2001-2002 Bill 3091: Job Preparation and Retention Training Act, Welfare Recipients; Social

1 BIL: 3091 2 TYP: General Bill GB 3 INB: House 4 IND: 20010109 5 PSP: J. Brown 6 SPO: J. Brown, Clyburn 7 DDN: l:\council\bills\dka\4013mm01.doc 8 RBY: House 9 COM: Ways and Means Committee 30 HWM 10 SUB: Job Preparation and Retention Training Act, welfare recipients; Social 11 Services, Labor, Licensing, and Regulation 12 13 14 15 HST: 16 17 Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved 18 ______19 House 20010109 Introduced, read first time, 30 HWM 20 referred to Committee 21 House 20001206 Prefiled, referred to Committee 30 HWM 22 23 24 Versions of This Bill 25 26 27 28 29 TXT: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND TITLE 41, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH 12 CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO LABOR AND 13 EMPLOYMENT, BY ADDING CHAPTER 47 SO AS TO 14 ENACT THE “SOUTH CAROLINA JOB PREPARATION AND 15 RETENTION TRAINING ACT” WHICH ESTABLISHES 16 PROCEDURES FOR PROVIDING SKILLS AND OTHER 17 TRAINING TO INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE WELFARE 18 RECIPIENTS IN PREPARATION FOR MAKING 19 TRANSITIONS TO EMPLOYMENT. 20 21 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 22 Carolina: 23 24 SECTION 1. Title 41 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding: 25 26 “CHAPTER 47 27 28 Job Preparation and Retention Training 29 30 Section 41-47-10. This chapter may be cited as the ‘South 31 Carolina Job Preparation and Retention Training Act’. 32 33 Section 41-47-20. The General Assembly finds that: 34 (1) a need exists for skills training to enable individuals who 35 are welfare recipients to make transitions into unsubsidized 36 employment that provides career potential and enables the 37 individuals to achieve economic self-sufficiency; 38 (2) current law does not address adequately the tremendously 39 deleterious effect of unfavorable environmental and cultural 40 factors on the ability of those individuals to obtain and retain 41 gainful employment;

1 [3091] 1 1 (3) a need exists for a commitment to the development of 2 pre-vocational training programs for individuals who are welfare 3 recipients that focus on: 4 (a) improving their job readiness; 5 (b) preparing them psychologically and attitudinally for 6 employment; 7 (c) teaching them learning and other appropriate skills; 8 (d) placing them in: 9 ( i) permanent unsubsidized employment; or 10 (ii) skill training centers and, upon completion of the skill 11 training, in permanent unsubsidized employment; and 12 (4) community-based organizations have provided these 13 pre-vocational training programs to disadvantaged populations 14 with demonstrable success and should receive assistance to enable 15 them to enhance their abilities to provide the training programs in 16 communities with large populations of welfare recipients. 17 18 Section 41-47-30. As used in this chapter: 19 (1) ‘Division’ means the Division of Labor administered under 20 the supervision and direction of the South Carolina Department of 21 Labor, Licensing and Regulation pursuant to Section 41-3-10. 22 (2) ‘Director’ means the Director of the South Carolina 23 Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation in accordance 24 with the provisions of Section 41-3-10. 25 (3) ‘Welfare recipient’ means an individual receiving 26 assistance through a state program funded pursuant to Part A of 27 Title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601). 28 (4) ‘Welfare transition program’ means a vocational training 29 program conducted by or at the direction of the State as part of a 30 state program funded pursuant to Part A of Title IV of the Social 31 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601). 32 33 Section 41-47-40. (A) The director, through the division, may 34 make grants to community-based organizations to assist these 35 organizations in implementing enhanced pre-vocational training 36 programs for eligible individuals. 37 (B) The director shall make the grants for periods of one year. 38 (C) To be eligible to receive a grant pursuant to this section, the 39 community-based organization shall submit an application to the 40 director in the time and manner and containing the information the 41 director and the division may require. At a minimum, the 42 application must contain:

1 [3091] 2 1 (1) a plan describing the pre-vocational training programs to 2 be implemented with funds made available through the grant; and 3 (2) in particular, information describing the manner in which 4 the community-based organization ensures that its pre-vocational 5 training program includes incarcerated persons described in 6 Section 41-47-50(D)(2), in accordance with Section 41-47-50(F). 7 (D) In awarding grants pursuant to this section, the director 8 shall take into consideration the needs of economically distressed 9 urban and rural areas in the State, as determined by the director 10 upon the advice of the division and of the South Carolina 11 Employment Security Commission. 12 13 Section 41-47-50. (A) A community-based organization that 14 receives a grant pursuant to this chapter shall use the funds to 15 assist in implementation of the pre-vocational training programs 16 referred to in this chapter. 17 (B) The assistance must be for one year. 18 (C) A community-based organization that receives a grant 19 pursuant to this chapter shall use it to provide pre-vocational 20 training and placement services to eligible individuals. 21 (D) To be eligible to receive services through a pre-vocational 22 training program pursuant to this chapter, an individual must be a: 23 (1) welfare recipient who is: 24 (a) enrolled in a welfare transition program; or 25 (b) eligible to be in, but has not participated in, a welfare 26 transition program; or 27 (2) person who is incarcerated in a federal, state, or local 28 prison and will be released from the prison within a reasonable 29 period, as defined in regulations promulgated by the division. 30 (E) A community-based organization implementing a 31 pre-vocational training program for individuals eligible pursuant to 32 subsection (D)(1) of this section shall: 33 (1) provide pre-vocational training, through job training 34 centers, designed to: 35 (a) as quickly as practicable, enable them to overcome the 36 effects of inadequate educational preparation and unfavorable 37 environmental and cultural factors in order to prepare the 38 individuals for employment; 39 (b) improve their job readiness; 40 (c) prepare them psychologically and attitudinally for 41 employment; and 42 (d) enable them to develop learning skills, communication 43 and computational skills, punctuality, health and personal

1 [3091] 3 1 maintenance skills, job seeking skills (including interviewing 2 skills), basic literacy, skills required for receipt of a secondary 3 school diploma or its equivalent, professionalism, and 4 responsiveness to authority; and 5 (2) upon completion of the pre-vocational training, place 6 them in: 7 (a) permanent, unsubsidized employment; or 8 (b) skill training centers that provide superior skill 9 training for positions that are quickly obtainable and, upon 10 completion of the skill training, in permanent, unsubsidized 11 employment. 12 (F) A community-based organization implementing a 13 pre-vocational training program for individuals eligible pursuant to 14 subsection (D)(2) of this section shall provide the pre-vocational 15 training described in subsection (E)(1) in the federal, state, or local 16 prison involved and provide the placement services described in 17 subsection (E)(2)(b). 18 (G) The community-based organization shall provide not less 19 than two weeks and not more than three months of pre-vocational 20 training to an eligible individual through the program. It may not 21 provide services valued at more than one thousand two hundred 22 dollars to an eligible individual, nor may it charge a fee to an 23 eligible individual for services delivered pursuant to the program. 24 (H) A community-based organization providing placement 25 services shall coordinate its services with the efforts of local 26 private sector businesses to create jobs and employment 27 opportunities. 28 29 Section 41-47-60. The division shall monitor the effectiveness 30 of programs carried out pursuant to this chapter by collecting 31 information on the: 32 (1) percentage of program participants who are placed in 33 employment after that participation; 34 (2) percentage of the participants who are retained in 35 employment after that participation; and 36 (3) economic impact of the employment of the participants.” 37 38 SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the 39 Governor. 40 ----XX----

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