-A of the Federal |
23 | Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.), formerly entitled the Rhode Island family |
24 | independence program, more specifically under § 40-5.1-9(2)(c) [repealed], due to sanction |
25 | because of failure to comply with the cash assistance program requirements; and that recipient |
26 | family received sixty (60) months of cash benefits in accordance with the family independence |
27 | program, then that recipient family is not able to receive further cash assistance for his/her family, |
28 | under this chapter, except under hardship exceptions. |
29 | (7) The months of state or federally funded cash assistance received by a recipient family |
30 | since May 1, 1997, under Rhode Island’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program |
31 | (federal TANF described in Title IV-A of the Federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.), |
32 | formerly entitled the Rhode Island family independence program, shall be countable toward the |
33 | time-limited cash assistance described in this chapter. |
34 | (i) Time limit on the receipt of cash assistance. |
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1 | (1) No cash assistance shall be provided, pursuant to this chapter, to a family assistance |
2 | unit in which an adult member has received cash assistance for a total of sixty (60) months (whether |
3 | or not consecutive) to include any time receiving any type of cash assistance in any other state or |
4 | territory of the United States as defined herein effective August 1, 2008. Provided further, that no |
5 | cash assistance shall be provided to a family in which an adult member has received assistance for |
6 | twenty-four (24) consecutive months unless the adult member has a rehabilitation employment plan |
7 | as provided in § 40-5.2-12(g)(5). |
8 | (2) Effective August 1, 2008, no cash assistance shall be provided pursuant to this chapter |
9 | to a family in which a child has received cash assistance for a total of sixty (60) months (whether |
10 | or not consecutive) if the parent is ineligible for assistance under this chapter pursuant to subsection |
11 | (a)(2) to include any time they received any type of cash assistance in any other state or territory |
12 | of the United States as defined herein. |
13 | (j) Hardship exceptions. |
14 | (1) The department may extend an assistance unit’s or family’s cash assistance beyond the |
15 | time limit, by reason of hardship; provided, however, that the number of families to be exempted |
16 | by the department with respect to their time limit under this subsection shall not exceed twenty |
17 | percent (20%) of the average monthly number of families to which assistance is provided for under |
18 | this chapter in a fiscal year; provided, however, that to the extent now or hereafter permitted by |
19 | federal law, any waiver granted under § 40-5.2-34, for domestic violence, shall not be counted in |
20 | determining the twenty percent (20%) maximum under this section. |
21 | (2) Parents who receive extensions to the time limit due to hardship must have and comply |
22 | with employment plans designed to remove or ameliorate the conditions that warranted the |
23 | extension. |
24 | (k) Parents under eighteen (18) years of age. |
25 | (1) A family consisting of a parent who is under the age of eighteen (18), and who has |
26 | never been married, and who has a child; or a family consisting of a person under the age of eighteen |
27 | (18) from onset of pregnancy shall be eligible for cash assistance only if the family resides in the |
28 | home of an adult parent, legal guardian, or other adult relative. The assistance shall be provided to |
29 | the adult parent, legal guardian, or other adult relative on behalf of the individual and child unless |
30 | otherwise authorized by the department. |
31 | (2) This subsection shall not apply if the minor parent or pregnant minor has no parent, |
32 | legal guardian, or other adult relative who is living and/or whose whereabouts are unknown; or the |
33 | department determines that the physical or emotional health or safety of the minor parent, or his or |
34 | her child, or the pregnant minor, would be jeopardized if he or she was required to live in the same |
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1 | residence as his or her parent, legal guardian, or other adult relative (refusal of a parent, legal |
2 | guardian, or other adult relative to allow the minor parent or his or her child, or a pregnant minor, |
3 | to live in his or her home shall constitute a presumption that the health or safety would be so |
4 | jeopardized); or the minor parent or pregnant minor has lived apart from his or her own parent or |
5 | legal guardian for a period of at least one year before either the birth of any child to a minor parent |
6 | or the onset of the pregnant minor’s pregnancy; or there is good cause, under departmental |
7 | regulations, for waiving the subsection; and the individual resides in a supervised supportive-living |
8 | arrangement to the extent available. |
9 | (3) For purposes of this section, “supervised supportive-living arrangement” means an |
10 | arrangement that requires minor parents to enroll and make satisfactory progress in a program |
11 | leading to a high school diploma or a general education development certificate, and requires minor |
12 | parents to participate in the adolescent parenting program designated by the department, to the |
13 | extent the program is available; and provides rules and regulations that ensure regular adult |
14 | supervision. |
15 | (l) Assignment and cooperation. As a condition of eligibility for cash and medical |
16 | assistance under this chapter, each adult member, parent, or caretaker relative of the |
17 | family/assistance unit must: |
18 | (1) Assign to the state any rights to support for children within the family from any person |
19 | that the family member has at the time the assignment is executed or may have while receiving |
20 | assistance under this chapter; |
21 | (2) Consent to and cooperate with the state in establishing the paternity and in establishing |
22 | and/or enforcing child support and medical support orders for all children in the family or assistance |
23 | unit in accordance with title 15 of the general laws, as amended, unless the parent or caretaker |
24 | relative is found to have good cause for refusing to comply with the requirements of this subsection. |
25 | (3) Absent good cause, as defined by the department of human services through the |
26 | rulemaking process, for refusing to comply with the requirements of subsections (l)(1) and (l)(2), |
27 | cash assistance to the family shall be reduced by twenty-five percent (25%) until the adult member |
28 | of the family who has refused to comply with the requirements of this subsection consents to and |
29 | cooperates with the state in accordance with the requirements of this subsection. |
30 | (4) As a condition of eligibility for cash and medical assistance under this chapter, each |
31 | adult member, parent, or caretaker relative of the family/assistance unit must consent to and |
32 | cooperate with the state in identifying and providing information to assist the state in pursuing any |
33 | third party who may be liable to pay for care and services under Title XIX of the Social Security |
34 | Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1396 et seq. |
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1 | 40-5.2-11. Cash assistance. |
2 | (a) A family or assistance unit found by the department to meet the eligibility criteria set |
3 | forth in this chapter shall be eligible to receive cash assistance as of the date a signed, written |
4 | application, signed under a penalty of perjury, is received by the department. |
5 | (b) The family members or assistance unit shall be eligible for cash assistance for so long |
6 | as they continue to meet the eligibility criteria outlined in accordance with this chapter. Parents and |
7 | adult non-parent caretaker relatives receiving cash assistance shall be eligible so long as they meet |
8 | the terms and conditions of the work requirements of § 40-5.2-12. An adult caretaker relative shall |
9 | be eligible for assistance as a member of the assistance unit so long as he or she meets all the |
10 | eligibility requirements of this chapter. |
11 | (c) The monthly amount of cash assistance shall be equal to the payment standard for the |
12 | family minus the countable income of the family in that month. The department is authorized to |
13 | reduce the amount of assistance in the month of application to reflect the number of the days |
14 | between the first day of the month and the effective date of the application. |
15 | (d) A decision on the application for assistance shall be made or rejected by the department |
16 | no later than thirty (30) days following the date submitted and shall be effective as of the date of |
17 | application. |
18 | (e) The payment standard is equal to the sum of the following: four hundred twenty-five |
19 | dollars ($425) (three hundred sixty dollars ($360) for a family residing in subsidized housing) for |
20 | the first person; one hundred fifty-nine dollars ($159) for the second person; one hundred thirty- |
21 | seven dollars ($137) for the third person; and one hundred four dollars ($104) for each additional |
22 | person. Effective July 1, 2024, the payment standard for the assistance unit shall be no less than |
23 | fifty percent (50%) of the poverty guideline for the comparable assistance unit size as determined |
24 | by the U.S. Department of health and Human Services for the calendar year 2024. Thereafter, the |
25 | payment standard shall be adjusted in July of each year to be no less than fifty percent (50%) of the |
26 | poverty guideline for the comparable assistance unit size as determined by the U.S. Department of |
27 | Health and Human Services for that calendar year. |
28 | 40-5.2-12. Work requirements for receipt of cash assistance. |
29 | (a) The department of human services and the department of labor and training shall assess |
30 | the applicant/parent or non-parent caretaker relative’s work experience, educational, and vocational |
31 | abilities, and the department, together with the parent, shall develop and enter into a mandatory, |
32 | individual employment plan in accordance with § 40-5.2-10(e). |
33 | (b) In the case of a family including two (2) parents, at least one of the parents shall be |
34 | required to participate in an employment plan leading to full-time employment. The department |
| LC004974 - Page 10 of 17 |
1 | may also require the second parent in a two-parent (2) household to develop an employment plan |
2 | if, and when, the youngest child reaches six (6) years of age or older. |
3 | (c) The written, individual employment plan shall specify, at minimum, the immediate |
4 | steps necessary to support a goal of long-term, economic independence. |
5 | (d) All applicants and participants in the Rhode Island works employment program must |
6 | attend and participate in required appointments, employment plan development, and employment- |
7 | related activities, unless temporarily exempt for reasons specified in this chapter. |
8 | (e) A recipient/participant temporarily exempted from the work requirements may |
9 | participate in an individual employment plan on a voluntary basis, however, the individual remains |
10 | subject to the same program compliance requirements as a participant without a temporary |
11 | exemption. |
12 | (f) The individual employment plan shall specify the participant’s work activity(ies) and |
13 | the supportive services that will be provided by the department to enable the participant to engage |
14 | in the work activity(ies). |
15 | (g) Work requirements for single-parent families. In single-parent households, the |
16 | participant parent or non-parent caretaker relative in the cash assistance payment, shall participate |
17 | as a condition of eligibility, for a minimum of twenty (20) hours per week if the youngest child in |
18 | the home is under the age of six (6), and for a minimum of thirty (30) hours per week if the youngest |
19 | child in the home is six (6) years of age or older, in one or more of their required work activities, |
20 | as appropriate, in order to help the parent obtain stable, full-time, paid employment, as determined |
21 | by the department of human services and the department of labor and training; provided, however, |
22 | that he or she shall begin with intensive employment services as the first step in the individual |
23 | employment plan. Required work activities are as follows: |
24 | (1) At least twenty (20) hours per week must come from participation in one or more of |
25 | the following ten (10) work activities: |
26 | (i) Unsubsidized employment; |
27 | (ii) Subsidized private-sector employment; |
28 | (iii) Subsidized public-sector employment; |
29 | (iv) Work experience; |
30 | (v) On-the-job training; |
31 | (vi) Job search and job readiness; |
32 | (vii) Community service programs; |
33 | (viii) Vocational educational training not to exceed twelve (12) months; provided, |
34 | however, that a participant who successfully completes their first year of education at the |
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1 | community college of Rhode Island may participate in vocational education training for an |
2 | additional twelve (12) months; |
3 | (ix) Providing childcare services to another participant parent who is participating in an |
4 | approved community service program; and |
5 | (x) Adult education in an intensive work-readiness program. |
6 | (2) Above twenty (20) hours per week, the parent may participate in one or more of the |
7 | following three (3) activities in order to satisfy a thirty-hour (30) requirement: |
8 | (i) Job skills training directly related to employment; |
9 | (ii) Education directly related to employment; and |
10 | (iii) Satisfactory attendance at a secondary school or in a course of study leading to a |
11 | certificate of general equivalence if it is a teen parent under the age of twenty (20) who is without |
12 | a high school diploma or General Equivalence Diploma (GED). |
13 | (3) In the case of a parent under the age of twenty (20), attendance at a secondary school |
14 | or the equivalent during the month, or twenty (20) hours per week on average for the month in |
15 | education directly related to employment, will be counted as engaged in work. |
16 | (4) A parent who participates in a work experience or community service program for the |
17 | maximum number of hours per week allowable by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is deemed |
18 | to have participated in his or her required minimum hours per week in core activities if actual |
19 | participation falls short of his or her required minimum hours per week. |
20 | (5) A parent who has been determined to have a physical or mental impairment affecting |
21 | employment, but who has not been found eligible for Social Security Disability benefits or |
22 | Supplemental Security Income must participate in his or her rehabilitation employment plan as |
23 | developed with the office of rehabilitation services that leads to employment and/or to receipt of |
24 | disability benefits through the Social Security Administration. |
25 | (6) A required work activity may be any other work activity permissible under federal |
26 | TANF provisions or state-defined Rhode Island works program activity, including up to ten (10) |
27 | hours of activities required by a parent’s department of children, youth and families service plan. |
28 | (h) Exemptions from work requirements for the single-parent family. Work requirements |
29 | outlined in subsection (g) shall not apply to a single parent if (and for so long as) the department |
30 | finds that he or she is: |
31 | (1) Caring for a child below the age of one; provided, however, that a parent may opt for |
32 | the deferral from an individual employment plan for a maximum of twelve (12) months during the |
33 | twenty-four (24) months of eligibility for cash assistance and provided, further, that a minor parent |
34 | without a high school diploma or the equivalent, and who is not married, shall not be exempt for |
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1 | more than twelve (12) weeks from the birth of the child; |
2 | (2) Caring for a disabled family member who resides in the home and requires full-time |
3 | care; |
4 | (3) A recipient of Social Security Disability benefits or Supplemental Security Income or |
5 | other disability benefits that have the same standard of disability as defined by the Social Security |
6 | Administration; |
7 | (4) An individual receiving assistance who is a victim of domestic violence as determined |
8 | by the department in accordance with rules and regulations; |
9 | (5) An applicant for assistance in her third trimester from onset of pregnancy or a pregnant |
10 | woman person in her third trimester who is a recipient of assistance and has medical documentation |
11 | that she they cannot work; |
12 | (6) An individual otherwise exempt by the department as defined in rules and regulations |
13 | promulgated by the department. |
14 | (i) Work requirement for two-parent families. |
15 | (1) In families consisting of two (2) parents, one or both parents are required, and shall be |
16 | engaged in, work activities as defined below, for an individual or combined total of at least thirty- |
17 | five (35) hours per week during the month, not fewer than thirty (30) hours per week of which are |
18 | attributable to one or more of the following listed work activities; provided, however, that he or she |
19 | shall begin with intensive employment services as the first step in the individual employment plan. |
20 | Two-parent work requirements shall be defined as the following: |
21 | (i) Unsubsidized employment; |
22 | (ii) Subsidized private-sector employment; |
23 | (iii) Subsidized public-sector employment; |
24 | (iv) Work experience; |
25 | (v) On-the-job training; |
26 | (vi) Job search and job readiness; |
27 | (vii) Community service program; |
28 | (viii) Vocational educational training not to exceed twelve (12) months; provided, |
29 | however, that a participant who successfully completes their first year of education at the |
30 | community college of Rhode Island may participate in vocational education training for an |
31 | additional twelve (12) months; |
32 | (ix) The provision of childcare services to a participant individual who is participating in a |
33 | community service program; and |
34 | (x) Adult education in an intensive work-readiness program. |
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1 | (2) Above thirty (30) hours per week, the following three (3) activities may also count for |
2 | participation: |
3 | (i) Job skills training directly related to employment; |
4 | (ii) Education directly related to employment; and |
5 | (iii) Satisfactory attendance at secondary school or in a course of study leading to a |
6 | certificate of general equivalence. |
7 | (3) A family with two (2) parents, in which one or both parents participate in a work |
8 | experience or community service program, shall be deemed to have participated in core work |
9 | activities for the maximum number of hours per week allowable by the Fair Labor Standards Act |
10 | (FLSA) if actual participation falls short of his or her required minimum hours per week. |
11 | (4) If the family receives childcare assistance and an adult in the family is not disabled or |
12 | caring for a severely disabled child, then the work-eligible individuals must be participating in work |
13 | activities for an average of at least fifty-five (55) hours per week to count as a two-parent family |
14 | engaged in work for the month. |
15 | (5) At least fifty (50) of the fifty-five (55) hours per week must come from participation in |
16 | the activities listed in subsection (i)(1). |
17 | Above fifty (50) hours per week, the three (3) activities listed in subsection (i)(2) may also |
18 | count as participation. |
19 | (6) A family with two (2) parents receiving child care in which one or both parents |
20 | participate in a work experience or community service program for the maximum number of hours |
21 | per week allowable by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) will be considered to have met their |
22 | required core hours if actual participation falls short of the required minimum hours per week. For |
23 | families that need additional hours beyond the core activity requirement, these hours must be |
24 | satisfied in some other TANF work activity. |
25 | (j) Exemptions from work requirements for two-parent families. Work requirements |
26 | outlined in subsection (i) shall not apply to two-parent families if (and for so long as) the department |
27 | finds that: |
28 | (1) Both parents receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI); |
29 | (2) One parent receives SSI, and the other parent is caring for a disabled family member |
30 | who resides in the home and who requires full-time care; or |
31 | (3) The parents are otherwise exempt by the department as defined in rules and regulations. |
32 | (k) Failure to comply with work requirements — Sanctions and terminations. |
33 | (1) The cash assistance to which an otherwise eligible family/assistance unit is entitled |
34 | under this chapter shall be reduced for three (3) months, whether or not consecutive, in accordance |
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1 | with rules and regulations promulgated by the department, whenever any participant, without good |
2 | cause as defined by the department in its rules and regulations, has failed to enter into an individual |
3 | employment plan; has failed to attend a required appointment; has refused or quit employment; or |
4 | has failed to comply with any other requirements for the receipt of cash assistance under this |
5 | chapter. The reduction in cash assistance shall not exceed the share of the payment made to the |
6 | participant, i.e., the amount paid in addition to the payment for the dependent children. If the |
7 | family’s benefit has been reduced, benefits shall be restored to the full amount beginning with the |
8 | initial payment made on the first of the month following the month in which the parent: (i) Enters |
9 | into an individual employment plan or rehabilitation plan and demonstrates compliance with the |
10 | terms thereof; or (ii) Demonstrates compliance with the terms of his or her existing individual |
11 | employment plan or rehabilitation plan, as such plan may be amended by agreement of the parent |
12 | and the department. |
13 | (2) In the case where appropriate child care has been made available in accordance with |
14 | this chapter, a participant’s failure, without good cause, to accept a bona fide offer of work, |
15 | including full-time, part-time, and/or temporary employment, or unpaid work experience or |
16 | community service, shall be deemed a failure to comply with the work requirements of this section |
17 | and shall result in reduction or termination of cash assistance, as defined by the department in rules |
18 | and regulations duly promulgated. |
19 | (3) If the family/assistance unit’s benefit has been reduced for a total of three (3) months, |
20 | whether or not consecutive in accordance with this section due to the failure by one or more parents |
21 | to enter into an individual employment plan, or failure to comply with the terms of his or her |
22 | individual employment plan, or the failure to comply with the requirements of this chapter, cash |
23 | assistance to the entire family shall end. The family/assistance unit may reapply for benefits, and |
24 | the benefits shall be restored to the family/assistance unit in the full amount the family/assistance |
25 | unit is otherwise eligible for under this chapter beginning on the first of the month following the |
26 | month in which all parents in the family/assistance unit who are subject to the employment or |
27 | rehabilitation plan requirements under this chapter: (i) Enter into an individual employment or |
28 | rehabilitation plan as applicable, and demonstrate compliance with the terms thereof, or (ii) |
29 | Demonstrate compliance with the terms of the parent’s individual employment or rehabilitation |
30 | employment plan in effect at the time of termination of benefits, as such plan may be amended by |
31 | agreement of the parent and the department. |
32 | (4)(3) Up to ten (10) days following a notice of adverse action to reduce or terminate |
33 | benefits under this subsection, the client may request the opportunity to meet with a social worker |
34 | to identify the reasons for non-compliance, establish good cause, and seek to resolve any issues |
| LC004974 - Page 15 of 17 |
1 | that have prevented the parent from complying with the employment plan requirements. |
2 | (5)(4) Participants whose cases had closed in sanction status pursuant to Rhode Island’s |
3 | prior Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (federal TANF described in Title IV-A |
4 | of the federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.), the family independence program, more |
5 | specifically, § 40-5.1-9(2)(c) [repealed], due to failure to comply with the cash assistance program |
6 | requirements, but who had received less than forty-eight (48) months of cash assistance at the time |
7 | of closure, and who reapply for cash assistance under the Rhode Island works program, must |
8 | demonstrate full compliance, as defined by the department in its rules and regulations, before they |
9 | shall be eligible for cash assistance pursuant to this chapter. |
10 | (l) Good cause. Good cause for failing to meet any program requirements including leaving |
11 | employment, and failure to fulfill documentation requirements, shall be outlined in rules and |
12 | regulations promulgated by the department of human services. |
13 | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES -- THE RHODE ISLAND WORKS PROGRAM | |
*** | |
1 | This act would amend the Rhode Island Works Program to provide eligibility for benefits |
2 | for pregnant persons from the onset of pregnancy and allow lawful permanent residents to receive |
3 | benefits without a waiting period. This act would also increase the monthly cash benefits to fifty |
4 | percent (50%) of the federal poverty level effective July 1, 2024 and would provide for a yearly |
5 | cost of living increase by maintaining the benefit at not less than fifty percent (50%) of the federal |
6 | poverty level. This act would also disallow the termination of benefits for failure of a family |
7 | member to enter into and comply with an individual employment plan, which is sometimes referred |
8 | to as a "full family sanction" and would further limit the monetary sanctions so as not to exceed the |
9 | share of the payment made to the participant. |
10 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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