CLASS TIME: COUNT TOWARD WORK FIRST REQUIREMENTS
House Bill 4315
Sponsor: Rep. Paul Gieleghem
Committee: Family and Children Services
Complete to 5-11-01
A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 4315 AS INTRODUCED 2-21-01
Currently, under the Social Welfare Act (MCL 400.57 et al.) every adult member of a household receiving assistance from the Family Independence Agency must participate in the Work First employment and training program and either work or be involved in training for a certain number of hours. Exceptions to this rule are made for certain family members, such as children 16 or older who attend school full-time. House Bill 4315 would extend the list of exceptions to allow time spent in classroom instruction to count toward the mandatory hours for work requirements.
Classroom Instructional Hours. Under the bill, the hours spent in classroom instructional training would qualify as the mandatory hours for work requirements in the following circumstances:
· A Work First participant could meet the work participation requirement by combining a minimum of ten hours per week of work with training or education. However, with the exception of high school completion and GED preparation, the training or education would have to be occupationally relevant and in demand in the labor market, as determined by the Workforce Development Board.
· A participant would have to make satisfactory progress in the training or education.
· Training or education could last up to 12 months, and the calculated hours could include actual classroom time of up to ten hours per week, plus up to one hour of study time for each hour of classroom time.
· The combined work and training or education hours would have to equal the minimum number of hours required to meet one of the following federal work participation requirements: a) 30 hours per week for a single parent, or 20 hours per week if the single parent had a child under six years old; or b) 35 hours per week for a two-parent family, or 55 hours if the family utilized federally funded child care.
· A Work First participant could enroll in additional hours of classroom time beyond the ten hours specified. However, these hours and the related study time would not count toward the work participation requirement specified under the act. Moreover, the training or education could not be longer than a one-year program, although this could include the final year of a two- or four-year undergraduate program designed to lead to immediate employment.
· A Work First participant could meet the federal work participation requirement through enrollment in a short-term vocational program requiring 30 hours of actual classroom time per week for a period that did not exceed six months, or by enrolling in a full-time internship, practicum, or clinical required by an academic or training institution for licensure, professional certification, or degree completion, without an additional work requirement. A two-parent family that received federally funded child care would have to work an additional 25 hours per week to meet the federal work participation requirement.
· A Work First participant who lacked a high school diploma or GED, and who enrolled in high school completion courses or classes to obtain a GED, could count up to ten hours of actual classroom time, combined with a minimum number of hours of work per week, to meet the federal work participation requirement. There would be no time limit on high school completion, but GED preparation would be limited to six months.
Other. The bill would replace references to the Jobs Commission with the Department of Career Development. (The former Michigan Jobs Commission was separated into two agencies, the Department of Career Development and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, to reflect the separate functions of each.)
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This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.